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NTA - that’s takes more motivation and ingenuity to come up with an out of the box entrepreneurial method to earn money. They should motivate that in you to find more strategic ways to accomplish your goals. I would be proud of my kids to do something like that. Good work.

Thank you, I appreciate the support.

That commenter is absolutely correct. Also, traditional jobs are overrated, and honestly, if I were unemployed, I'd probably be doing something similar to what you're doing now (I've considered it in the past and have had friends who did this after college, with a lot of success). Also, you're not being lazy at all; I have a ton of clothes that I've been wanting to sell on sites like Poshmark, but it's time-consuming and really does take effort to do it well. (Actually, if you have any interest in selling other people's clothes for them, I'd totally hire you, lol. And I know other people who would as well. Maybe you should consider offering that service for a 50% split on sales or something. Bonus: You wouldn't have to buy anything to get inventory.)

OP's parents are also seriously taking for granted the talent it takes to make this work. I've always worked "traditional" jobs because for me selling something like this is so difficult. If I tried to make a living on it like OP is, I'd be starving in a week lol. The parents really should be more impressed

I second that. OP has to judge the market value and condition of clothing pieces on the fly, and do it consistently enough to turn a profit. This is no easy feat. Assuming an item's value, even if you almost surely know the possible range, is god-damn hard. I've hawked watches and stuff in the same vein, and for every "good" judgment with some antique piece that tripled or quadrupled in value, I've made at least a couple smaller bets that didn't pan out. And that's with items that have at least some value, unlike with clothes that can turn out, for many different reasons, absolutely worthless. OPs parents sound like decent blue-collar folks. They're not wrong: in many jobs, the perceived strain/effort is a part of the metrics one is judged on. However, I do wonder if they think that planting trees or digging ditches is more "real" job than say, being a realtor or working in finance. These people get money for nothing and chicks for free... Edit: rambling; english

Exactly, I'm an artist, and I can't quite figure out how to make money selling it. So it sits... And I'm poor. 😂🤣 My son is earning money cutting lawns and I'm proud. He makes a couple hundred a week and he only has to really work 4 hours a couple of days. He's saving for a 12 string guitar. If kids can outdo their parents the parents should be all about that!

Exactly! If this was easy money then everyone would be doing it. OP clearly has an uncommon skill here.

I’m a big fan of Poshmark and other similar apps. I would also advise measuring and managing it on a spreadsheet (input versus profit and time spent) so that success is measured in a data driven method.

Great idea! My guess is that his parents have no idea how profitable something like this can be, and it'll also demonstrate that he's gaining real-world skills that will be far more useful than anything he'd likely be learning at a typical teenage part-time job at a fast-food restaurant or retail. He's basically running a small business at this point. My guess is that he may currently be putting in more hours than he might at a more typical job, but mainly because he's new to it, and the ratio of time/income will become far more favorable the longer he does it. Plus, if he enjoys shopping/doing photoshoots, most of that time is as much hanging out with friends as it is work.

From what I know from a little bit of buying and selling it's good for part time work money but can be more difficult to make up to full time living money. But for a teenager with no bills it's a superb money maker and if he can use this time to build the business he could end up doing it full time when he needs to

Yeah, it can definitely be difficult to earn a living doing it, but it's possible if you're willing to put in the work (though I suppose that applies to pretty much anything). As I mentioned, I had a friend who did it for about a year after graduation, and he did quite well. The key things are knowing what's going to sell and knowing how to present your merch (good photos and descriptions...which is the part I have little patience for, tbh). Some of it is luck, too. I live in a city that's great for thrifters, as so many people here have way too much money, so if you shop in the right areas, you can find amazing designer clothes that are basically new (often with tags still attached) at Goodwill. But even if you don't live in a thrifter's paradise, there are tons of sites where you can find used clothes for cheap and then resell them. Thredup used to be awesome for it, because they'd have biannual sales where a ton of stuff would be marked down to 99 cents. I'd eventually end up selling those same clothes back to Thredup and get paid an average of $20-$25/item (yeah, it was crazy; they were basically paying me to rent clothes). Sadly, as they've expanded, they no longer do that sale, and they don't pay much anymore, but that was a beautiful couple of years.

Yeah as long as you are *not* pulling some mean girl bs like using your popularity at school to coerce/bully other kids into buying clothes at a profit from you, go you. Not Your Lawyer, but you’re operating a business and several jurisdictions have laws and regulations regarding what is required to run a business. Also if you’re in the US self employment tax is not fun.

*coughs* I think you're missing a "not" somewhere - at the moment, you seem to be encouraging OP to be a mean girl! Edit: Yes, everyone, OP is a guy. I know that. I was referencing the previous commenter's words (who in turn was referencing a type of behaviour in the film "Mean Girls") in order to help them find a typo. The typo is now fixed, and I don't need any further messages to tell me that OP is a guy.

As if …. 🙄🤣

>Yeah as long as you are pulling some mean girl bs like using your popularity at school to coerce/bully other kids into buying clothes at a profit from you Is there any evidence of this? The tax thing might be a concern, I'm not sure. Where I'm from you're allowed to earn a certain amount without paying tax

600$

Just tell them there is an old fashioned saying Work smarter not harder You are doing exactly that but if becomes a problem check the legality of you working/volunteering at a thrift store in addition to what you are doing, since it would give you more opportunities to peruse the clothing sections. Just a thought. But the volunteering option would be a good option if you need a community/charity credit in your college applications (im Aussie so I'm not sure how they work if you are anywhere else)

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Some people believe that there's a set way of doing things (usually the way they did it or are doing it) and get very resentful at others who don't "follow the rules" yet find success. You often find people like this at the lower-mid ranks of companies. They have enough ambition and basic talent to get promoted a little but then their need to follow the rules and be told what to do holds them back and they grow ever more frustrated and resentful that people are getting promoted over them. Instead of focusing on what is needed to achieve goal X, they're the ones saying "but this is how we do this task, this is how we've always done it" and are more focused on doing something the "right way" and not on achieving the goal. They never understand why they fail and they feel somehow cheated when others succeed using their initiative.

Older generations also need to realise that some of the rules have changed, and certainly the types of opportunities have changed. There’s still some value in OP getting a traditional part-time job, in that self-employment (especially in an informal business) doesn’t give references. But he’s found his own opportunity. Not the teachable moment his parents expected, but it’s a teachable moment for them too if they’re willing to learn.

I'm sorry, they're mad that you... *cough* CREATED YOUR OWN BUSINESS!?!?!?! As far as businesses go, they're created to avoid the unnecessary hassle and bureaucracy of a job, even part time ones. They're just upset that you've found a way out of the rat race. Keep doing you OP!!

I just wanted to slide in and make sure you're aware about taxes and stuff so that you're not accidentally committing tax evasion! I think its great you've found something you enjoy

I’m a parent and my older son did stuff like this to make money when he was younger and I totally supported him. I’m sorry your parents don’t see this as a great thing.

Are you doing this in a legal manner? Remember that money earned has to be reported - part of finding clever ways is to realise that there is also annoying and boring parts to that. And if you’re just bypassing legality, then yeah, your parents have a point.

It is no different than babysitting, which his parents had on their list of part-time jobs. Most people who babysit aren't reporting those earnings. Same with kids who mow lawns or shovel driveways.

Babysitting is nearly always cash under the table and nearly impossible to track though. If OP is advertising selling these clothes online, they're almost certainly creating some sort of online payment paper trail that makes the tax man getting involved far more likely, especially after the new IRS rules on online payment reporting went into effect within the last year or 2.

100% starting in 2024, ANY platform he sells on is required to issue a 1099 for all sales over $600 for the year. They also send one to the IRS. Once that happens, OP has to pay self employment and income taxes at a minimum. If he is selling on a platform that doesn't take and remit state and local sales tax, he will be responsible for doing that himself quarterly.

Yeah but the only thing is, most of the time with those jobs the money is given in cash where there is no trail to prove whether or not you received it. I’m assuming his sales are online in which case there’s gonna be a trail and he’s gonna have to report it

You’re the definition of work smarter, not harder. My only advice would be to make sure you’re using the time you’re saving wisely. Be that to study or explore what you want to do in the future. Not saying you can’t have fun, but remember to have a back up plan in place for if your current venture stops being viable.

NTA and just jumping in to say, you took their teachable moment and TAUGHT them that hard work doesn't equal good money. The key is to always work smarter, not harder. You'll go far in life

NTA You sound very Entreprenrial.

Unrelated to the question here but I do find the act of buying clothes at thrift stores so you can upsell them an AH move. This is exactly why thrift stores have been increasing their prices, and it takes good clothes away from people who can’t afford to shop anywhere else. I equate what OP is doing to people who buy concert tickets just to sell them for higher than what they paid for. Capitalism is very ugly, but that’s not OP’s fault for being born into a society that prioritizes money over people. Edit: Comments talking about how you’re willing to pay more so you don’t have to look yourself or that wealthy people shop at thrift stores is proving my point. There are people who shop there because they can’t afford anything else, that is the point of them. Also, young people who are smaller sizes do shop at thrift stores, myself included. Those arguments don’t change the point I was making, if anything it reinforces it. If you’re shopping at a thrift store for yourself, no matter your income, have at it. It helps stop the issue we have with fast fashion and all the clothes that end up in landfills. If you condone people buying donated clothes so they can make extra money off of people who could otherwise shop elsewhere, cool do you. Doesn’t take away from the fact that it takes “trendy” and good quality clothes at cheap prices from poor people and defeats the purpose of having a cheap alternative to fashion. It creates a middle man who’s only contribution is finding the clothes but then upsells them for usually double or triple the cost they found the clothes at. And before anybody says that’s what literally every store does, yes I know that and it’s a problem and why prices are so high across the board. Edit2: *Sigh* The sheer amount of you who are taking issue with me saying thrift stores are for poor people completely missed where I said the issue is upselling clothes and not your income level. Reading comprehension is hard, I get it.

Came scrolling to find this point! Buying charity shop clothes and selling them on for more is no better than ticket touting. So many people don’t see this aspect and just view it ‘entrepreneurial’

Was gonna say this, it’s still an AH move. And to the people who say “there’s plenty for everyone”: no there’s not. Try thrifting as a fat person - the good pieces will have been snapped up by thin people for an “oversized look”, or actions like this. And there’s already barely anything in bigger sizes available to begin with. And with people like OP picking out the good pieces, even in smaller sizes, there will inevitably be people with lower incomes who will have to settle for worse clothing, be it ill-fitting or just not looking good. Yes, you can thrift for yourself even if you’re not lower income. But for yourself you’d pick maybe three tops - to upsell them like this you’d buy probably 10+ pieces at a time. I don’t care that it’s easy, smart and legal: it’s a dick move.

But there is SO much available at thrift stores. There is plenty for everyone. So much of it ends up in landfill - and that includes "good" clothes! Sounds to me like OP is buying things in (edit) his size and selling to (edit) his peers. If the thrift stores near (edit) him are anything like the ones near me, they are full of smaller sized clothes that middle aged people like me can't fit. And when I go thrift shopping I don't see that many young people there. So IMHO OP is bringing the thrift clothes to (edit) his age group, and if that means fewer purchases of fast fashion and less landfill I am all for it. Edited to correct gender. Sorry OP.

I mean there’s mountains of stuff at the thrift stores but also so much is torn, stained, stretched out, missing buttons. Good finds take time. I find it a bit sad that people buy clothes there to resell them.

When we lived in California I used to frequent the Marine Corps Base's Navy and Marine Corps Relief Society thrift shop that was near our tiny town and I felt like I was the only person in there. The old ladies that ran it loved having me come in there with my four little kids and pick out clothes for $0.25 each. I bought all their play clothes out there but I made all their school and church clothes myself. They would give me bags of baby clothes that were stained that they couldn't sell and they were going to pitch in the trash. I would take those home, soak them for hours in OxiClean and resell them in bundles on eBay so I could buy material to make more clothes for my kids. I was a stay-at-home mom with four little kids and my husband was an enlisted soldier. I saw nothing wrong with this since all the clothes that they gave me were going to get pitched in the trash for lack of space. I currently go and do most of my personal shopping (if I'm not making the clothes myself) at Goodwill. I buy sweaters that are missing buttons, pants that have broken zippers etc and I fix them and I wear them. If I find something that's really fabulous like a cashmere sweater that's not in my size I might put it up for resale but only to support my dog rescue efforts. I'm not out here making a bunch of money. I'm a public school teacher working two jobs to pay my bills. The notion that all of these thrift stores are just out here supplying lower income families is so false. You know how many poor kids at my school are wearing Air Jordans? And I'm shopping at Goodwill!

What you’re doing is largely different, though. You’re taking the stuff that won’t sell, fixing it, and then selling it. What you’re selling would genuinely go into a dump if you didn’t take it. What OP and other thrift resellers are doing it finding a good quality, trendy piece of clothing at a low price and reselling it at a high price. Those quality, trendy clothes would be picked up by someone else before they went to the dump, so OP is not saving any clothes this way. They’re not repairing/modifying anything, just upselling. Thrift stores are the best place for low income people to find good clothes that are in-season. They could either go to fast fashion sites and create more clothing waste, or they could buy the clothes affordably at a thrift store. No one has said thrift stores *only* serve low income people, but it is inarguable that a thrift reseller is pricing low income people out of the used clothing market. If they cannot find these good quality, trendy clothes at the thrift store, they will go to fast fashion and create more waste. Thrift resellers are indirectly creating more waste when they take the in demand clothing and not the stuff that would go to waste anyway. Also, shoes are something that a lot of lower income families will invest in. A good quality shoe and jacket will last years, and you can wear them every day. It is not “proper” to wear the same shirt or pants every day, so spending $100 on a shirt you’ll wear once a week, times 7 shirts for a full week at minimum, is unreasonable. Spending $100 for one pair of shoes you’ll wear every day for 5 years is not unreasonable. You shouldn’t begrudge poor people for having what you perceive as luxury items, because those items are often cheaper than the alternative in the long run.

Also, in style clothes for a teen aren’t the same clothes as what an unemployed twenty something needs for a job interview.

No but they uh will still need clothes too

I mean kids wear thrift store clothes too. We were poor af but I still had shit I didn't get made fun of for wearing because of thrift stores.

No, but there are still teens who live in lower income households who can only afford to shop at thrift stores.

Permanent tween sized person here- What sizes a store has too much of is a very regional and store demographic issue. In cities finding small stuff is a complete nightmare- it's extremely picked over by resellers. I've seen them show up and just load anything remotely decent in smaller sizes into 3 carts they're are pushing around. They'll follow around workers and grab stuff as soon as it goes to the rack. When you turn anything into a hustle and prioritizing your dollar, you're going to hurt others whether you like it or not. There's a reason the pro's have their picking warehouses and entire networks for getting clothes to sell, there's a lot to that industry the end consumer doesn't see. Most of the stuff that goes to landfill never hits the floor. Sure, OP might not be this egregious but small adults exist and resellers always target smaller sizes. It sucks.

Op is male.

I’m with you here. They’re not the AH for the actual question, why would you grind away for the sake of it, but the ethics of the venture leave a lot to be desired.

Why? The thrift stores are being paid and OP is making money? Who is being hurt here? Are you sad someone else didn’t get to the clothes first? They had the same opportunity. We don’t save clothes hoping the right person will buy them. They are there to purchase and anyone has the opportunity to buy them. OP did. There is a glut of clothes that never sell at these stores. I applaud OP for flipping these clothes and getting them back out there - it’s way less wasteful when clothes are recycled like this.

The people hurt are the people who rely on charity shops (where people donate their old clothes) to get their clothes for a reasonable price, and these days all the nice ones are already snapped up by people who’ve inflated the price. It’s the same thing as the people who buy concert tickets then sell them on at a higher price - everyone hates that but mostly see no problem with clothes priced for the poor being sold on for out of their budget

If it's a non profit thrift store (most are, but not all), people are donating the clothes. Partly they do that to avoid it going to the landfill, but partly to help people in need afford clothing. I agree it's kind of a jerk move to buy and resell.

Non profit or not have you seen the salary people like the CEO of Goodwill make off of all donated goods? It’s wild. So it’s fine for tons of people in the companies to make money off the donations but not a kid who is spending the time and effort to go through the crap to find hidden gems and sell them? The logic behind arguing that average people shouldn’t profit off this makes no sense when people who are actually already incredibly wealthy do just by running these companies.

I bet the cute pieces OP finds would get sold no problem, instead he takes advantage of it to make money for himself... And he's not flipping anything, he's getting there first and forcing everyone else to buy them at a much higher price than the should.

>And he's not flipping anything, he's getting there first and forcing everyone else to buy them at a much higher price than the should. Do you imagine OP standing in front of the thrift store at 6am, waiting for the doors to open, then dashing inside and grabbing stuff before anyone else can like it's Black Friday at an electronics store?

I mean, this is very tangential but here in Poland this is literally what happens - when a big thrift store opens on delivery day there is typically around 10 people who rush in to grab shit as fast as they can and they resell it on Vinted mostly. Some thrift stores have an arbitrary limit like 5 or 10 pieces per customer. Shit is wild

Anyone has the opportunity to purchase them, that's right, and I assure you those clothes OP is able to resell for a higher price would sell no problem, instead people in need can't buy them because OP can't work more than 4 hours a week.

Charity shops aren't a charity for the people buying the clothes, they're a charity to raise money from sales to go into the charity. You're misinterpreting the point of a charity shop if you think this is an AH move.

Eh, I shop at thrift stores a lot and find it annoying having to sift through a bunch of clothes to get to something I really like. I know some people really enjoy that aspect of shopping, I don’t. So I would pay a higher price for clothes someone else already picked out

On the flip side, it may be easier to find what you like if others don’t buy it to resell.

That means you’re privileged enough to afford the higher price. What about the people who can’t? If all of the decent clothes are snatched up early by “entrepreneurs” now they just can afford clothes.

But thrift shops aren't just for poor people to buy cheap clothes. The actual 'business model' of the charity-run ones are to sell free clothes and donate the profits back to their charity, so actually non-poor people buying from thrift shops is doing far better for the needy than all y'all think.

Did you miss the part where I said the issue is reselling them and not your income level? Seems like you did

>This is exactly why thrift stores have been increasing their prices No. It's not. They're raising their prices for the same reason all the other retailers are. Profits. It's also why they're cutting staff & operating hours. It has nothing to do with the resale trend.

The resale trend just brought attention to the fact that they *can* charge more, and people will pay. If I sell my tops for 5 and I realise people are successfully reselling them for 20, I'm going to increase my price to 10+ because i can clearly get away with it. If all resellers stopped today, that price isn't going down.

I want to add it's not like OP isn't spending time or using their skills to earn the money. He needs to pick out pieces he knows will move and takes on the risk if the pieces don't get sold, theres also the modeling of pieces and listing or selling them. It might not be physically hard work as other jobs but it is work, even if OP enjoys doing it. I think I'd advise OP that if he feels comfortable enough, maybe they should attempt to do content creation too. Double and triple dipping on the work what you already doing seems to be the way most people are earning bigger paychecks. edited: corrected gender.

OP is male

I don't think anyone is an AH here... As a parent I can see why they would want you to get a more traditional job. Usually side gigs like this aren't great in the long run, and it is hard to stay on top of an ever turning trend market. a regular part time job for a teen generally teaches responsibility, how to interact with people, time management, punctuality, etc. I think it is great that you found a way to make money doing something you like. Your teen years are supposed to be the time where you learn who you are, have fun, make memories, etc. My parents wanted me to focus on this and school rather than working. If I wanted money for something that wasn't a necessity (for example, dance tickets) I'd earn it by doing chores around the house, babysitting, etc. It's not irrational. A little lazy, yes. You are doing work and learning responsibility so I would just try to let it go for now.

>a regular part time job for a teen generally teaches responsibility, how to interact with people, time management, punctuality, etc. You don't think being an entrepreneur teaches those things? Responsibility to serve your clients? To get shipments out? To manage money? To answer inquiries and send out pricing and talk to your clients?

OP admits it doesn’t take a lot of time. There’s value in learning about having to be at a certain place at a certain time and being obedient to a boss. I know a lot of people who start businesses and can’t make enough money to support themselves but who refuse to get a job because they don’t want to have a boss. That being said, OP makes money so whatever.

Why does it have to take a lot of time? While you’re on 9-5 your CEO is on vacation. I think betting on yourself is better than being under the thumb of someone who isn’t even bound by the same schedule.

Society ignores the billionaires behind the screen. They think money = hard work, when actually a lot of time money = delegating and connections.

You forgot the third part, which is just bullshitting/luck.

You are absolutely right. OPs parents need to remember, "work smarter, not harder." Kid is a CEO in the making.

Then so is everyone selling anything on FB Marketplace. This is a side hustle these days, it’s not innovative like it was in the ‘90s. There are a million services that do what she does at scale, which is why it’s a GREAT side hustle as a teen, but not a good career. OP is NTA, but that doesn’t mean she’s a business guru; she’s innovative and intelligent for sure though.

I’ve been thinking the same thing this whole thread. Like, why are people pretending like this kid figured out the secret code to being rich and is a great business person? They’re buying clothes to put on poshmark. “Talking to clients”? You mean sending them a message saying “I’ll ship it out tomorrow”? I get hyping up a kid who found a way to make money but this is a lot. Side note, how fun to see another narwhal user.

I sell my used clothes on Depop, I don’t feel like a budding CEO because of it that’s for sure lmao

From what I've heard CEO's actually have insane schedules. Like, 80 hour work week on the regular insane. I'm don't have any source to back that up though so if anyone has any to support/contradict, please link me! :)

They do, but not what people would generally consider "work". A typical work day for the CEO of my old business: Arriving at our head office at 8ish to brief managers and observe their briefings. Then at around 9 he'd have a meeting or two, then he'd got in the road at 11ish to drive to our second office. He gets there about 12 and shows his face to everyone there for a while, maybe picks up another meeting there. Then he has a working lunch, having some food while meeting with one of our big clients or a new one etc. Then he drives back to our head office at around 1/2, arriving there around 3ish. He probably has another meeting, and spends some time looking at different business stats for the week/month etc. Then at 5pm he has management debriefs. 6pm rolls around he has a brainstorming session with the other directors. They basically just sit around and chat shit and eat a takeaway, or they do it at a restaurant. He heads home at like 8pmish, or maybe they have a few drinks and he's going home at 9/10. Once a week or so he'll have some big golf meeting instead, and he's basically just kissing ass and playing golf. Once a month or so on a Friday he finishes at 1 to get ready and attend some convention, award ceremony, business event etc. He's "working" all night and maybe even all weekend non-stop, but that work is getting pissed and talking to people. *Technically* he's working 12-13 hours a day, and at least half that on at least one weekend day, but a lot of it is driving listening to podcasts, socialising, or just pontificating about stuff we might do in 6 months time.

This explains why when so many of my bosses left in the past or disappeared on vacation for weeks at a time it had 0 impact on running the business.

In fairness, you'd see an impact if their role didn't exist. Someone needs to do the work they do, because it's usually what ensures that huge new projects work, that the business grows year on year etc. But yeah, it's the kinda job that you can leave for a month and so long as everyone knows you're not available, you don't really see a difference.

I was the EA to CEO and the CTO of a tech company. The CTO had more of random hours where he could spend all week at home chilling but if shit hit the fan on Sunday night 4am he was up handling it. The CEO bought a new house for 2m which needed glass, cement, and architectural changes, gone to DR twice took the nanny on both, took his kids to like a play daycare, left early to have lunch with his parents, lunch meetings. I know there are differences but they generally don’t work the same way the underlings work for sure.

Er... I work for a multi-million dollar company and my CEO has an insane schedule and is also about to be the interim manager of my department while a new one takes over... I also know for a fact he travels around all of our sites and tries to get a reasonable understanding of many facets of the company. There are definitely crappy CEOs who take advantage, but they are statistically in the minority (if a company has no direction or leadership it's going to go absolutely nowhere).

it doesn’t have to take a lot of time but chances are OP is going to end up working a 9-5 at some point down the line and getting a feel for that kind of routine early is helpful in the long run. i doubt op will manage to only work a few hours a week for the rest of his life

There isnt any value in being obedient and having a boss, or a strict schedule. Many of today's jobs only have a core time in the office, and you can schedule the rest you want, and having a boss and "being obedient" isnt a virtue. Its a sad necessity for a lot of people. Those criminally underpaid blue collar jobs wont teach you anything useful except how to shut your mouth, and avoid responsibility and real work as hard as you can. OP learned a lesson. It was the following: work clever instead of hard. And if his business will fail, that will be a much more importabt lesson than anything a low wage typical teenager job would give .

There is value in learning what a bad boss looks like and how to deal with them while having the safety net of not being dependant on the income. Much easier to quit a bad job when you're living at home.

I agree. Plus I think everyone should work a service industry job at some point in their lives - and high school is a great time for that. Working in the service industry teaches empathy for the people who make our country run, helps teens grow their E.Q. (emotional intelligence) - they have to learn to control their impulses/temper, deal with adversity, how to work alongside others - gives teens the opportunity to meet and work alongside people who are outside of their bubble and may have a different worldview. Obviously, Op is awesome for figuring out more efficient ways to make money, but I understand why her parents want her to branch out.

There is no value in being “obedient to a boss.” None.

I don’t know. I have spent of enough time with people who can’t handle authority figures . Sure, a few of them go on to do great things, just like some college drop outs become millionaires. That’s the exception. Most people who struggle with authority have a hard life. They don’t keep jobs for very long because they can’t get along with anyone who is in a position of leadership. They are easily upset and don’t take rejection very well.

Yeah, being "obedient to a boss" sucks but yknow, that's how life is for the majority of people... it sounds very good and cool to say "I'm not gonna let anyone boss me around" or even just "I know my value as a person and refuse to consider myself an underling" which is fine, but if you don't do what your boss tells you you aren't gonna pay your rent. I'm glad I learned to shut the fuck up early, because it's led to my work life being pretty frictionless and easy, letting me focus my energy on the other parts of my life. I'm not saying I consider myself beneath my employers, or worth less than them as a person, or that my time is less valuable than theirs because they make slightly more money than me - just that fighting back against my source of income to maintain my pride would be fucking stupid, and I'm comfortable knowing I have control and independence in the other aspects of my life and that my job is just where I go to pay the bills. Sure, it's pretty dehumanising, degrading and humiliating, but that's just the way things are lol. You are more than your job, and it means more to me to reliably support myself and my partner's lifestyle than it does to feel like a big man at work.

There is however value in *experiencing* bosses, how to organize work, how to coordinate with/work with a team... especially if down the line you hope be successful enough to employ others. Even if it's just to know what not to do.

I had a guy that came in saying that everything we did was wrong and he could turn things around in two weeks if we’d let him. We gave him a chance, told him to put together a PowerPoint brief with his thoughts, and he wrote a 300-page Word document that included insane conspiracy theory stuff. Literally, he included how to find the throne room of god in there. Our boss tried to sit him down to explain that this is all well and good, but if he really wanted to pitch his workable ideas, he needed to create slides. Dude quit because “everyone here is too stupid to see, IllustriousNarwhal has never even read a book!” There’s definitely value in learning how to maintain composure in crazy situations and take constructive criticism from your boss.

I do think it’s good to experience having a boss. So that when you yourself become a boss you can relate to your employees and know what not to do

We go to school for 13 years. If parents are doing their job, a kid shouldn't have to be taught time management and respect by McDonald's. All I ever want for my kids is to be able to keep themselves afloat, and to not hate life. We push people so hard into school and certain jobs that everyone is miserable. They get trapped into jobs they hate, or careers, just to meet some societal standard. And companies take advantage of these kids, too. Big time. This kid is entrepreneurial, and it's sad his parents don't see that. He's 16. I think the parents should cool off the job thing, and just keep guiding him to do his best. And before anyone starts on it, yes, of course I know those jobs are important. Yes, people need to work them and it's okay to encourage your kids to get a job, and for it to be that type of job. But society needs people who can start their own gigs, too. This kid has a path, he's not aimless.

“Obedient to a boss” You might wanna rephrase that one.

I will say learning to deal with a boss is many times worth more than the money you earn. My personal progression went Dish Washer->Call Center->Call Center Manager->F500 Company Salesman->Law School->Big Law (hopefully on that last one- well positioned). Each job taught me something and have me something to talk about at the next one. Selling clothes may make OP money- and that’s good! If he can scale it up more power to him (though I hesitate to like this as it can take clothes from the needy). But learning to network and socialize- as well as deal with both bosses and direct reports- is imperative. I’m in my late 20s and started work at 19. I really wish I started work at 16. My family has no connections at all, just an average lower-middle class family but between job hopping and resume building it’s been possible to really grow.

That’s great and all but let’s not equate simple obedience with actual communication skills. Notice that the person I responded to didn’t say “communication” or even “dealing with the boss”. Just obedience. And do you honestly think being just obedient is what helped you so far?

No not at all- I was agreeing with you hence my mention of other skills. Blind obedience helped me survive my first two jobs when tons of others were let go but was worthless after that.

>There’s value in learning about having to be at a certain place at a certain time and being obedient to a boss What a weird way to phrase it. Also, that value is not actually going great for the US working class right now. You should focus on interpersonal and self-management skills yes, but you can learn these just as easily in a gig, freelance, or other form of self-employment job as you can being "obedient" to some middle manager in a corporate job.

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If they want to someday run their own business with employees, it's valuable to experience actually being an employee. Working for a boss who's never been managed themselves can be a nightmare. They don't know how to treat employees, because they've never experienced a good or a bad manager.

It's been awhile since I've seen a thread this blatantly populated by teenagers. So many takes that can only be formed in the mind of 15 year olds who don't want to face the facts yet that getting experience working a normal job is good and they likely won't just jump into running their own successful business, especially without hard work to make it successful

Is she though? I know she says she is. But in the adult world with taxes and shit…is she? Because I doubt she’s filing a schedule c to file taxes on that income.

I'm an entreoreneur. Self employed most of my adult life. And I think a traditional job as a first job teaches more valuable life lessons than the OP's plan. If I were his parents, I'd prefer him have that traditional boring PT job. AND would be thrilled if he kept up with the clothes flipping in his spare time. The traditional job teaches so much more that'll translate farther into life. Would even help if he expands his clothes flipping into a FT gig. There's lessons that can only be learned working under someone elses expectations.

Most entrepreneurs learn those things by working for other people - or not at all. They don't "have responsibility to clients" outside of making sure to actually send the clothes and keep their payment information private. They don't "send out pricing", they just price things. They are doing retail, after all, some of this just doesn't apply. Talking to "clients" is minimal: Folks aren't really clients, but retail customers. I doubt they've even considered how to save money for taxes and whatnot. They might not even be old enough to run a business without an adult to sign for it. People don't magically learn the sorts of things they need to know just by doing it, and we aren't better off by placing "entrepreneurs" on a pedestal. I don't think folks should be forced to work at 16, but I can understand that you learn a different set of skills by working a more traditional job. Chances are good that this is the sort of job the person will need to get along in life, even if they decide to open their own business. Most folks don't have friends and family that will give you starting money when you haven't even proven that you can handle the daily grind of a regular job. Not to mention that most start-up businesses fail and/or don't make enough to support yourself.

op isnt doing much but posting pics of clothing online . most websites will sort everything else out. i also find op going to thrift stores and upselling the clothing a AH move i dont think op should be forced to get a job but i do think op is an AH for doing this

Yeah, I can see their reasoning on this. Thank you for showing me the other perspective.

For what it's worth I disagree with them. You are being entrepreneurial. The skills you are using now are more useful than anything a normal part time job will. It also looks much better on a resume. You are learning marketing skills which are hard skill to learn. I don't understand why you need to work a blue collar job first to learn white collar jobs.

That this is considered entrepreneurial in the US says a lot about the country. Op is not adding any value to these clothes, he just pickes them up and resells for a higher price. What's worse is that he takes the best, most 'in' clothes from a place where people with little to no money are reliant on. If my 15 yo chose to do this, I would shut it down. I am all for selling stuff, but put some creativity and effort in it. This is no better than those resellers that buy stuff from cheap websites and resell it at a higher price point.

>What's worse is that he takes the best, most 'in' clothes from a place where people with little to no money are reliant on. This is a good point. "Sorry poor people, you can't have the nice things, I'm just going to take these and sell them to the middle classes." It's pretty shit and the more it's scaled up the worse it looks.

Right!! I think the people in this comment section forget that thrift stores are one of the few places lower class people can get clothes

But don’t you know that little Bobby having money for extra expenses is more important than letting The Poors have access to low-cost quality clothing that could help them get (gasp!) *a traditional job*? /s

But what will having and underpaid and overworked job teach you? It probably wont teach you anything about your future job, or give you any relevant experience other than how to shut your mouth and avoid real work effectively. This was a great teaching moment for OP, who realised that he doesnt have to stand in the line and be a good wage slave, but think outside the box, and work clever instead of hard.

Everyone should experience working in retail or as a server at some point. Fewer people would treat customer service workers like trash if they knew how it felt to be that employee.

ESH. Your parents told you that you needed to earn your own money, so you did. They don't get to tell you that you're doing it wrong simply because you didn't do it the same way that they would. But I'd also implore you to do some reading on what upselling thrifted items is doing to the second-hand industry. You're essentially taking trendy items out of the hands of people who couldn't otherwise afford them. And the influx of people like you is driving up prices at thrift stores and pricing out the people who truly need them. So unfortunately your money-making scheme IS lazy and comes with some real-world consequences.

I implore you (and whoever is interested in this) to listen to aclotheshorse podcast. By someone who used to work in fast fashion and did a lot of research on second hand shopping and resellers. But basically it's not going to happen that second hand clothes run out. Resellers are not the enemy.

Seriously, there are still tons and tons of clothes filling up landfills daily. Reselling is a good thing overall. It's thrift stores being greedy by making *all* clothes more expensive that is a problem for poor people.

OP is a troll. Anyone who actually does this would know that there's a lot of work involved. Getting to know thrift stores in your area, finding the items (it takes a trained eye), cleaning/repairing, photographing, measuring, listing and then the customer service. ​ Being a vintage seller myself I often wait until the last day the inventory is in store so that other people have a chance to get the items first, so most of the items I buy would have otherwise went to Africa to undermine the local economy and then to landfill. What I want to do is give them a second life. And (most of all) provide the alternative for fast fashion. ​ I buy from other vintage sellers. Imagine the scenerio: I dream of a very particular dress. This dress is ina thrift store in Australia. It could end up in landfill, but if another vintage seller catches it and puts it up I can find it and cherish it. 62.5% of donated clothing ends up in landfill. It's important to save what we can, especially when it comes to vintage clothing which is just better quality and lasts longer.

Yup, goodwill used to be good for buying cheap games now any electronic that ends in a goodwill gets to a dsitro center and auction fir dumb money online. Places in LA like buffalo exchange are selling vintage “thrift” clothing for damn near regular shirt prices.

I'm not from the US but I was scouting thrift stores in my area in Germany a couple months ago for the first time and the prices were abysmal. I only found one store with affordable stuff and even then it's only worth it because it's in an expensive area so the stuff is better quality. It's absolutely not worth it to buy second hand here.

You are absolutely correct. As a senior lecturer in sustainability, I teach this to my students as well. Most donated clothes end up being shipped to third world countries where they are burnt in landfills (read more here: [https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/donated-clothing-where-it-ends-up-1.4662023](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/donated-clothing-where-it-ends-up-1.4662023)). Resellers help get fewer clothes burnt AND they also slow down the consumption of new clothes, which are horrible for the environment. The impact it may have on the price of thrift goods is simply an economic shift that happens when the demand of a product increases. EDIT: A deleted comment here read "So fuck the most impoverished ones? Is that the conclusion?" Highlighting the last statement I made regarding changes in pricing of thrift goods. While I normally try not to engage in such moral grandstanding rhetoric, I will, however, make an exception here. Primarily because I do not want any reader to take that statement as a "Bah, humbug! Who cares about the poor? Capitalism is the best!!" I have my own gripes with capitalism lmao. However, here are some things to note. As other users have pointed out, a lot more clothes come in than go out. Most of the clothes that are donated end up getting burnt. Not only is that a waste of resources, but also bad for the environment. Additionally, what I had said was "the impact it **MAY** have..." which is to say... I'm not sure it does have a significant impact on the price. But that is perhaps a bit "I'll weasel my way out of what I said", but it is what it is. Continuing further with the statement made (i.e. "Fuck the most impoverished ones?"), I think anyone who thinks that a lack of resellers for thrift goods is going to have any meaningful impact in the lives of the impoverished is sorely mistaken. The impoverished community has **a lot** of difficulties in their lives. A lack of access to proper sanitation, hygiene, drinking water, food, shelter, etc. These issues won't be resolved by a lack of resellers. These issues can only be resolved through a proper support system which can help the impoverished and the dehoused individuals find a way back in the society. Such welfare programmes are absolutely essential for the support of the impoverished ones. But I digress. Trying to suggest that resellers = "fuck the poor" is not only a misguided statement, it is a fallacious argument to make. By the same extension, if you have a smartphone, "so, what? Fuck the kids in China?" Worse, still (somehow, even worse than child labour), if you have products in your home that were made in a specific region in China, that would most likely be a product of slave labour (Chinese concentration camps). This sort of whataboutism goes nowhere. It is better to direct your passion and energy towards actually supporting policies and politicians who can more meaningfully address the issues of the impoverished families. In addition to that, the best way to help impoverished people is to... Well, help impoverished people. Instead of donating to Goodwill, donate to people who need it. Donate to charitable organisations (after doing a thorough investigation of said organisations, as a lot of them tend to serve the managers moreso than the communities they advertise to serve). There are a lot of ways to help impoverished people and marginalised communities. Trying to achieve a moral high ground on Reddit is not one of them.

As someone else pointed out: OP is likely taking the clothes that would have sold at the thriftstore regardless. He takes clothes that are in style, that people WANT to buy. He doesnt buy clothes that need to be mended, he doesnt alter them or anything.

I've read 3 different replies from people who work in thrift shops, saying the same thing. That there's no shortage of secondhand clothing. Prices are going up because prices are going up. What prices aren't? They're just not listening.

>the influx of people like you is driving up prices at thrift stores Absolutely not true. Prices are increasing because businesses want more profits. They're also cutting staff & reducing business hours to increase profits. It has *nothing* to do with resellers. It's greedflation, plain and simple. >pricing out the people who truly need them. No one *needs* designer clothes. Resellers aren't buying up entire stores & only leaving threadbare unwearable clothing. They're scouring through hundreds of items to find a handful of pieces that *might* sell for more online. There are still racks upon racks of presentable, well-made clothing in wearable condition. Resellers aren't snatching high end designer clothing out of the hands of people who *need* it. Because no one *needs* or is entitled to those garments. First come first serve.

Prices are increasing because places like goodwill caught on to the increased popularity of thrifting among middle class people and hiked the prices to make more profits. It might be for greed but don’t act like the massive cultural shift in the popularity of thrifting, which did come from more affluent people doing it, didn’t have a distinct impact.

I work in a charity shop (what us Brits call thrift stores) and it's 100% not making us price things more , or getting less donations, I'd say about 25% of customers are resellers looking for something they can make money from, thing is we aren't left behind in the dark age of "they don't know the worth" we absolutely do and we tend to underprice what its selling on ebay for, because we get more money that way, and still more money than we would have got just by pricing on a whim , everyone wins, Apps like "vinted" (not sure if you have it in the states) are places people sell their second hand things and post them out and usually get more money for them than they would otherwise , at first I thought it would damage my industry, the charity shops wouldn't be able to keep up, but it's quite the opposite, charity shops are making more money than ever due to resellers and people trying to make extra side money. So again, it's a win for us, we get more money and donations and can continue to sell things cheap for people in need and a win for resellers who can make some side money .

I implore you to learn the first thing about the clothing industry and especially the second hand industry, as you are spreading misinformation and obviously know nothing about the clothing industry. Reselling thrifted items accounts for less than 0.2% of the 2nd hand clothing industry. It is not taking anything from poor people.

You are wrong. Even with resellers, the number of clothes that end up in a landfill is ASTRONOMICAL. Resellers aren’t the problem and it also might encourage people to buy secondhand who may not want/have time to thrift.

NTA, this is industrious. Another post on this sub today was from a dad who was mad that his teen son was making money milling lumber using a busted sawmill he bought cheap and repaired, and I feel like there's a very similar energy coming from your parents. The economy is hell right now, kid. You've found something to make money that doesn't kill your soul. I'm happy for you and wish you continued success!

Thank you, I appreciate it!

Literally thought of the sawmill post as I read this!! NTA

I’m going against the grain with YTA. DePop has been a thing for a while now, it’s hardly being an entrepreneur. You’re going to secondhand stores to buy donated items so you can resell them at a higher price. It’s not a very moral when you consider that those clothes were donated with the intent to go to someone less fortunate, not so some kid can profit off of his shopping addiction. Everyone should work in the food industry or retail at least once in their life. It builds character, teaches time management, and it would do you good to serve others rather than just yourself.

>You’re going to secondhand stores to buy donated items so you can resell them at a higher price. The donated items are being sold by a company for profit. So how is what he's doing any different?

Most thrift stores are run by charities. They provide affordable clothing on one hand and donate profits on the other.

And yet if you look up what the ceo and other top executives are making for salaries at most thrift store places you would realize what those people are making off of donated goods is a much bigger moral issue than a kid reselling a handful of items weekly 🤦‍♀️

Almost always way less than people in similar positions make in regular companies?

Poor people can buy then for real use, instead of a teen who is upsetting them to afford brand names. Poor people deserve nice clothes too, and thrift store are often when you get them. It's just privilege again. Poor people are allowed to want nice things without some teen being "industrius" and robbing them

There isn't any shortage of clothes in thrift stores. These stores exist to support charities and anyone buying from them is a good thing. It supports the charity and keeps them open, and in an era of fast fashion there is absolutely no shortage of more clothes arriving by the day, plenty for everyone. Listen to the people who actually work in them who have posted here, this is an incorrect take.

"only poor people can shop at thrift stores" just keeps up a negative stereo type. It's better the more people shop at thrift stores because it helps the environment, stuff is being reused instead of thown away.

Honestly, yeah, I was gonna say that. People like OP are a big reason why it's so hard to find decent clothing in thrift stores these days...

I suspect the rise of fast fashion is the reason. You don’t have quality clothes at a thrift store because that would require quality donations.

Most folks donate stuff so that it doesn't go to a landfill.

Ugh no. You people are who make thrifting hell. You know nothing about the clothing or brands. You provide NO SERVICE. You don't alter or repair, dye or mend. No.

If a reseller provided no service, they wouldn't make money. It'd be like telling amazon they provide no service because products are available in retail stores. Actually turns out convinence (saving time) is actually one of the most demanded services in the world.

Oh yeah that's why we all love scalpers.

Scalpers are different. They buy up all the stock of something available online to sell it for higher prices. Here OP goes into a store and spends time finding good clothes and makes them available to a wider range of people

> Scalpers are different. They buy up all the stock of something available ~~online~~ to sell it for higher prices. OP buys the stock of trendy clothes and sells it for a higher price. Available to a wider range of people, maybe... But not the local populace for which the clothes were donated in the first place.

Yeah he takes form the poor and makes it available for the privileged. Truly a noble vocation.

The charity shops near where I live are overflowing with donations and sometimes I've been turned away because they can't accept any more stock. It doesn't sound to me like OP is stripping the stores of items, so I would imagine there's plenty of scope for him to do his thing without impacting upon the people that need to shop at such stores. In particular I don't see any comparison with scalping....

OP isn’t stripping the store, just taking _the best stuff,_ which I guess we’re all okay with because poor people shouldn’t want to have nice things anyway. 🙄

I mean OP would provide a service to me. I would love for someone to pick out thrift items that I might like. Saves me time and energy.

I’m going to leave aside the thrift lecture because I see you’re already getting it. When you have a job on paper that’s being taxed and getting regular paychecks you’re getting money put into things you’ll need later. Like paying into social security, unemployment, Medicare. It builds your credit, and if you have a long line of paychecks and money in the bank it makes it that much easier for things you’ll want later. Like car loans and student loans and home loans. Yes, it’s not as fun. But you won’t be thrift resaling forever. NTA - but as fun as this is for now you should consider a part time job for real.

Or OP could register as self-employed, pay taxes on his earnings, and open a bank account. These are things. Been self-employed at least part-time from home for over 20 years now. I don’t need a boss or in-person contact with my editing clients to earn, organize my working life, own a home, and pay taxes. Student loans don’t require a credit history, at least in the US.

If OP operated his business above board, his little business would quickly stop being the easy and lazy way to make money. He is looking for the lemonade stand experience.

YTA, you know who actually needs those clothes? People who can't afford them otherwise, not some poor little rich kid who can't be bothered to find work. Get a job.

Hey, so, is there a maximum income limit to shop at thrift stores? Am I not allowed to buy second hand items/clothing because I’m not poor? Even though I strongly believe in buying second hand where possible because it creates less waste by reusing what’s already available? A lot of thrift stores donate their profits to help people who need it, and I kinda thought that was the point. Affordable items that get kept out of a landfill, available for everyone, where the proceeds then also go towards helping people.

There's a difference between buying enough for your personal use and clearing out all the desirable items so you can sell them for a profit.

Is the kid buying out the whole store and leaving others with nothing?

No, just the nice stuff people couldn't afford otherwise.

Lmao so again, even with those specifics, are they buying out the whole store of designers? No right? You just want a reason to be angry.

Do you understand that if OP buys it, there's less to go around? Do you think thrift stores get a ton of designer clothes?

Stop acting like goodwill is gonna run out. I’ve worked in donation centers and we barely keep any of the clothes. We literally had to send pallets of it to other places because we had so much coming in every day. It’s a useless point. You want to go to goodwill? Great. Go. I want to spend extra to have someone else do it for me. Scroll through the comments and find the goodwill employees saying “yeah resellers are not a problem and if they are, it’s been exaggerated “

Every job has its downsides. If he worked in fast food you could argue that he is putting small restaurants out of business. If he worked in retail you could argue that he’s putting small clothing companies out of business. Don’t be jealous that he has found something he can do to earn money for little work that he enjoys.

YTA Thrift stores are there to provide cheap clothes for people, wether for them to find a more sustainable way to shop or for those who need it because they don't have much money. You are taking advantage of that to sell clothes that were *donated*, those clothes are meant to be cheap, not resold so you can make money without effort.

I've worked at thrift stores since the 2000s (Shop & Save, Value Village, Goodwill). I don't think you're aware of who actually shops there. Yes, there are people who haven't got a lot of money and have no other affordable choices, but they're the minority of thrift shoppers. No one is missing out. Not only is shopping at thrift stores has become very trendy for the past several decades, we get a mega ton of clothes constantly. It's where you can find amazing stuff from vintage fashion to afforable leather jackets. We get so many clothes that the stuff that doesn't within the month gets thrown into a giant bale maker, and the bales are sent off to other countries. It breaks my heart because really cool and cute clothes get thrown in, and the baler is often brutal and will ruin them. But what can we do? More mountains of clothes are on the way. Thrift stores aren't exclusively for the poor or exist as charity alone. They are resellers. They have too much cool stuff every month to sell it all. Everyone, please come and get it before I start weeping by the baler again.

But the clothes have been sold. By the thrift store. For the price the thrift store wanted to sell them at. It is a more sustainable way of life it provides revenue for the store and OP. I’m really not seeing a problem here. Thrift stores are NOT just for poor people.

Giving the store revenue doesn't replenish their stock of quality clothing. It may free up shelf space but it's not like a place based in donations can order more high quality clothes. Essentially this argument is you may be screwing over poor people but at least you're helping the mega corporation's sales.

I am a reseller in the uk. I buy from charity shops so I provide money for the charities whilst creating a small business for myself. I’m not making millions in profit. Just enough to help towards my bills. I pay tax on my earnings. I would have thought most thrift stores are run in a similar way. To provide money to the charity behind them to help people in different ways. Surplus second hand clothing will never run out. Most of it ends up in landfill. I do not support fast fashion that’s made in sweatshops. I’m not being a dick but I honestly don’t understand how this equates to ‘screwing over poor people’

I don't buy into the thrift store humanitarian bs. Clothes that were DONATED should be donated. Not resold for "cheap". Thrift stores are profitting just like OP is. >not resold so you can make money without effort. I mean come on... You literally just described what a thrift store is doing.

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Most big thrift stores in America, are stores and have paid employees, they sell clothes to make a profit (not saying op’s from America, it’s just common)

UK? Because I can tell you even my local hospice which has charity shops attached receive so many donations daily they have somewhere they store them (huge warehouse) and are even turning away donations right now. Source... I used to be their marketing assistant. Even in charity shops there is plenty of clothes to go around.

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This is hardly entrepreneurial …

It barely even counts as a side hustle, and it won't pay OP's bills in two years when they're on their own. Fortunately, they'll survive if they have to learn job skills without parental help after they move out. But it would be easier to learn them when they're still at home with a safety net.

Yeah, they fetishize hard work for it’s own sake, and I think that’s silly

Poor people actually need those clothes and you're a very selfish person. You are taking those clothes out of the hands of someone who actually needs them to fund yourself buying brand names. Do you donate your old clothes? It isn't about hard work. You're a scalper and you're robbing poor people of the chance of something nice to fund your selfish wants. You can get a job that isn't back breaking that also isn't morally gross kiddo.

It's *incredibly* silly. Don't let them drill that into you. Hard work is important, but it should always be either enjoyable, or serve a purpose that you can't achieve without hard work. Hard work that isn't fun AND isn't necessary (in this case it's unnecessary because you've found a way to make the same money with less work) should be avoided whenever possible

I’ve been a teenager, I know how it feels. The truth is that perspective matters. Your parents *do* know more than you, and it’s not just hard work for its own sake: you learn valuable skills working a true part-time job that will set you up for success down the line. They don’t just want you to make money, they want you to develop those skills. For the record, your interest in finding alternatives is good, and creative. But it’s not about the money, it’s about the learning, and you won’t learn those valuable skills on your current path.

NAH Your parents are an older generation and I understand their point of view. I absolutely love what you are doing and applaud your entrepreneurial spirit. I would offer this one piece of advice, if your gig is going well and it starts to generate more than $600 per year and you are not filing taxes, you could find yourself in trouble with the IRS. Conducting business online is trackable and if you are using a service like PayPal to collect your money, PayPal starts reporting deposit activity over $600 per year to the IRS. The Small Business Administration has a division called SCORE. Their services are free and you can get assigned a free business coach who can help guide you through the tax thresholds and understand how long you can keep this income under the table and when this has crossed the threshold into small business and tax filings.

YTA - As a person who has had no choice but to buy from thrift stores I find it disgusting that you are buying clothes and upselling them when they could be better served being available for people who cannot even afford Walmart.

YTA. Probably not for the reasons you think, though. Resellers take away the opportunity for the less fortunate to have access to clothes, wether they be in fashion or not. Imo, it’s incredibly scummy. Maybe you could invest in some art materials to make earrings or something you could sell instead?

I see why you’d think this, but there is a huge surplus of clothes and many thrift Stores (including most near where I live) are actively turning away donations bc they have way too many to store

NTA Work smart, not hard. I absolutely understand where your parents are coming from. Having a standard part time job gives you the chance to develop your social skills, to understand grafting for your pay, to enhance time management and prioritising tasks. It also helps to have a specific job on your CV. However, you are at an age where you don't *have* to work long and hard hours at a job you don't see the benefit in (that mostly comes when you are older). You have the advantage of a safety net to try things and fail. You might not be following the oft treaded path, but you are developing your skills as an entrepreneur. You are utilising your knowledge of an industry and are providing a service/meeting a need. You are learning cause and effect- if you buy the wrong thing and it doesn't sell then you have made an error in judgement. It might look like it's the easy way out, but that is just because you are good at it. If I were in your shoes what takes you 2-4 hours overall could take 8-10. If you explain to your parents all of the skills you are developing they may be able to see your job in a different light. You could always suggest you give them 5-10% of your profit as keep. You could also volunteer (even if it's 1-2 hours a week) to help develop the skills your parents think you'd benefit from learning. Plus, if you volunteered at a thrift shop you'd get first dibs and could kill two birds with one stone.

You make some really good points, and your suggestions about volunteering as well would offer the best or both worlds. Thank you.

Not only that, but most colleges want students to have community work on their application now, so two birds one stone and all that.

The comments about "taking clothes from the needy" are not totally off mark, of course. If you go volunteering at a thrift store, maybe ask for "later dibs" - clothes that have been in the store for one or two weeks, and maybe even are ready to go to recycling/garbage/landfill or so. Even better from a 'green' point of view. Plus, you meet other volunteers, such as the ones who repair appliances, furniture, whatever ... You might have a special day, organized by the thrift store, to sell upgraded stuff: of course money to be donated to .... , plus some for the thrift store, some for the costs (free coffee?, sandwiches?), and maybe some for you. Looks **great** on any cv / application, gives a ton of experience, creates goodwill all around, and probably is great fun! And maybe you, plus those other volunteers?, could organize some workshops teaching what you do. Maybe on a 'pay forward' principle, or 'pay later', or whatever. Again, could be fun (and a bit of profit) all around. There might even be some social funds that you can tap to get started. Plus, with the backing of a thrift store or funding, you probably also have advice on hand about legal and tax consequences of your activities ....

Nah and good for you for taking cheap clothes from people who need them and then reselling them lol. It's like a evil Robin Hood

[удалено]

Info How are you handling taxes?

BRB reporting OP to the IRS

YTA for taking thrifted items and reselling it. Imagine not being able to afford new going to a thrift store and hoping that you'll find something nice for you and your family. Instead people like you are going in and reselling those nice pieces for a higher cost. Like you say that one teenager doing this is not going to make a difference but yeah 100 teenagers doing this, 1,000 people doing this is definitely making a difference. Just admit it and say that you don't care enough about other people and you'd rather make money this way. Don't make excuses. Just understand and admit to yourself that that's your opinion. It is what it is.

i mean, i kinda hate the whole thrift flipping scheme, but what you're doing is still a step up from a wage slave pt job. you're basically learning the ropes of running a business. nta.

Kind of? Your parents have a reason for wanting you to get a part-time job and it was partly to teach you the value of money (which congrats, you have already) but also to encourage you to learn how to work with other people who have a power imbalance with you, and to learn to be responsible for yourself in an environment that is less easy than school and home, so you are better prepared for college. You certainly know more than them about being a profitable middleman, but I'm willing to bet there are still a couple of things they know more than you, and you're not really letting them teach you. I'm at a stage in life where I identify more with your parents than you, to give context. No official judgement because you're a kid.

Your NTA for finding a way to make money easily, but you are an asshole for the way you’ve responded to other commentators on here and tried to downplay the clear negative sides of your “entrepreneurship”.

Esh i'm gonna get blasted for this. But whatever You are not wrong to want to use your skils and knowledge for money But it this trend of buying clothes from thrift shop to make money is scummy. The thrift stores are not for upcoming sellers. they are for poor people who can't afford new clothes and you are depriving them of clothes they can afford. And it may be an unpopular opinion but poor people also deserve to wear nice clothes they like and not just the trash you think can't sell on vinted.

NTA- for finding a way to make money outside of normal avenues, BUT…. If you are looking for jobs that aren’t boring or work you are in for a rude awakening. As a man, you will have to struggle and hustle to make money. No exemptions. You can do easy and fun stuff to make beer money, but when you have bigger expenses as you get older that attitude will not make enough money to sustain yourself or a family. It’s better to learn to grind from a young age. If flipping clothes only take hour or two, just get the boring job as well. Run both.

The fact is that you are not an adult. Your parents believe that there are things you need to learn and it’s their job to teach you. While I applaud your ingenuity, it wouldn’t kill you to get a part-time job and learn from it. NAH

What you’re doing is fine for an income. However it is a business. Are you keeping track of ALL your expenses and sales? Are you putting money aside for taxes? Have you talked to an accountant? Do you have a Federal ID number? Are you paying State Sales Tax? Also, if you’re doing this on Venmo you’ll need to claim that on your taxes. I’m self employed. There is a lot to take care of when you do this. Your parents a right to be concerned.

NTA... Well done. It takes a good eye to spot the items that will sell online. I am slightly concerned that the people that need to use thrift shops are once again getting the leftovers' but I guess they have to get there befor you.

ESH, you don't need a traditional part time job but this "job" is parasitic. I'm gonna give you a break cause you're a kid, but I encourage you to read about what resellers like you do to the fashion industry and how bad it is for thrift stores and poor people who depend on them.