AT 18, I TURNED MY SIDE HUSTLE SELLING OLD TRAINERS INTO A SIX-FIGURE BUSINESS

A teen who started a side hustle selling his old trainers is now earning six figures a year after flogging more than 3000 pairs.

Ethan Skees, 18, was a high school student when he realised he’d outgrown most of his shoes.

Instead of tossing them, he listed them online on Poshmark and ebay for $50 (around £37) a pop, and four pairs sold almost instantly.

He then began buying his classmates’ old shoes and reselling them for a profit.

Before long, he was moving 20 pairs a week and earning enough to quit his part-time job working in a restaurant and focus on shoes full-time.

Ethan’s foray into the trainer business started in 2018 when he noticed he had five pairs of old shoes that he didn’t wear anymore – including All White Nike Air Force 1s, and a pair of Air Jordan 1 Mid.

“I had grown up loving shoes – my cousin liked them too, so we would collect them,” Ethan said.

“I started growing out of some pairs, and was looking to get some cash in my pocket, so I threw them online for $50, and they sold instantly.”

After selling his own shoes, Ethan bought some pairs from other people at his school for $10 (around £7.50) and began selling them too.

He began earning between £200 and £450 a week.

“Once I ran out of people at school, I went online to find people to buy from,” Ethan said.

“By junior year, I was earning enough money that I could quit my part-time job and do this full-time.”

In July 2024 Ethan opened his first store – called 502.snkrplug – in Louisville, Kentucky.

There, he sells pre-loved shoes priced anywhere from $50 to $3,000 (around £2,000).

By December 2025 Ethan had opened a second location, also in Louisville, and had expanded into clothing.

Ethan said: “It’s honestly surreal. Growing up, I really didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life.

“To go from doing this as a side hustle in high school, turn it into my full-time job and being one of the biggest shoe stores in Kentucky has been a wild ride.

“I hope I can keep up the progress and turn this into something I will do for years.

“We would love to be one of the biggest stores in the country.”

In the four years since Ethan began his business he has sold over 3000 pairs of shoes and generated nearly £300,000 in sales.

Ethan says the most popular pairs of shoes he sells are Jordans, Nike Dunks, Air Max and Yeezys.

“We are mainly a buy, sell and trade store,” Ethan said.

“A lot of people will bring stuff in for us, and we will travel across the country buying from collectors.

“Every day, people will bring shoes into the store that they don’t want anymore to get a bit of extra cash.

Next the entrepreneur, who is currently studying business administration at the University of Louisville, plans to take his business nationwide.

Ethan said: “We would love to open a store in another city.

“We’re focusing on the state of Kentucky for now, then we want to expand to the surrounding states and have no plans stopping there.

“We would love to be one of the biggest stores in the country with shops in Los Angeles and New York.”

2026-03-03T10:13:56Z