Pickle rental app earnings reach $30,000 as NYC closets become side hustles
Pickle says one user made $30,000 in a month as New York lenders turn closets into income on its peer-to-peer rental app.
By Daniel Okafor · Business Editor
3 min read
Pickle rental app earnings have turned some New York closets into meaningful side income, with cofounder Brian McMahon telling Fortune that one user made $30,000 on the platform last month. The figure shows how a peer-to-peer rental model is pushing beyond occasional dress loans into a marketplace where some lenders treat inventory like a small business.
Kat Friday, a revenue operations employee at fintech company Marqeta, told Fortune she found Pickle on TikTok in February 2025 while looking for vacation outfits. She later listed a Canon G7 X camera in November 2025 for $150 a week, Fortune reported, and demand came quickly for the device, which usually sells for about $1,000.
Friday then added shirts and dresses she did not often wear, according to Fortune, and began buying trend-driven pieces in multiple sizes to rent through her storefront. After eight months, Fortune reported, she earns about $7,000 a month, stores inventory in a 100-square-foot unit and handles about 25 to 30 orders weekly while keeping her full-time job.
How does the Pickle clothing rental app work?
Pickle is a peer-to-peer rental marketplace founded in 2021 by Brian McMahon and Julia O’Mara, according to Fortune. Users can rent luxury clothing, accessories and other items from nearby lenders or receive items through two-day express shipping across the country.
The company says the app has more than 500,000 listings. Fortune reported that examples include a Miu Miu straw cowboy hat renting for $50, compared with an $825 retail price, and a Zimmerman dress renting for $230, compared with a purchase price above $1,200.
Pickle began in New York City as a local marketplace and now operates in all 50 states, according to Fortune. The company told Fortune its users are concentrated in New York, Miami, Los Angeles and Boston.
Why Pickle is gaining users
Pickle is aimed largely at Gen Z and millennial shoppers who want access to luxury fashion without buying every item, Fortune reported. Boston Consulting Group projects Gen Z will account for 40% of U.S. fashion consumers in the next 10 years, while McKinsey & Company expects global luxury revenue to reach $700 billion by the end of the decade, according to the reports cited by Fortune.
O’Mara told Fortune younger consumers often value access over ownership, especially for fast-moving trends they may wear once. Pickle competes with Rent the Runway, Nuuly and The RealReal, Fortune reported, but its pitch centers on borrowing from other users rather than renting only from company-owned stock.
Fortune reported that Pickle raised a $12 million Series A round in March 2025 backed by FirstMark, Craft Ventures, Burst Capital and FJ Labs. The company says it had raised $20 million in total capital as of July 2026.
Who is making money on Pickle?
Pickle says 25% of Manhattan women ages 18 to 35 use the app, according to Fortune. The company also says more than half of active users this year have rented out at least one item per week.
Martyna Wiacek, an advertising employee at Pinterest, told Fortune her Pickle storefront focuses on wedding gowns and guest outfits. Fortune reported that she earns between $2,000 and $3,000 a month and has built repeat local customers through the app.
McMahon and O’Mara met while working at Blackstone, Fortune reported, and first built Pickle as a shopping-focused social polling app. They changed course after users began recommending items from their own closets, then spent the company’s early period handling deliveries around New York themselves before hiring staff.
This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.