How to Become a Shoe Reseller

If you’re wondering how to become a shoe reseller, it means you’ve probably got dreams of turning the idea into a seriously profitable side hustle. However, to make money reselling shoes, you need to understand how to enter the industry, how it values certain styles, and how to resell shoes for profit.

We broke down the process of how to become a shoe reseller so that you could potentially turn your love of designer shoes into a profitable pastime. Continue reading to learn how to value, buy, and resell the shoes that are most likely to give you the returns you dream about.

How Does Reselling Shoes Work?

Knowing how to make money reselling shoes relies on understand how the industry for these shoes works. Reselling Nike shoes would not pull in $100,000 in yearly profits, as some resellers have managed to make, if they were released and bought like any other shoe.

The secret is that the designer shoes released by big labels like Yeezy and Air Jordan are released in limited quantities. This means that depending on the rarity of each model of these designer shoes, they could be worth far more after they are discontinued than they ever sold at retail.

This means that to make money reselling shoes, you need an eye for which type of shoe will become valuable once it’s pulled off the market. You can buy new shoes from retailers or even like-new shoes from thrift sites to get an even better deal. Once your inventory is stocked with shoes you predict will jump in value, you can start marking up your shoes and reselling them to new customers who missed these rare designer shoes the first time around.

How to Get into Shoe Reselling

Aftermarket apps play an important role in your journey to entering into shoe reselling. Sites like Goat, StockX, Sneakercon, and even general auction sites like eBay are popular places to price and resell shoes. Dedicated shoe sale apps like Adidas and SNKRS can also be valuable tools.

As you scope the market, look for shoes that typically sell for more than their original retail price. Getting rare best-selling shoes at a markdown, either used or new, is a process that requires research on your part.

It helps to know the histories of the big designer shoe labels like Air Jordan and Yeezy to learn the trends for which types of shoes jump the highest in value when they hit the aftermarket after being discontinued. Additionally, marketing plays a crucial role in how effectively you can unload your inventory. Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit are powerful influencers in your ability to make money reselling shoes.

What Determines Shoe Value

Shoe value ultimately comes down to demand, which is how much people desire a certain shoe label compared to the supply on the aftermarket. There are a lot of criteria that determine this demand, including:

• Brand
• Trending styles
• Limited-edition labels
• Shoe Size

Importantly, learning how to resell shoes for profit requires figuring out the balance between rare and common shoe types and how this influences their value. For instance, a pair of limited-edition Jordans could be highly in demand due to low stock or their limited-edition status. But if the shoes are in a size that isn’t common, it may be harder to sell them for what you think they’re worth because the demand for that size will be low.

It takes skill to accurately gauge the demand for each shoe, as well as experience to know when a shoe in an undesirable size or color will be harder to unload. Researching trends on the sites mentioned is the best way to start getting an instinct for value so you can buy and resell sneakers accurately.

Where to Buy Shoes to Resell

Reselling Nike shoes first requires knowing where to buy them. The majority of the shoes that get resold are first bought at retail value. This means that you can buy the designer shoes you hope to resell at any retail location that sells them. Reselling Nike shoes, for instance, could be as easy as going to any store that sells Nikes.

At these primary retail locations, experienced resellers take advantage of discounts, coupons, credit rewards, and any one-time price reductions to increase their profit margins. Looking for undervalued shoes will also lead you to the resale sites already mentioned like Goat and StockX.

It’s important to note that if you resort to buying from eBay, it’s probably too late for you to resell sneakers for profit. That’s where you should be selling. However, most product sites sell new sneakers when they debut, so it’s possible to find a price that you can upcharge later, even on Amazon.

Where to Resell Shoes

The best places to make money reselling shoes are the well-advertised auction and marketplace sites that will get your shoes the most traffic. Below, we go through the major ones to help you choose the best site for your side hustle. Remember that you can always use multiple venues to increase your coverage.

By far the most commonly visited auction site is eBay, and it presents a great opportunity to resell shoes for profit. Users on eBay are accustomed to buying used products, so you may be able to take advantage of the auction setting with your more desirable shoes.

StockX is a dedicated fashion resale site that specializes in sneakers, streetwear, and even handbags. The best thing about StockX is that you can research past sales of shoes by brand and size to price your inventory.

GOAT is a site that has over 30 million members for you to attract, as well as 600,000 sellers in 170 countries around the world. GOAT has an authenticity check that confirms the value of its items using an AI system, giving buyers confidence in your listings.

The Facebook Marketplace is a great resale platform for those with an extensive social media network. The marketplace is more commonly used to sell items locally, but it can be used to ship to users who want a rare item.

Craigslist, like Facebook, is more common for local resale. Its advantage is its emphasis on in-person sales, which could be more cost-effective for you if you live in the right area.

Poshmark is a fashion resale site that is like a social network for sneaker resale. With their new sneaker authentication system, they’re a particular favorite for those who are just getting into reselling Nike shoes.

Mercari is a great resale site for used shoes, more so than new ones. Resellers can often become the sole example of certain limited-edition shoes on the site, so demand is high for the right product.

The RealReal has an audience of 28 million members for you to sell luxury fashion accessories to. They have shoe authentication services for their platform that allows you to resell sneakers confidently.

Best Shoes to Buy and Resell

Successfully reselling shoes requires knowing which brands have the highest potential profit margins based on demand. There are two main types of designer shoes you’ll need to be familiar with, one of which will probably become your niche.

The two types are the sneakers, such as Nike Jordan and Yeezy, and the luxury shoes like those produced by Chanel and Gucci. The process of valuing, sourcing, and reselling each type of shoe is going to be different because the markets for those shoes are so different as well.

Sneakers

By far, the Nike Air Jordans and Adidas Yeezy sneakers are the most popular shoes for resellers to make a profit. It’s worth noting that Adidas recently ended its partnership with Kanye West, so the Yeezy shoes that exist are probably going to shoot up in value if you can grab them quickly.

Otherwise, the lack of new models in the Yeezy brand is going to limit your future opportunities to buy and sell them. We recommend focusing on Nike’s ongoing brand partnerships and anything new that Adidas is cooking up for your best resale opportunities over the next few years.

Designer Shoes

On the flip side, many designer shoes released through major luxury fashion brands can’t be bought at every retailer. You’ll have to go out of your way to specialty fashion stores or eCommerce sites like Gucci, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, or Louboutin to find these luxury labels.

Many of these cross-promotional luxury shoes are released in limited editions, so they work in a similar way to sneakers. However, the market for luxury shoes is different and requires different kinds of market research.

For example, you have to be even more well-versed in the design of the shoes because there are so many knockoffs of the most in-demand luxury shoes circulating in the aftermarket.

Is Reselling Shoes Worth It?

When you’re just starting out, you should aim to make a profit of $50-$100 for each pair of shoes you sell. As you get more comfortable learning how to resell shoes for profit, you’ll get braver with your purchases. Eventually, resellers can earn $500 or more from a single resale.

This is how the best resellers have progressed to earning six figures salaries from their “side hustle.” However, to get to that point takes a lot of market research to refine your instincts for industry demand.

Reselling shoes can be totally worth it, but you have to remember that you won’t profit from every purchase. Sometimes, you’ll misvalue shoes and lose money on individual deals. Or you’ll accidentally buy knockoffs. There are also seller’s fees and shipping logistics to consider.

The trick is to get to the point where you make a profit overall and build your reputation from there.

Summary

If you’re wondering how to resell shoes for profit, or you just really want to know how to resell the sneakers stuffed into your closet, you can follow these introductory tips to the popular shoe resale scene.

As internet marketplaces like Facebook, Goat, StockX, and the rest have grown, resellers have far more flexibility in how they resell sneakers. However, the increase in competition means that it’s more important than ever to learn about the market. You need to know how to value shoes before you can resell them.

Expect some losses at first, but as you learn the way demand works in the luxury shoe market, you’ll start recognizing when a limited-edition Jordan or seasonal Chanel is going to increase in resale value after a year in the closet.

Pick one of the most trusted resale markets listed here and start learning how to price shoes based on demand. Pretty soon, you may have a whole closet devoted to your latest hustle, and a much fatter paycheck to prove it.

For more ways to make money, check out Easy Ways to Make Extra Money Online.