University of Tennessee Student Starts Online Vintage Clothing Business (Text Story)

KNOXVILLE, Tenn.- University of Tennessee students are using social media to launch a first-of-its kind vintage clothing business, exclusive to collegiate gear.

This past summer junior, Baker Donahue and a friend created “In With The Old”. Donahue got the idea by seeing the need for a central location to buy vintage Volunteers gear.

“We went out one afternoon and bought a bunch of old school UT clothes. It was his idea to set them up for auction on Instagram because we didn’t want to pay for a website, we wanted to keep it as minimal as possible,” Donahue said.

In order to purchase from In With The Old you must bid on items via their Instagram account. The instructions are in each photo caption. Every comment on the post serves as a bid, which must be done in increments of $2. The auctions close at 8:00 each night Sunday through Thursday. Someone from the company messages the winner with an exclusive link to the product they purchased and it will be at their doorstep in a matter of days.

The items featured on their profile are usually rare with the company only having one to offer. Buyers typically have to act fast and stay on top of the post.

Another aspect exclusive to the brand is the unique item names. Donahue said, “I think [the naming process] is part of the charm about it being run by students.”

The item names are usually derived from what is going on at the university or in UT’s case, what is going on in the news about the university or the score of the football games.

“We’ve had a huge emphasis on what our branding looks like and that’s worth something to other schools,” said Donahue.

This theory has worked for the In With The Old team as they have recently expanded to SEC counterparts Auburn University and The University of Alabama. The team at Auburn University first reached out to Donahue and they discussed what the brand should look like at another university. The buying process is the same at other universities with the UT account acting as headquarters. He is working on opening accounts at The University of North Carolina and The University of Arkansas.

Recently several vintage Volunteer clothing stores have opened in Market Square, steps away from the UT campus. But that hasn’t caused the In With The Old team any trouble.

Donahue states, “I think the passion behind those stores is a full time job. I think this is a fun part-time gig. We have a much different approach at selling items through Instagram through what’s basically come to be known as a social auction system,” he said.

Currently, Donahue is preparing to graduate in the spring of 2017. He says that he wants to pass the Tennessee account down to incoming freshman who have a passion for the business. The In With The Old team is currently creating a guide for those who will take over the account and for those coming in the future.

He wants to continue to be involved as an overseeing account manager for all of the accounts, but also wants to go into his own career path of communication studies. He plans to still stay involved with the original account as a hobby.

If you are interested in purchasing an item from In With The Old or would like to sell any items to the company, you can visit their Insatgram account or website for their contact information and items for sale.