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via http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/20...cks-20140322_1_boca-raton-teen-sneakers-shoesJason Shatsky should be hanging out with friends, playing ball and dating. That's what 15-year-old boys do.
Except this one has no time for such nonsense.
Jason, a freshman at West Boca Raton Community High School, is building a business selling sneakers to people twice his age — and he's making some nice change in the process.
In less than a year, Jason raked in almost $60,000 in sales and banked about $8,000 in profits. He snatches up the latest basketball shoes when they're released, marks them up and resells them through Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and his own website.
The teen entrepreneur sold 238 pairs last year. Just a few weeks ago, he sold a pair for $3,000 after buying them for $245.
"My friends are out playing sports and ask me why I do this all the time," said Shatsky, who used to play volleyball and baseball before diving into the business world.
"I have a business mind," he said. "I love doing this."
Jason has tapped into a culture that covets the latest kicks branded by professional athletes. Enthusiasts even meet at conventions to trade and sell shoes, sometimes paying thousands of dollars for a limited-edition pair.
Curtis Brown runs DXC, a California company that organizes such events, including several in Miami.
Brown, 30, said basketball sneakers remind him of elementary school days when he used to watch Michael Jordan play.
"I would buy his shoes, put on his jersey and shoot hoops at the school yard," Brown said. "It made me feel like him. I thought that's what made me a better basketball player, wearing his shoes. I don't think I'm Michael Jordan anymore, but that passion stuck with me."
For others, sneakers are all about the money, he said.
"The way they've been exposed in movies, TV shows, interviews, music videos — it's become very mainstream," Brown said. "When things become mainstream, they see dollar signs."
"It's all about showing off," he said. "Why does somebody have to have a 4-carat diamond ring or a Jaguar? People think their status is projected by what they have."
Jason, a confident, level-headed kid, never planned to get into that world. But he was still a teenager and liked cool shoes.
About three years ago, he was sporting blue and orange Nike LeBron 9s that he had bought for $170, money he saved from allowance and from tutoring other students.
Lots of kids offered to buy the shoes off his feet, and he eventually gave them up for $210. That's when he got an idea.
Jason started to scout the Internet and often got up before sunrise to line up at the mall for the latest releases. In March 2013, he started thirtysevenkicks.com, because 37 is his favorite number.
The tech-savvy honors student has about 9,000 followers on Instagram.
"It's a lot of work," Jason admitted, explaining that he spends hours every week researching the latest models and monitoring competitors.
Like any good businessperson, he has help.
Grandma bankrolled the initial endeavor. (He has paid her back.) And Mom drives him to the mall because he doesn't have a license yet.
Jason also has recruited his mom and grandmother to wait in line for shoes. Stores often limit new releases to one per customer.
"I will start work late and go with Grandma to make the line," said Jamie Shatsky, a realtor in Palm Beach County. Shatsky writes down color, size and model so they don't get the wrong shoes.
"When we are there, I'll turn back to Grandma and tell her, 'Remember you're getting size 10 and I'm getting size 11,' " Jason's mom said.
Aside from that, Jason runs all aspects of his business. He markets the shoes, maintains the website, handles the PayPal account — his mom's account, because he's too young for one — and packages shoes for shipment.
"I see him being a CEO of a big company one day," Jamie Shatsky said. "He's very driven."
Shatsky said he doesn't buy many sneakers for himself these days, even though he has more cash in his pocket. The ones he does get, he doesn't use often, because he knows how much they could be worth. He wears beat-up running shoes to school, he said.
Shatsky said he wants to study business in college and one day run a company. For now, he plans to continue the sneakers business throughout high school.
"I want to save more of what I get and buy a car," he said.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/video/teen-operates-sneaker-business-out-bedroom-n69356