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Monday, November 27, 2017

"How to: Successfully Resell Clothes and Sneakers on the Internet. " BY: DeAndre S



As a person who appreciates clothing, I’ve discovered that there is an aftermarket for certain brands of clothing and some clothing retains or even exceeds the retail value after purchasing it. Learning about the resale market is sort of like learning about the stock market, the value of a clothes go up and down, increase over time, decrease suddenly, just as stocks do. It is a very hard market to understand but with research and an understanding of the clothes itself will go along way with reselling your clothes and sneakers successfully. (DISCLAIMER: not all clothes have resell so don’t expect to resell your Stussy t shirts or Pink sweaters for more than what you paid for!)(Another DISCLAIMER: The writing of this How-To post does not mean I advocate reselling. This post is purely for educational purposes only. In fact, I strongly dislike the act of buying just to resell. Let the people that want to buy to wear BUY IT. But that’s just me (: )
  1. 1)  Know what pieces are “hyped” or what the famous people are wearing
    1. a)  “Hype” basically means that the piece is a very sought after. Look for pieces with
      very high demand alongside very little supply. An example of this is a NYC based brand called Supreme. Supreme purposefully keeps their supply very low to promote longevity for the brand. With demand very high, Supreme will always be that cool brand that nobody has simply because there isn’t much pieces floating around, which is why many will pay significantly more money than retail to acquire it.
    2. b)  Many people look up to famous people whether that may be music artists, rappers, actor/actresses, etc. Many people mimic the style of famous people such as Justin Bieber to impose the idea of others that wearing that “Purpose Tour” hoodie will make them cooler. An example of this is a brand called Off-White in which Justin Bieber wore a camouflage jacket made by the brand and the brand completely blew up. The clothing and sneakers created by Off-White are very sought after right now with very high resale value
    3. c)  Not all pieces from a hyped brand will have resale value. Supreme, the most resellable brand out now, have pieces that resell for under retail such as their flannels. This is another reason why you have to understand streetwear scene so you don’t buy the wrong piece and get stuck with it because no one wants it.
  2. 2)  Actually buy the pieces you want to resell.
a) This is actually the hard part because if the product is easy to get, then there
would be no resell. Some of clothing and sneakers released by certain brands sell out in SECONDS so you just have to be quick and lucky. Know the websites and the stores that carry these brands and know their release times as they are sure to sell out in a blink of an eye. For example, Supreme releases are on Thursdays, 11AM EST and some pieces sell out within 2 seconds
i) BONUS TIP: To be even faster on online drops, use autofill. It will shave off precious seconds you need to beat out the others trying to buy.
3) Know the market you want to sell to.
  1. a)  There are some shoes and clothing that are worth a lot more in one city than another city. The certain style in a certain area definitely affects the resale and overall demand for a certain piece. For example, A Stone Island x Supreme puffer jacket in Southern California vs a Stone Island x Supreme puffer jacket in NYC. The Mag Park (SoCal based) has the jacket listed for $1400 while Stadium Goods (NYC based) has sold the jacket for $2000. Pick out pieces that suit the area you live in for the best results.
  2. b)  There are different platforms that are better than others in getting the right crowd for you clothes. For example: 1) Grailed is best for selling hyped streetwear. 2) Depop is best for selling vintage clothing. 3) Specialized subreddits and Facebook groups are best to look for steals and deals
4) List it at the right price
  1. a)  The pricing is difficult as some pieces start off with low resell then gradually
    increase their value over time and vice versa, with high resell right after it sells
    out then gradually decreases over time.
  2. b)  A good rule of thumb is that if you want to sell quick, you sell under market value.
    You’ll get many offers that way. If you don’t mind waiting until value goes up, there won’t be as many offers but you will get near max or even max value of your piece.
And that’s it! It’s basic economics if you think about it. Those are some good general things to think about on how to resell successfully.