A Billion-Dollar Sneaker Resale Industry Explained By One Pair of Sneakers

Zac leans into his shoes and takes a huge smell, the kind reserved for freshly baked cookies and newborn baby heads. Zac works at Stadium Goods New York, a sneaker resale firm in New York, where customers regularly purchase and sell sneakers for thousands of dollars.

Their money is in Zac’s nose. That lengthy and interesting journey tells a lot about the flourishing and still-growing sneaker resale sector, which he is enthusiastically hoovering up today.

Zac says his favorite method to discern a real sneaker from a fake is to scent it. He estimates he’s personally examined over a million shoes—and, since he smells each one, he’s also scented over a million. Zac says people at the Stadium Goods New York consignment desk, which looks like a UPS shop with an L-shaped counter separating clients from boxes, usually laugh, but he’s never been misled.

Unlike the current Jordan throwback or Yeezy release, these Dunks don’t routinely appear via Stadium Goods New York. “This fume-y, phony glue smell,” Zac describes the fragrance of a scam. Real shoes, he explains, have a distinct odor, like a new car. Is it a cure-all for lousy outfits?

The Examination Begins With A Sniff.

Zac spins the shoebox, inspecting every crevice. Fake Nike sneakers include brighter Nike orange than typical, wonky zeroes listing out the shoe’s code, erroneous language in the shoe’s description bolded, and wrapping paper inside the box that tears easily.

Zac then delves further into the sneakers, which are based on the legendary Air Jordan 3: The rugged “Elephant”-the printed pattern should cut into the grey leather, the white toebox perforations should create a succession of smaller “U” forms, and the eyelets should be equally placed. While the tongue on this Dunk is fading, it’s a natural yellow, not “like a piss-yellow,” which would imply fraud.

The Nike x Supreme Dunks were already a hot topic when B.J. showed up at Stadium Goods New York in December. They are Nike and Supreme’s debut shoe collaboration. When these shoes initially came out in 2002, they started a weekly Supreme tradition of long lines outside Supreme shops. For 17 years, this pair sat in immaculate, unused (or “deadstock”) condition, until arriving in the hands of a Japanese reseller.

For years, the sneaker resale sector existed primarily on the margins: on computer forums, and more recently, on social media. B.J., a US reseller tuned into backchannels, found these Dunks on Instagram, on the Japanese reseller’s profile. B.J., a shoe consultant who routinely resells, saw a deal and paid $1,200 for the pair. They were costly shoes, so he took them to Stadium Goods New York and tried to forget about them.

After Zac Clears The Dunks,

They are entered into a system that suggests a price. If a shoe sells rapidly, subsequent sales of the same model may be given higher recommended pricing, according to Stadium Goods Locations co-founder John McPheters. Release days are the most volatile when desperate buyers and sellers meet. While Stadium Good proposes the price, B.J. is free to decide it with Stadium Goods Coupon.

“It’s such a special item, like an art piece inside sneakers,” he explains while deciding on the price of his Dunks. That may sound excessive for a pair of shoes, but B.J. would eventually regret it.

B.J. loves Stadium Goods New York because he feels “not simply a supplier” there. Stadium Goods Locations and other companies are vying for B.J.s: high-volume vendors who deliver sneakers to resellers. According to Roger Lee, a general partner at Battery Ventures, “these firms tend to have winner-take-most, winner-take-all dynamics.” Lee’s winner may be the business that can sort out top resellers’ choices.

How To Please A High-End Buyer:

They were tagged with Stadium Goods Locations ‘ security tagging before being hauled away to their new home. Stadium Goods New York has a vast facility in Manhattan, with hundreds of shoes shrink-wrapped and stacked on racks.

Stadium Goods New York ‘ “trophy case,” a glass trophy case for only the most gawkable of grails, will house B.J.’s Dunks until they go. B.J.’s sneakers will join other verified jawns, such as a navy-blue Derek Jeter Jordan 11, one of just five pairs known to exist. (Stadium Goods Locations wanted $50,000 for them.)

Other products, not precisely shoes, have the same high resale value. Also on this shelf are a Supreme crowbar, Supreme x Fox bike handlebar grips, and a Supreme coffin keychain.

The Fuccboi Royal Flush Series Of Virgil Abloh X Nike Shoes Is Nearby.

B.J. receives word that his Dunks have been sold less than a month after advertising them. Someone has paid the whole $3,000. (The buyer did not reply to inquiries.) B.J. makes close to $1,500 when Stadium Goods New York takes its 20% share and subtracts the $1,200 he paid upfront.

The sneakers will be moved from Stadium Goods Locations to their new location in two business days.

They may be displayed as trophies. They may be worn outdoors. Or they may be resold to a new highest bidder, assured of a bigger profit margin. If the merchant utilizes Stadium Goods New York, that’s another 20% for the corporation.

B.J. sees the process as a learning experience, not a victory: “The fact that it sold in a month advised me to price it higher next time.”

We discuss his plans for the cash. His response will definitely please McPheters. Socks B.J. predicts. “And figuring out how to earn another $1,500.”