Holbrook Puts Entrepreneurial Skills to Work Selling Shoes

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Senior Seth Holbrook poses with his shoes.

Claire Prater, Staff Writer

The reselling and collecting of sneakers has been a popular hobby for many for quite some time, but for senior Seth Holbrook, this is more than just a hobby, it’s a business. 

Holbrook started his business reselling sneakers in spring of 2020, during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“I started because it was a good source of income and I didn’t have to leave my house. Things were shipped in to me and I shipped things out,” he said. 

Holbrook said he found many of his customers online through social media. 

“There are people who will buy shoes from me pretty often, or they’ll ask me to find a pair for them. I guess you could say I have regular customers,” Holbrook said. 

Though Holbrook would consider his selling of shoes a business, that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s constantly making sales. 

“I’ll go two weeks without selling a pair and then that third week I might sell ten pairs,” he said. 

A major factor in the amount of sales being made is really the time of year. 

“Around Christmas and in the summer is peak season for me so I’m making tons of sales then,” he said. “Sometimes I could make 15 sales a week during that time.” 

When asked about the logistics, Holbrook said that he spends nearly $20,000 on shoes a year, and turns it over to make a profit. 

Additionally, it was the selling of shoes that inspired Holbrook to create his own collection. 

“When I started getting the shoes in and seeing how nice they were, I knew I wanted to start getting some for myself,” he said. 

He shared how his collection has grown over the past few years. 

“I probably have about 30 pairs stacked up that’re mine that I personally collect as a hobby.” 

Overall, Holbrook shared that creating this business hasn’t always been so simple. 

“I think a lot of people think reselling is easy, but you really have to know people and build a market for yourself, and that’s tough especially as a high schooler,” he said. 

Overall though, Holbrook shared his true pride for the profession he’s created. 

“It’s been difficult sometimes, but it’s something that I’m proud of, and that I can continue to do for a while,” he shared.