Teen turns sneaker side hustle into $400K-a-year business | News

By Ben Barry

A teen who started a side hustle selling his old sneakers is earning $400k a year – after selling more than 3,000 pairs.

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

Instead of tossing them, he listed them online on Poshmark and eBay for $50 a pop – and four pairs sold almost instantly.

He began buying his classmates’ old shoes for $10 a pair and reselling them for a profit.

Before long, he was moving 20 pairs a week and earning $300 to $600 a week – enough to quit his part-time job as a server assistant and focus on shoes full-time.

In July 2024, Ethan opened his first store – called 502.snkrplug – in Louisville, Kentucky, selling pre-loved shoes – priced anywhere from $50 to $3,000.

In four years, he’s sold over 3,000 pairs and generated $400k in sales.

By December 2025, Ethan had opened a second location in Louisville, Kentucky, expanded into clothing, and now plans to take his business nationwide.

Ethan, who is currently studying business administration at the University of Louisville, said: “Last year we made $400k in sales.

“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 2018, during his sophomore year, Ethan noticed he had five pairs of old shoes that he didn’t wear anymore – including All White Nike Air Force 1’s, and a pair of Air Jordan 1 Mid.

He posted them online and sold them for $50 each.

“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 sneakers, Ethan went around high school buying people’s old shoes for $10 and selling them online to get some extra cash.

On average, Ethan was moving 20 pairs a week and earning $300 to $600 a week – enough to quit his part-time job as a server assistant and focus on shoes full-time.

Ethan said: “I went around school and started buying people’s old shoes, flipping them, cleaning them and selling them online.

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

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

In 2024, Ethan opened his first buy, sell and trade shop, and in December 2025, moved to a bigger 4000 sq ft store near his home in Louisville, Kentucky.

Ethan says pairs of shoes sell between $50 and as high as $3k, and the most popular pairs 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.

“Some shoes are as cheap as 40 to 50 bucks, then one pair of shoes we were selling for $3k.”

In 2025, Ethan turned over $400k in sales and is hoping to expand his business statewide before expanding across the United States.

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.”