How To Start Reselling Shoes For Profit

If you love shoes as much as me, maybe you have considered reselling shoes for profit. 

And if you are one of those people who is obsessed with sneakers, then you may be interested in starting your own sneaker reselling business.

There are many benefits to this line of work including not having a boss and being able to set your own hours.

Read on for 4 steps that will help you get started with the right tips and strategies!

In this post, I will be sharing my tips on how to start reselling sneakers including:

• How to start a shoe flipping business
• What kinds of shoes to sell
• How much money do shoe resellers make
• Where to find shoes to sell

This post contains affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more information

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How To Start A Shoe Flipping Business

If you want to get started reselling shoes for a profit, most people look at sneakers. 

The sneaker market is huge, with over $1 billion in annual sales.

Starting a sneaker reselling business can be an excellent way to make money.

If you’re into sneakers, it might be a great side hustle or even a full-time job.

What Exactly Is A Sneaker Reseller?

A sneaker reseller is someone who purchases brand new sneakers at retail price and then sells the product for a profit.

Sneakers are one of the most popular types of shoes on the market and resellers can make a lot of money by purchasing them at the right time.

Sneakers are one of the most popular types and resale is a good way for people to make money.

Can you really make money reselling sneakers?

The market for reselling sneakers is huge. As a result, it’s not unrealistic that you could make $1 million in your first year of selling online.

You can also make between $70-100 for average, good-quality sneakers.

There are many people who would like to get their hands on the latest sneakers without having to pay for them.

This is why reselling shoes has become so popular, because it’s an easy way to make money and save money at the same time!

But how much can you really earn?

There are different ways of doing this depending on your niche as well as what type of sneaker you decide to sell.

Some rare finds or premium sneakers may be worth up two hundred dollars or more per pair. 

eBay is also a great place for used shoes, just ask my friend Beau who runs a successful shoe flipping business.

Here is one of his best ever flips – he bought the shoes below for $2 and look what they sold for! 

How To Get Started As A Sneaker Reseller

Sneaker reselling is an awesome way to make money. To get started, you will need a social media account and some patience.

Firstly, find out what sneakers are popular right now. What are the trending shoes on social media? Are any of your favorite celebrities wearing them?

Next, use sites like eBay or Nike to find out how much they should cost. When you have that price, post some on your social media account.

Finally, wait patiently for the shoes to sell. Once they do, congratulations! You’ve made a lot of money and gained tons of followers.

Let’s look at the nitty gritty of setting up your shoe reselling business:

There are essentially 4 steps to starting a successful shoe flipping business:

Setting up your business

Finding shoe to sell

Listing your items online

Marketing your brand

Step 1 – Setting Up Your Business

The first thing you need to do is start your shoe reselling business.

How To Name Your Sneaker Reseller Business

The first step to setting up your sneaker reseller business is determining what the name of it will be.

This can seem like a daunting task, but there are some things you should keep in mind. It is important to choose a name that represents your company well, and one that people will remember.

One you have chosen a name, you will want to register your business with your local licensing authority (state or municipal)

Build A Website

Now it’s time to put your name on the map and create a website that will act as the face of your brand,.

You can create a website in minutes using a domain name from Namecheap and some cheap hosting.

Make sure your domain name is the same as your business name or as close as you can get.

Here is a step by step guide to building your website in an afternoon.

The pages you will want to include on your site are:

• About – talk about who you are
• Authenticity – this is a hot topic so make sure to talk about the provenance of your shoes
• Gallery – show some photos of recent sells or your inventory stash
• Testimonials – any positive reviews will help boost your credibility
• Shop – your shop front is the most important part of your website. You can use a Plugin such as WooCommerce or you can skip it completely and use Shopify. 

Shopify is great because it will let you have your own online store in minutes.

Read my full tutorial on setting up a Shopify store here. 

The Brick & Mortar Business Model

There are many ways to start reselling shoes. I’m going to be focussing on the online sales in this post but you can also create a storefront.

To do this, you would need to purchase or rent a brick and mortar retail space in the local area where you live, which will allow you to have an actual storefront for your business.

It is important to work with a broker and be prepared to invest at least $150,000 in order to get started.

Step 2 – Finding shoes to resell

Get Started Reselling Shoes

Now that you business is set up, it’s time to start getting some shoes to sell.

To start reselling shoes you need at least $100 in your bank account to buy enough inventory for one day’s sales (because you don’t want to be stuck with inventory that nobody buys).

Building Inventory

Building inventory is a big part of building a successful sneaker reselling business.

The best way to get started is by using apps that allow you to research and buy sneakers from reputable sources, such as Adidas, Nike’s SNKRS app or aftermarket apps like Goat or StockX.

Aftermarket apps are safer than other platforms because they require more information from the seller before accepting their items for sale on the platform.

How to Find Shoes to Buy and Sell

There are many places that you can buy and sell sneakers online. Sneaker aficionados are now even looking in thrift shops for classic or rare shoes to sell.

These websites provide an added security for your purchase because they have reviews, reviews of the sellers, and reviews about the authenticity of the shoes.

Stadium Goods, StockX, GOAT, Sole Supremacy and Flight Club Consignment are some of the most popular places to buy and sell sneakers online.

Be careful when buying or selling shoes on these marketplaces because there is a lot of scammers trying to scam people out of their money using fake shoes

The top places to find shoes to resale include:

Stadium Goods

Stadium Goods is a NYC based reseller and one of the best to try.

Crepe City

Crepe City regularly holds resell events in the United Kingdom. The event is open to anyone, including people who are new to reselling.

It is a great marketplace to check out if you are in the UK

Goat

StackX

Sole Exchange

Grailed

If you are interested in reselling shoes other than sneakers, your best bets are to try thrift stores and eBay plus clearance outlets. 

How to Determine if the Shoes Are Fake

How to spot fake shoes

In the sneaker industry, there are many counterfeits that look exactly like the original shoes. In order to avoid being scammed by a fake seller, be sure to check out their social media and online reviews before you buy from them.

Bear in mind that some sellers may not have the sneakers and just steal a photo of them from another website.

If they have too good of a deal for something it may not exist!

Tips for avoiding fakes:

• Use a marketplace to purchase your sneakers as they offer protection for buyers
• Watch out for sellers with lots of money sizes (popular sizes that everyone wants)
• Ask for an invoice and also proof of where the sneakers came from

Step 3 – Listing Your Shoes for sale

How To Price Your Sneakers

Study the market

If you are looking for a good way to make money, start by studying the market.

You can get a good idea of what sneakers are selling by going to a site such as StockX.

Before finalizing your price, don’t forget to weigh factors like fee, how long it will take to sell the shoes and shipping costs.

Where to sell your shoes online

Depending on the kinds of shoes you are selling, there are a number of reselling platforms.

The Best Sneaker Reselling Sites

GOAT

The GOAT is a term used to refer to the best players in a sport.

The name “GOAT” is derived from the acronym for Greatest of All Time, which was created by sports fans and journalists as a way of recognizing a player’s greatness.

The GOAT app is a machine learning and human expertise algorithm that will authenticate your sneakers.

The authenticity check can be done by scanning the shoes or entering text into a search bar on the app’s website, which then displays what type of sneaker it is as well as any information about its history.

Seller Fees on Goat

This depends on your location. Here are some sample fees for popular countries:

U.S.A – $5

Canada – $20

United Kingdom – $5

Hong Kong – $15 (drop off in person)

StockX

StockX has a fee structure that is relatively competitive with other sneaker reselling sites.

Transaction fees vary on how much you sell, while the online platform can be used to sell brand new shoes or deadstock items.

Seller Fees on Stock

If you’re selling on StockX for the first time, you’ll start out at Seller Level 1 with a transaction fee of 10.0%. By selling 3 items or selling a total of $500 in gross merchandise value in a calendar quarter, you can achieve a lower seller fee.

Grailed

Grailed is a high end menswear reseller that has a large sneaker and shoe section.

A strong user-feedback system keeps Grailed transparent.

Grailed Seller Fees

The Grailed Commission fee is 9% for listings.

Sole Exchange

Sole Exchange is a dedicated footwear reseller app based out of the UK. They also hold marketplaces Worldwide.

Sole Exchange App Seller Fees

Free to list, 5% seller fees.

Other places to sell your Shoes

Social media platforms such as Instagram, eBay and Facebook groups are used for sales of high end sneakers and shoes.

Instagram and Facebook

Instagram is a great place for reselling shoes online. In fact, social media accounts have turned into best online platform for entrepreneurs.

Make sure to create an Instagram account for your business and post all your new kicks as soon as you get them with a price and instructions to dm you if interested.

Find your local Facebook buy-and-sell group, check posting rules, then get going.

eBay

eBay is another popular eCommerce platform for reselling shoes. It is popular for people who want to purchase and sell high-end, designer brands like Nike or Adidas. The site often has great deals on the latest fashion trends.

eBay can be used as an option if you have something rare and expensive but auctions can get out of hand quickly, so make sure to know who is bidding on what item.

However, eBay is not the best platform for people who want to resell shoes that are used however some flea market flippers get lucky.

Here is an example of my friend, Beau and some shoes he sold for a great price:

Selling In Person – Ways To Stay Safe

Sellers are required to meet in public, well lit locations.

The best place is a restaurant or cafe because it’s private and people can’t steal your shoes.

It’s also important to remember that someone has the opportunity to rob you so make sure you’re meeting at a safe location during day time hours.

Find an FB group about sneakers and post the price of your shoes for sale there–make sure they allow buying and selling!

Step 4 – Building Your Brand

Once your store is up and running, you need to build your brand and get your name out there.

Here are some ways to boost your shoe selling business:

How To Grow Your Sneaker Reseller Business

Consider Selling On Amazon

Boost your sales by selling your sneakers on Amazon as well as your own store.

Work With Instagram Influencers

Influencers get a bad rap but if you pay a few hundred for some engaging posts, you can easily make your money back.

Experiment With Pay Per Click Ads (PPC)

Don’t go overboard with this but you can try paying for Google ads to boost your rankings while you are working on your SEO.

Improve your SEO

So what is SEO? Search Engine optimization basically means getting your sneaker reseller store found on Google and other search engines.

To do this you want to use keywords and improve your content. YouTube has a ton of great SEO video tutorials.

Grow Your Email List and send out coupons

Create a sign up on your website for customers and then email them with offers and coupons on new stock.

Remember, it is easier to retain a customer than get a new one.

Add an exit-intent popup to your online store (click here to get a tutorial)

This can really help you to convert sales on people browsing your website.

Host A Social Media Giveaway to get followers

This works really well on Instagram. Offer a free pair of shoes to followers who invite and tag 3 more friends.

Provide Great Customer Service

Make sure that all your customers are happy and looking forward to purchasing from your again.

Build a Referral Program for word of mouth referrals

Here is another easy way to get new customers. Offer existing customers a discount if they refer a friend who also buys a pair of shoes from you.

Sell the Most Expensive and Sought-After Shoes and Sneakers

Be the best and beat out your competition and you will quickly gain a reputation for being THE place to go for the hottest shoes.

How Much Does It Cost To Start A Sneaker Reseller Business

Costs

Buying shoes for resale costs money and time to ship them out after the sale.

However, the profit margins can be large and if you manage to get your hands on some rare kicks then you can make bank in just a few sales.

Your main costs will include:

• Fees paid to the shoe reselling apps
• Website maintenance fees
• Shipping and handling
• Any bank charges you might incur

What Skills Do I Need To Succeed In Starting A Sneaker Reseller Business?

In order to start a sneaker reseller business, you will need to have a variety of skills.

You must be able to manage inventory and customer service, as well as come up with creative ideas for your brand.

In addition, being an entrepreneur requires understanding financials such as expenses, revenue, profit margins and other business know-how.

If you are interested in learning more about reselling shoes for profit, I have a few good resources for you:

Courses For Reselling Shoes

Shoe Flipping Workshop

If you want to learn how to make a ton of money flipping used shoes for a profit, you will love this workshop hosted by shoe flipper extraordinaire, Beau Hunter. 

In this 4 week workshop you will learn: 

• The workshop includes 4 training sessions that were recorded live.
• ​We cover brands to look for, how to clean and take great pictures, how to list to get he sale and how to package and ship them! 
  
• You get PDF downloads with every week to help you find, clean, and SELL your shoes

Grab your spot in the workshop here

10K Per Month Workbook

JV is an epic sneaker reseller who teaches other people to scale up their business to $10K a month or more.

In this workbook you will learn all his tips and tricks for finding the best sneakers and selling them for a profit. 

Reselling Shoes FAQ

Is reselling sneakers illegal?

The general rule is that it’s not illegal to resell an item you have legitimately purchased. You will need permission from the manufacturer if you’re using their logo in your advertising but other than that, you are good to go!

What Else Could You Flip?

Now you are familiar with what it takes to start your own shoe flipping business, here are some other things you can consider selling, click through for more information and tips on getting started. 

Used Clothing and Shoes

Flea Market Flipping

Electronics or Books

Used Baby Clothes For Cash

Amazon Arbitrage on Clearance items

Conclusion on Reselling Shoes For Profit

Starting a shoe flipping business can be a great way to make extra money on the side. Some shoe resellers are making thousands every month reselling new sneakers or flipping old shoes.

It is easy to get started with this business and the overheads are low.

What are you waiting for?