A woman who turned to selling her used underwear to pay her way through university has revealed the unusual side hustle now earns her around £95,000 every month.
Jasmine Teaa says customers pay hundreds of pounds for worn underwear, often requesting she wears it to the gym or throughout the day before posting it to them.
She had originally dreamed of landing a job at Google after studying computational linguistics. But without any financial support from her parents, she was forced to take out student loans while juggling two low-paid jobs to stay afloat.
From cutting onions to cutting a deal
“I held down two jobs – one washing dishes and another as a prep chef – but they didn’t pay great,” Jasmine, known on Instagram as @Jasmineflowerteaa, said. “I was cutting onions for three hours straight at one point.”
Struggling to keep up with her bills, she began looking for another way to make money. “I delved into sex work to make ends meet,” she said. “I was posting on Reddit and got chatting about my underwear, and before I knew it, I’d found my thing.”
‘They want them used-used’
The 29-year-old, who lives in California in a $1 million house she recently bought herself, says people pay “crazy money” for the weirdest things.
“They don’t just want my panties – they want me to wear them first all day, go to the gym in them, they want them dirty,” she said. “They want them used-used.”
The saucy creator has been paid more than $1,000 (£750) for a single pair. “The dirtier, the better the money, and it’s easy – I don’t really have to do anything. I just let them marinate all day then post them out.”
Underwear isn’t the only item her fans are willing to pay for. “I’ve had people ask for my shoes, so I’ve sold some Converse, and they also really like my socks,” she said. “They love physical items that have been on my body. I have a lot of repeat customers too – colours matter.”
Writing fantasies ‘with my body’
Realising there was serious money to be made, Jasmine branched out into custom adult videos, where subscribers pay for personalised content. “I have a lot of fun with these – it’s like turning people’s fantasies into real life,” she said. “I used to write fanfics, so it sort of feels like I’m writing, but with my body.”
Keeping her new career a secret wasn’t always easy. Living with roommates, she would invent excuses to get the apartment to herself so she could film. “No one knew how I made money, so I’d pretend I had a guy coming back so the place was clear, then I’d film my videos.”
Six figures – and doing it her way
Jasmine initially earned around $2,000 (£1,500) a month before expanding into custom content, which quickly doubled her income. A decade later, she now earns more than $100,000 (£75,000) a month – and says the financial security still feels surreal.
“I always thought I’d end up working a normal nine-to-five job,” she said. “Instead, I’ve been able to build a life for myself doing this. I’ve done it all on my own, and that makes me feel really empowered.”
Why it matters
Jasmine’s story is another reminder of how far the creator economy has stretched the definition of a side hustle. What began as a desperate way to cover rent while cutting onions has become a six-figure business built on the most unlikely of products – and, in her telling, a route to independence she never expected to find. Behind the eye-watering figures is a familiar creator-economy truth: the internet will pay handsomely for niche, personal and authentic, and the people cashing in are often the ones who stumbled into it while simply trying to get by.
