What Is It and How Can You Take Advantage Of It?
Hunter Langley
Money, it is something that people love but have a hard time acquiring. A good portion of the student populous is too young to get a real job, in which they can work regular hours at a set rate. There could be an easy solution to both of these issues–buying and reselling sneakers.
The sneaker market is as popular as ever. With almost every marketable athlete and celebrity having a signature sneaker, it is a market that appeals to nearly everyone. The demand for the sneakers is skyrocketing and because of that the brands sell fewer pairs to the drive the hype up.
Consumers have the power. When there is more demand than supply, the consumer is able to charge above retail for the sneakers after purchasing them. Not every pair of shoes that sell out the consumer can make a profit out of, but if they are wise about it they can definitely make some extra money.
The best way to judge the value of sneakers before they release is through a website called StockX. StockX gathers the buying and selling information from all the different websites to create an accurate “stock price” for the pair of sneakers you are selling. You can sell sneakers on StockX and this makes it super easy, because they check the authenticity of the shoes before a buyer receives them to make sure nobody gets scammed.
If you are pretty sure you are able to gain a profit on a pair of shoes you can acquire the shoes through these legal ways. If they are first come-first serve you can camp out for the shoes, depending on the pair it doesn’t have to be all night. For example I only had to wait about two hours to get the Air Jordan 1 “Bred Toe” which led to an easy $150 profit for me.
If they are online reservation or raffled you can go to Footlocker, Footaction, Champs, Finishline or a local boutique try to win them by luck. You simply select what size you want a few days ahead of time and they will notify you if you win.
There is also another avenue with making money off sneakers: buying used pairs, cleaning the shoes up, and selling them. The most trusted reseller I personally know, Nate Wong (@nateskicks_ on Instagram) said, “The best way to start off is to try to find good deals locally on marketplaces like Facebook, OfferUp, Instagram, and on sites like eBay. Find good deals on used Jordans, clean them and list them on places like GOAT (A website/app similar to StockX where you can sell used pairs) or eBay. Aim to at least make $20 to $30 on each pair of shoes. Knowing the market is key, Jordans that sell well are 1s and 3s to 14s.”
A good example of this way of making money off of used sneakers is in July I purchased a pair of Air Jordan 11 “Breds” for $120. I shined the patent leather and after a week I was able to sell them for $140 on OfferUp.
So with all these different ways to make money it might be something for people to look into. If they are able to make a decent profit with not a lot of effort why not give it a go? Nothing is guaranteed when people get into reselling, but if they are smart about it they might end up with extra cash in their wallet.
