Today we’d like to introduce you to Natalie Gomez.
Hi Natalie, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Hit rewind – We’re giving fashion a second chance. We pair our finds for bold looks to always give you fresh style. Eco conscious & sustainability are important to us so we partner with stores, brands & individuals to curate. This means some items are new with tags while others are gently used. With brands like Stella McCartney & Burberry using second hand, reselling & consignment; we’re doing all the styling for you!
We add new items daily. From high end designers, contemporary faves to up & comers. We have a season-less assortment, because it shouldn’t be so hard to buy a swimsuit in December when all you need is a vacation.
Costume Baldor doesn’t have a type or style. We know any item we’ve selected for our shop can be as unique as its new owner. From handmade South American treasures, unique home finds to the best wardrobe staples and that ‘find’ you didn’t know you can’t live without.
We can’t wait to see your #CostumeBaldor looks!
Costume Baldor started as an idea while living in NYC, 2016. Between corporate jobs I decided to make ends meet and buy myself sometime before having to accept a job offer. I sold items from my personal closet for the first 6 months and in the first 3 months I made more selling online than at my corporate job.
I kept adding new items regularly shopping deals in NYC and online and reselling them. My inventory and sales slowly grew but with consistency. In 2018 I opened a second shipping location where I sold exclusively pre loved items and shipped from Austin.
In 2019 I moved from NYC to Austin to be closer to family and grow my business.
February of 2026 marks my 10 year anniversary. I’ve done global sourcing assortments, sold over 50k items. I sell all sizes, mens, womens, kids, home and beauty!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I started on a cold day in February by downloading an app and not knowing what was going to come ahead in the coming years, ever thinking this would be my full time job.
I had never sold anything online. While I had retail and e-com buying experience I had to learn the world of online reselling, brands, pricing, fees, shipping, becoming a legal entity, finding inventory solutions while living in 550 sq ft in Manhattan,
While the freedom of having my own schedule was liberating I didn’t have a boss or mentor to guide me. No one taught me about taxes, how to find my customer, hiring help, SEO, building a website, all while listing, shipping, staying current, staying on top of current orders and trying to figure out what was next.
Challenges included platform knowledge (personal website, ebay vs poshmark, vs pop ups, etc) and understanding between all the different marketplaces, managing the trends of what’s popular, moving and hot while liquidating slow movers.
Everything is a learning opportunity from understanding the space, competitors and having an edge to stay relevant.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My days include shipping orders, book keeping, shooting new inventory and updating them to my catalog and getting them online. Creating collections based on customers, season and upcoming events, holidays. I have calls with overseas vendors, consignors and future clients as well as my partners.
As a reseller I’m known for my curation of high end, luxury brands, bold prints, eclectic items in sizes ranging from 00P, XXP to 3XL in clothing. I do about 30% mens the majority is women’s wear and shoes, accessories. I’m known for lightning speed shipping, 5 star reviews (over 10k) and offering brands from contemporary to high end luxury designers.
I’m proud to be a latina business owner still in business 10 years later!
My selling edge is having over 5000 active inventory items to shop from!
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
I grew up in Houston, went to Texas Tech University and studied photography, lived in NYC for 14 years, am 44 years old, I read about 90 books a year, come from a Cuban father and Colombian mother, am a first generation American and have a 7 year old Rat Terrier Chihuahua mix dog.
Pricing:
- https://poshmark.com/closet/costumebaldor
- https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=&_ssn=anotherwednesday
- https://www.grailed.com/CostumeBaldor
Contact Info:
- Website: https://costumebaldor.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/costumebaldor/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/costumebaldor
Image Credits
All shot by Natalie Gomez
