Most people can find old, forgotten heaps of clothing in the back of their closet, but few take the initiative to resolve the problem in a profitable way. Several ambitious Diamond Bar High School students have started up small businesses of their own by utilizing a social platform frequently used by majority of their targeted customers.

Students, senior Samantha Lim and juniors Dora Varner, Mia Yu and Phoebe Sun, have discovered an efficient way to make use of the unworn clothing left piled at the back of their closet: selling them via Instagram.

Not only does Lim manage a clothing “shop” account on Instagram, but she also donates her proceeds to charity organizations.

“I find myself mostly pushing to alleviate conditions for the poor and providing educational opportunities to those in need,” Lim said. “I’ve seen the effects of poverty in action and I have very well acknowledged that it could be me begging in the streets instead of sitting in school where I’m being offered opportunities left and right.”

Lim has grown up donating her clothes to the less fortunate whenever she outgrew or stopped wearing them. Lim began donating to help mitigate the effects of poverty in Cambodia, but she realized that her clothes were often not suitable for the conditions there and decided on a more efficient solution. Lim set up her Instagram account @samecloset and now donates the money she makes from selling her clothes to various charities instead.

“My ultimate goal is to be able to expand from the learning experience I’ve gotten from having my own little online store and utilizing it to achieve greater things in the future: to give back much more than I have in the past few years with [the aid of] my store.”

Lim plans to continue managing her online store until she graduates high school, as she predicts her busy schedule in college will not permit her to give it as much attention afterwards.

DBHS junior Dora Varner also sells her clothes on Instagram          @dorscloset to make money, allowing people to name their own prices.

Varner describes herself as someone who loves fashion, a trait she now utilizes as a convenient way to bring in profit.

“I really love to see trends and Gucci and Prada and Louis Vuitton,” Varner said. “I don’t like to own any of these items but I like to look at them and I want to do that one day.”

Friends Mia Yu and Phoebe Sun started their shared Instagram business account @closet.mp with the motive to make some cash of their own.

“I first had the thought of selling my clothes over Instagram because I knew I wasn’t ever going to wear them anymore but other people may be able to put it to use,” Sun said.

The items offered on their account range from clothing to accessories to shoes. Once sold, they meet their customers on the DBHS campus to deliver the products.

According to Yu, the pair plans to continue selling their clothes over social media until they become too busy to continue.