Your heart feels like it’s racing a million miles a minute, your fingers are trembling as you stare at your phone screen. You know that if you could just obtain these shoes, these shoes that have been so hyped up, then you could find out the secondary market value of these exclusive kicks. At one point in time, Jasmine O., Julius B., and Kevin U. have all felt this feeling of intense addictive excitement. These three sneakerheads all do shoe flipping as a side hustle to make some extra cash.
So, what is shoe flipping? It is simply sneaker buying and reselling. They aren’t just your basic shoes you see on an everyday basis. These shoes are rare and can have really cool backstories about the design. Shoes are no longer the basic thing you wear to protect your feet. Sneaker reselling is now very common and profitable; according to a Business Insider article, “Sneaker reselling is projected to become a $6 billion dollar business by 2025.” Being a sneakerhead used to be a whole different thing without the online channels that are used today. People would rush to stand in line for hours and they even camped out to try to obtain the hot new shoes that were dropping that weekend. The people who were buying learned about the shoes from word of mouth and catalogs. Nowadays, to hear about the latest drops, there are many sources to get information from; social media, apps and websites such as HyperBeast and High Snobiety play a huge part. With shoe flipping becoming more popular, there is even a SneakerCon that takes place in different areas of the world. This is a great place to meet your fellow sneakerheads.
Why resell sneakers to make extra money? It’s a way to potentially make hundreds or even thousands of dollars. While speaking with Kevin, he said that he made a profit of $1,100 after he sold one pair of Travis Scott shoes for $1,250 when they originally retailed for only $150. Julius sold three pairs of shoes and made $1,500. Jasmine wanted to make room for more shoes, so she sold a few pairs that she no longer wore anymore and made a profit of $230. All these three had to do was get the shoes in the first place. Once they obtained the shoe, the hard part came. “Do I keep this or do I sell it?” as Jasmine stated. When purchasing shoes for resale, you need to know your market. You need to know what sizes sell the best.
In order to sell these shoes, you have to go through a process to get them. First, you have to know when a shoe is releasing. There are multiple ways for a shoe drop to happen; it can be as simple as the shoe dropping in store and waiting in line or it can look like being entered into a raffle on the shoe website and hoping you get called and they have the size you want. When asked about any crazy stories that have happened when trying to get a shoe, Kevin said: “I remember this one. I was in line for a pair of Pacsun x Fear of God Vans dropping in Pacsun stores. There were a couple of guys who cut in line. A fight ended up breaking out and security had to escort them out. I ended up being the first person in line for those vans.”
When purchasing shoes that are being resold, you have to be careful as well. Jasmine, Kevin, and Julius have all been sold fake shoes. Once this happens, there is not much you can do other than accept the fact that you got jipped. When you are purchasing shoes from a reseller, do your research and trust your instinct. Try to avoid buying fakes and ask for receipts. Check the prices of other sellers and remember that each shoe size has a different range of demand.
To get started with shoe flipping, not only will you need a love for sneakers, but you will need some money in the bank as well. Julius gave the advice to “save at least $2,000” to get started since these shoes can be expensive. The most that Kevin spent on shoes was $989 for a pair of Balenciagas, Julius spent $800 on Red 11’s and Jasmine $400 on her pair.
Two recommended websites for resale are Grailed, StockX and an app called Frenzy that alerts you about release dates. The best time to buy is the initial release date and if you are able to, try to buy in bulk. The most that Julius bought at one time was 15 pairs, all of which he turned around and sold.
As a hustler, you need to be aware of the potential problems you could be faced with. Sometimes the process can be complicated. Even though there are apps out there to help, there are still ways it can all go wrong. Violence and theft can occur with sneakers that have a high price tag and people will go to great lengths to obtain them. Once, when Jasmine was selling a pair of shoes to a younger kid, he ran off with the shoes without paying. Thankfully, she was able to get her money's worth for the shoes after contacting the child's mother who presented him with an ultimatum: pay what you owe or return the shoes.
Even though there are problems and risks that accompany shoe resale, for college students struggling to make ends meet, it can be a very lucrative and worthwhile side hustle. A diverse and tight-knit community is an added benefit of this particular line of work.