The Vintage Advantage: Jesus Rincon Reflects on his Thrifty Business

Senior Jesus Rincon is a young entrepreneur who started reselling vintage clothing in October of 2021. This idea came from his passion for listening to old music, cultural interests, girls, money, and his personal sense of style. He has always been interested in vintage clothing but finally decided to make a profit out of the hobby. He exemplifies the vintage trend, having refined his skills as a “picker”, or someone who picks through thrift shops to find the most eclectic and valuable vintage items.

Rincon had several motivators going into selling vintage clothing. The largest motivation was the idea of making good money doing something that he already does as a hobby. He became interested in meeting new people in the culture, real people that are going through the same issues and complications related to the business and just life in general.

“The people at events are just genuine, good people,” Rincon said.

Competition is another key motivator in the business for Rincon.

“Going to the bins or thrift stores or even events can provide the motivation to push just a little bit further” Rincon continued.

Part of this is also the fact that he is much younger than anyone he meets in the business. pushing the same success and numbers that he has and that motivates him to keep proving them wrong, and himself right.

“Most of the older competition in the business does not compare to the time and effort I put into finding and selling a product,” Rincon said.

Vintage Dirty Laundry has been in business for about a year now and, according to Rincon, has made sustainable revenue over that general period of time.

“When we first started posting I wasn’t sure about how successful we would truly be and with time I have grown my online business and presence at pop-ups,” Rincon said. “Within two weeks of starting the business my expectations were passed, I didn’t realize it would become so popular.”

Rincon spends a lot of his time at a place the thrifting community calls “The Bins”, a thrift store that is constantly restocking inventory in massive bins. According to Rincon, it is important to know what’s valuable in these environments.

“You just have to look at the tags, you will know when it is an original vintage tag that states made in the USA, knowing the stitching on the sleeves such as a single or double can be a telltale sign of the quality and even just the feel, it may be vintage with the right stitching and tag but be in too bad of shape to sell,” Rincon continued.

When he finds something of value, he posts it instantly, updating his followers on social media accounts covering Snapchat, Instagram, and others. If someone wants to buy from him right from his Story, they can. If an article of clothing does not sell initially, Rincon will post it on Dpop.  If that does not work after about a week, he then tries to go live on Whatnot and tries to sell it to viewers on his stream.

Rincon is unsure if he will continue the business due to the time requirement and stress level because of how fast the business has grown. He sees it as more of a therapeutic activity than a life career, and depending on the growth and success of the business he may keep it that way. When asked about his future plans, he responded enigmatically–

“Keep it a buck like Ice Spice,” laughed Rincon.