Have you ever thought about starting a side business to make extra money? Perhaps you’d like to pay off debt or have extra cash around the holidays.
If so, you should consider reselling sneakers. The shoe resale market has exploded the last several years and is forecasted to continue growing.
Whether you want to supplement your income or make reselling sneakers your full-time career, this is a great time to explore your options.
A Growing Resale Business
According to a 2017 report by research firm NDP Group, the athletic footwear industry in America grew to $17.5 billion and the sneaker resale industry became a $1 billion market.
While shoes made by companies like Nike and Adidas have been popular for decades, millennial buyers, celebrity and athlete interest have created an even greater demand.
Is Sneaker Resale a legit business?
For Lindsay & Ryan from RNZY in Maine, the answer is yes. They have been reselling sneakers since 2017.
It started by selling some pairs of shoes lying around in their closet. But Lindsay & Ryan decided to make it a full-time venture and its paid off. Last year they made $22,000 in profits and they’ve made just under $60,000 in profits so far in 2018.
Reselling shoes is no different than moving any other type of merchandise. Massively successful websites like eBay, OfferUp, ThredUp, Poshmark, and even Amazon fuel the resale market.
Some of the most popular products that are resold are cell phones, watches & jewelry, sports memorabilia, collectibles, home decor, and gift cards. Sneakers are towards the top of that list as well.
No matter what product you own, if there is a demand, there’s an opportunity to make money. I’ve been able to sell several of my own pairs of sneakers on eBay over the last few years. I’ve had success selling my kids’ shoes as well.
Reselling sneakers can help your personal finances
Having extra money has never hurt anybody. For some shoe resellers, it’s actually helped them achieve their financial goals. Dylan works a full-time corporate job in Florida. He decided to get into the resale business after seeing the frenzy surrounding entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk’s release of his K Swiss collab GaryVee 001 last year.
Dylan loves the financial flexibility his shoe resale business offers.
“Sneaker flipping has assisted me in paying off all my school debt and medical bills,” says Dylan. “I own my own car and now my current goal is to own a house. No debt!”
Lindsay and Ryan have used sneaker reselling to pay off debt. Their resale business is also going to fuel their real estate investing goals in the near future.
Also Read: 8 Simple Steps to Achieve Debt Free Living
How much money do sneaker resellers make?
Many factors go into figuring out how much money you can make as a reseller. It all depends on the shoe’s demand, where you sell them, and how much time and energy you put into your resale business. You could try and make it a full-time job or just something you do for fun on the weekends.
When Lindsay & Ryan started reselling shoes full-time, they set profit goals:
“Our goal is to at least double our money on every pair, never making less than $20 profit per pair. We sell on average 200+ pairs a month and are always improving our margins and sell-through rates.”
Dylan says his profits range from $30 to $300 per pair depending on the specific shoe.
Where can you resell sneakers?
Because the sneaker resale is a billion dollar business, there are multiple ways to go about reselling shoes. One easy way to start is to look for local selling groups on Facebook. Another way to sell locally is through Craigslist.
The biggest resale websites for any products are eBay and Amazon. Millions of people make a living selling on these two sites alone.
Beyond the general resale sites, there are a number of sites specific to sneaker resale. Among the most popular sites for resellers:
- FightClub.com
- StockX
- GOAT.com
- Stadium Goods
- Kixify
Another option, especially if you are looking to make sneaker reselling a full-time career path, is to create your own eCommerce website. How do you do that? You could be like Lindsay and Ryan and create a site through Shopify, a popular eCommerce platform for resellers. Other popular eCommerce platforms include BigCommerce and WooCommerce.
How do I get started reselling sneakers?
Start small. That is the best advice I can give you. Start with shoes you might already own. Clean them up, take some photos, and throw them on eBay. Use that money to fund buying new pairs through Nike or Adidas to resell. Pick one platform that works for you to sell your sneakers. Once you learn the basics, you can move beyond that and ramp up your business.
Other advice for beginners:
- Learn the business. Get to know the history of sneakers, the most popular releases, and shoe resale values. Use sites like StockX and FightClub.com to become more familiar with what’s out there and how much people are paying for shoes.
- Read JV’s beginner’s guide to reselling shoes. He offers tons of practical tips that will help you achieve success early into your reselling journey.
- Use your profits to invest in other shoes. Instead of paying out of pocket and tying up your cash flow, simply reinvest your profits to scale up. Eventually, you will be able to use your profits to pay off any debt, save money, and achieve your financial goals.
- If you want to don’t want to mess around with trial and error as a beginner, do yourself a favor and make a small investment in your resale business by purchasing Six Figure Sneakerhead’s Hypemaster Playbook. Now that I have teenage and pre-teen sons, I bought the Playbook so we could start a small family side business together as well as score some nice new sneakers for ourselves along the way.
The sneaker business is going to continue to grow and doesn’t look like it will slow down anytime soon. There hasn’t been a better time than now to take that leap and start earning extra money.
If you’re like me, you have financial goals for your future or your family’s future, like paying off credit card bills or student loans. Reselling sneakers can be the perfect vehicle to help you crush those goals.
