Charlie, owner of Clutch Vintage in Dallas, explains how he sources, prices and sells vintage clothing and why he asked for funding for an embroidery machine.
Charlie · Clutch Vintage
Published April 29, 2026Explore the lesson. Sign in to access the resource library.
Charlie, the 23-year-old owner of Clutch Vintage in Dallas, explains how thrift flipping that started when he was 12 grew into a bootstrapped vintage store whose best year, 2023, reached about $250,000. He walks Nathan Latka through sourcing, pricing and his online and in-store sales mix, then asks for funding for an embroidery machine to make Clutch-branded clothing. Nathan offers $10,000 repaid at 1.2x through a percentage of embroidered sales.
Read the source passagesFind the ideas you need and go straight to the source.
“It was a Jay Z shirt from the thrift store. And it was one of the early ones from like the blueprint. And I brought it home and posted it on my Instagram and I got like $300 for the T shirt and I bought it for $1.99”
“So on shirts, you can tell something's old by like the single stitch right here because this is a newer shirt right here and has two stitches on the sleeve.”
“I found a guy on eBay. He had a 120 pairs of these, but he lived in The Philippines. And with all the tariffs and everything going on, I couldn't get him over here. So I flew over there, picked up a 150 pairs of jeans, and flew them back in my suitcases.”
“You can do that, remake it, add your own things, resell it again. And it's kind of a rare piece because it's a one of one.”
“I'll write a $10,000 check. You pay me back 1.2 x that, so $12,000. And the way that determines frequently you pay me back is it's just a percent of sales of anything that's clutch embroidered.”
Video
Founder · Clutch Vintage
Jet · Casa Washa
Jakeb White · GameOn! ATX
Brett Altman · Borderless Hospitality
Rob Impastato · Big Tex Gym
Reilly Hursley · Putt Pub
Eric Pedley · East Austin Succulents