Senior Marc Duran has figured out a way to make money off of one of his favorite hobbies: thrifting.

Thrifting is a current trend on social media. Many people try to make side money for their own benefit, but Duran uses some of the money he makes to help out his family. Since the summer of 2018 Duran has been selling clothing he purchased from the thrift store at reasonable prices, so that people can afford it and he makes a profit off it.

The Eagle’s Eye interviewed him in order to have a better understanding of how much work he puts into thrifting, why he does it, and how he does it.

The Eagle’s Eye: So is it something you want to continue doing after high school? Like, build a brand or something like that.

Marc Duran: I’ve always thought about it, just like “I want to do it,” but on the side. And if it continues and becomes bigger and bigger, then I’ll probably do it.

EE: Is it something you always wanted to do, start a business?

MD: I always wanted to start a business.

EE: Do you want to start your own clothing line eventually?

MD: Yeah, I’ve always thought about it.

EE: Has it always been successful or were there struggles here and there?

MD: No, its always been really successful. Because like, so where I go, you get clothing that’s cheap like super cheap, like 50 cents. And I sell them asap, because I sell them for a reasonable price, like 5 bucks. Like who’s down to buy a shirt for 5 bucks, so it’s always been very successful.

EE: Are there any lessons that you’ve learned from running your business?

MD: Don’t be partners with people you don’t trust. That’s a big one because then you’ll mess up.

EE: Is there any more information you can give me about it?

MD: Like how much profit is made from it? I’ve made quite a bit, like up to 500 dollars to 800 dollars of profit.

EE: Do you invest that into buying more clothes?

MD: Yeah, I invest in buying more clothes or helping my mom out, my brother. Yeah, pretty much helping them out because she can’t do it by herself.

EE: What gave you the idea that you could start making money off of thrifting?

MD: I would find good clothing that is not my style or size, or something that is in my size and it’s not something I would wear. I know people that would wear stuff like this so I thought “why not sell this stuff?”

EE: How did you build your following? Did you like to advertise or did you talk to your friends about it?

MD: First I started talking to my friends about then I started to advertise. At first, I was selling clothes with a couple of people that needed clothing, that wanted good clothing but didn’t want to spend the money on it. I hit them up first and then I realized that I could probably go bigger, so I started advertising on my Snapchat, other people advertised, my family advertised. That’s pretty much it.

EE: Do all your clients go to Akins or do you sell to people from other schools? What schools have students you’ve sold to?

MD: Other schools like Lehman, Hays, Bowie, Austin High, and Travis.

EE: Do you have a story on a particular item that someone was really excited about or it had sentimental value?

MD: I mean, once I found this baby baseball jersey and I had a family member where their boyfriend saw it and he said it reminded him of how he grew up watching that team with his dad, so he bought it for his little girl.

EE: How much time does it take to find something good?

MD: It can take up to three to four hours, but sometimes I get lucky and find something in the first hour.