Everything You Need to Know About Sneaker Resell Culture

From the Ground Up, our brand new sneaker show, is back with another episode diving into all things footwear. Last week, we explored the impact of high-end sneakers, but this week, we’re delving into reselling.
Here, we find host Pete Forester sitting down with industry influentials Tyler Blake and BK, who are both knee deep in reselling culture. Together they have more than enough experience to provide us with some much-needed insight into a billion dollar industry.
FOLLOW US
Facebook: / highsnobiety
Twitter: / highsnobiety
Instagram: / highsnobiety
View more Highsnobiety videos here: hsnob.co/qh67

[@wizkidgizmo]

"Yo can I have a high skin fade without the fade?"

[@prodydem]

💀💀

[@leo-1671]

I’m a barber and god that would make my job easy

[@DawnOfTay]

😂😂😂

[@yo-rs1wm]

Lmfaooooo can I have a skin head ass

[@1wayDrell]

Dat nigga got a hightop skin shave💀

[@druiz127]

Plz fire your barber

[@dominic7091]

damn could've faded that in.

[@kyopo9428]

Reselling has always been part of the culture -- reselling without the love of sneakers is what ruined the game

[@premo459]

cant fight Supply & Demand law... that would happen regardless of what the product being sold is

[@HecticJayy]

Thts a fendi fact💪

[@GoodfellaNell]

What ruined it was that EVERYBODY resell and EVERYBODY does a quick flip after the release....to me a reseller should/will sit on some kicks so the higher price is worth it because time pass and the kick is harder to find. But these idiots flipping kicks for $20-$30 profit is hilarious lol. I still got Jordan 5 grapes from 2013 DS. I can flip them higher because u can't find them in DS condition.

[@brian4real463]

Straight up 💯💯💯

[@sneakerheadmax9883]

Facts

[@YungCwalk]

Who is this mans barber

[@bduh4844]

Lol

[@HAMZZZ1985]

He got a fucked up haircut.

[@sixsensefoundation]

GOOGLE: BLIND BARBER IN CULVER CITY, CA

[@sixfingerssaidtothefacepow34]

Sergeant Slaughter

[@jumb0shr1mp6]

Himself

[@juanshaftpatel7488]

store owner crying about market dynamics... maybe he should have stayed in school and taken a business class and price his stuff properly

[@ACECAL-cl4tb]

You have no clue of what you speak. The sneaker market is infiltrated with snakes who only care about profits, couple that with no legal enforcement on price gouging creates the "market" that you mentioned. Dont comment on things you know nothing of. Dont bother responding because I dont get notifications and I don't check for replies, you'll just look like an idiot in addition to being an asshat.

[@yw3317]

He’s some negative shit man, trying to scare away new comers into this market

[@JohnDoe-zt3wr]

@@ACECAL-cl4tb "Sneaker market infiltrated with snakes who only care about profits" So basically like every other market that exists, supply and demand.

[@eoj096]

Lol yeah he doesn't want thinner margins

[@JohnDoe-zt3wr]

@@tdns01 ballers wouldn't even buy half the hype sneakers if they couldn't say "These shoes resale for $1000"

[@miketheg3]

wow, this guy is mad. It is an open market. Accept the competition

[@TBlake]

Thanks for having me!

[@wanderfwd]

its time for a new hat!

[@ernestoh429]

W

[@hansari8697]

Sounds like Rare Pair realizes his days as a brick n mortar store owner charging rape prices are over, lol..... Looks like a stressed out guy.

[@tarekadambenchouia]

lol @ rare pair guy. "you guys are ruining it for everybody." yeah fool except the consumer? they're ruining it for YOU, so adjust.

[@FashionRoadman]

I actually love this. See nothing wrong with reselling honestly. I’m invested in the sneaker culture. I resell but at the same time I wear my sneakers. If I get more than 1 pair of the same sneaker in my size then I’ll resell the other but for the most part I just get one pair and wear it. Dunno why people look down on resellers so much.

[@darrengonsalves2605]

cause you dont see the dollar signs in sneakers , true sneakerhead love the sneaker and cant get it cause you dumb kents reselling...

[@deeweezzyyhd3944]

Yo who do you cop from?

[@cholodude97]

Youre a parasite

[@darthjump]

They talk about the dudes who buy 1000 pairs with bots and resell them to asia with 20 percent increase but your comment is 3 years old so you must have figured that by now.

[@Jdon-pd1tn]

Maybe cause i dont want to pay 10x fuckin retail for the original shoe within the first 24 hours of them dropping

[@Globalastral5]

Dude in the red shirt is the worst interviewee ever. No proper answers and not prepared.

[@360.Tapestry]

total scumbag

[@je6566]

He had a lot to say

[@apexskateboards]

But resell is a 6 letter word

[@kobii1]

Ethan I think he means four letters as in "flip".

[@wizkidgizmo]

Steve Stevens no he means "fuck" "shit" "cunt" etc. - meaning not many people said it a lot, publicly or was deemed like a bad word like a four letter word

[@omarbolori5591]

4 letter word is something that’s considered a taboo

[@amaribrown3752]

They're talking bout the word SCAM 🤦🏿‍♂️

[@johannjpg]

4 letter word cos it’s love or hate

[@johnbullockjr.1031]

You’re right! The companies don’t “want” reselling but they actually do want because their success is based on it, especially Supreme

[@bazinga5342]

BEST.HAIRCUT.EVER.

[@whateverdot]

Nobody gonna cop that haircut

[@arianzaw7187]

can someone tell me how resell is a 4 letter word???

[@braydendillard336]

“Evil”

[@costa7525]

My boy cheated on his barber

[@in3vitableTIMING]

I’ve never had a problem with reselling back in the day. Today’s climate however I feel reselling is robbing streetwear culture of its authenticity. It’s not necessarily about ideas and collaborative thinking. But more *profit* and *exclusivity* . The guys attitude at 07:19 is a prime example of how expression and the freedom of a consumer is being jaded by greed. (Each to their own I guess). Highsnobity has another interesting video topic that I feel once has the right level of exposure, might off set the exploitation. *Counterfeit culture* ... At the moment it’s acting like a shot of creative adrenaline that promotes accessible creativity and expression, that was otherwise robbed from consumers. KZbinrs like *Collinabraodcast* and his Asian market hauls are proving 95/98.9% authenticity means saving a monumental amount of money. The only obstacle in its way is perception. But with hypebeasts making it easier to dislike the culture, I’m sure streetwear is due for a shake up pretty soon.

[@NanaFreduaAgyeman]

Perfectly put. The attitude smacks of greed. How much more do you want to make over retail? And this is how/why reps will, over time, capture the market. All that's required is a shift in mindset. And if there's anything that history has taught us, it is that mindset shifts frequently. A good term, a bold representative of the reps, and then boom... mad rush. That artificial scarcity created by the sneaker companies will be captured.

[@didibjj]

7:18 triggered af

[@360.Tapestry]

complete sleazeball

[@hugomiller8750]

hahahaha sleezeball

[@Seeking-Something]

Ion understand why he so triggered

[@eagle___empire3175]

Fuck him.... I make 100K doing that

[@cioud4661]

@@eagle___empire3175 cap

[@MrMJJ23]

It’s certainly made it a lot harder to cop limited sneakers but i can’t change the game so gotta change my expectations.

[@lisjancool5819]

Reading the comments makes me think that this video needs a everything wrong counter

[@consumeboxing]

Erick Pavon is hella goofy and BITTER about being in a competitive market. He’s in an industry of reselling sneakers which isn’t that lucrative unless your moving lots of units in a quick manner or obtaining rare kicks in abundance (ROI could be x1.5, x2, or more tbh). However, ROI on most sneakers is like what? 10%-25%+ from the retail tag. Reselling is also a headache that comes w/ a lot of nuances/bullshit. Not worth the time unless you have good access to the product from a legit source along w/ trustworthy clientele who trust your business practices.

[@julienkirkpatrick929]

supreme x NBA x Nike af1 white lol. bought an 8 just cos I knew that it would sell for more lol.

[@natenieves821]

There was no point of this last dude on the video who worked at kith 😭. He really aint say shit

[@RoscoeWrangler]

Very good episode. Should do more detailed episodes just on reselling. Very interesting !

[@Camiloqz]

Hard to understand why people pay more for a good that was originally valued at a lower price.

[@CainKillEmAll]

Supply and demand

[@thewinsofchange1493]

Reselling what you love is awesome. Unless it doesn’t make money lol. I’ve been flipping sneakers on eBay and local from Burlington’s etc and making nice extra cash. Ty for the video.

[@Sydanion]

whats up with the sound....

[@mikhailprivalov1554]

Simple supply and demand. If Nike wanted to kill reselling, they'd properly meet the demand themselves with supply, therefore, removing one of the main factors of hype. When you play the hype game, you can't afford to meet demand and that's where we have opportunity on the come up. Companies wanna be salt, but they're still getting theirs.

[@eben9233]

15:05 if that's meant to compare a resellers revenue *per shoe* in comparison to the revenue a store makes *per shoe* than there is an important part left out; a reseller maybe cop's 4 pairs while the store is selling 400. So I think the stores make enough revenue to compensate the additional work hours. Edit: why am I even writing this, 11 Months after published? Edit #2: Idc the comment isn't even edited. I'm fast.

[@nighthunter3889]

Two or three years ago I bought a pair of Air Max 270 Black/Laser Fuchsia/ Regency Purple for 150€, idk how much they cost now cuz that seems to be a very rare color way, what would they maybe be priced at now?

[@smartmouthriveria]

Nike make 300 pair, thousands of sneaker heads have the shoe......now you have fakes .

[@quaro900]

15:46 whats the name of the track playing in the background?

[@blessed7015]

David Svensson I like it too.

[@seenoevil3x349]

Welvin Da Great - Deez nutz

[@lenoklips]

What’s up I’m a barber From Cleveland just started in resale, I’ve been a Jordan collector since high school I really enjoyed this video

[@bbnjvvhhb]

Maybe you can fix this mans cut

[@Anihmal]

BigDaddyThrax Osmosis lmfaooooo

[@bbnjvvhhb]

They didn't even fade it, the barber like quit half way through omm

[@CHADlikeAFRICA]

I resold LeBron 1st shoes and finessed this dude some g-unit shoes back in the days lol

[@ji3519]

how is this dude still a host for yall

[@schnibbyy]

His hair makes me so irrationally furious

[@davidbrooklynski]

Z EP P EL IN i’m his barber. it’s tough man. i hate what i do but it’s tough out here. i need money for rent kind of like reselling. crazy

[@premo459]

All the cornballs get to be hosts

[@jeremymuir4332]

I have no problem with reselling - if people didn't want the shoe at that price then they wouldn't pay for it. I buy my shoes to wear, my favourites are a Janoski SB pair for £60 but there are sneakers i'd pay £500 plus for if I had that disposable income. The way i see it, the retail price of a hype shoe being low builds excitement, generates interest because you could find Wonka's golden ticket. Resellers are the intended final destination.

[@caulintanner7380]

Is Pete wearing a kimono?!

[@kylebyrne4911]

I was about to comment the same thing haha

[@gareonconley1956]

the rarest pair i´ve ever bought was a pair of Ultra Boost V3 in black for 180€ instead of 179,99€ man did i feel bad about that one cent

[@eddiewiggles9398]

You've got the right idea. Limited Edition is whack AF

[@alexmathewmendoza]

Great piece of content, this was interesting to watch.

[@patw.6567]

reselling is a way to making money but its way too much work to make a quick "flip"

[@maxmelander311]

Yh agreed, i had to queue for ages, just to make a quick 50, it’s not worth it unless your copping something really big

[@vincea2996]

I started reselling/flipping shoes on eBay , and other sites. When I started i was focus on the money and didn’t really know or car much about the shoes. But soon after I started I started notice how nice and the cool details that went into the shoes. So now I can appreciate them and still sell them but with a respect to the look of the shoe .

[@aussiesoulsurfer553]

I got into my sneakers in my 30's I couldnt fathom paying resell prices for hyped sneakers. I opted buying from Rep sellers I pay less than half price for a decent pair . I dont care if they're reps I simply like the design of the sneaker and yes I'm honest about it why hide it I've got no one to impress. I work with a few veteran sneakerheads who have been collecting sneakers since the early 90's and they freaked how good the Reps are. To me its no different than owning a reprint of an Andy Warhol and hanging it up on your wall

[@aoclive6710]

AussieSoulSurfer where you buying your reps from what site

[@RedVelvetUnderground333]

Resell now is about the quick buck, if you can hold out you'll win in the end

[@DiegoSalas12]

all i see is some salty old heads that can't cook hype releases

[@renobambino7718]

Worldstar at home barber CEO

[@jedijooj]

IF you cant afford to hold sneakers don't line up over night ...

[@NoobySammy]

Resell or resale are both 6 letter words, dummys?

[@anniej.7666]

Y’all leave his head alone 😭😭💀

[@kencruz3394]

Plenty will clown the cut but WTFC? who the fuck cares, he AND highsnobiety supplies clarity and calmness in an effective KZbin video that addresses the topic and does it in one of the (if not THE) smoothest ways and y’all still watched 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@mrpersianality6363]

No one respects resellers IRL. And the resell shops that get hyped up on YT are really shit with sketchy ghetto employees. Its all self created hype.

[@stoneyhall5826]

Lol go get a job if you want to make 10-20 what if you want your job to be selling shoes you can’t just make 300+ every time not starting off and I’d rather have access to 40 shoes and make a little profit and get shoes on peoples feet. Like that’s literally what that guy does gets shoes for retail and sells them for 900 like what a hypocrite why would you do that interview as a journalist and be like yeah this guy has a good pov

[@leorodriguez6080]

I used to love yeezus but since all the fuck boys where them idk now they just make your fit look shitty. I ended up reselling them. I made 2,600 off of three pairs which is helping pay for college :-)

[@unclealbundy4936]

everything you need to know about sneaker resell culture: it's gay , that's it

[@harrydautovic7521]

How’s it gay?

[@plainvanillamiscellaneous6884]

Not gay until you're reselling the adidas pride pack 😂

[@limesandcigarettes2694]

Complex did it years before

[@harboco]

Fuck resale, especially with drops that aren't geographically exclusive

[@andrewdomonic6603]

I get collecting Starter Jackets, I get the old school snaps and vintage stuff. I get hoarding adidas originals, I totally understand how Jordan 1's and old school Dunks are coveted. For the life of me I can't get behing the Yeezy thing and Supreme's hypebeast culture. I think I am finally an old head. This was kinda sad to watch as someone who was born in the early 80's and was a target demo of the 90's.

[@aoclive6710]

Andrew Domonic same I don’t deal with yeezys at all because it attracts this beta type of male

[@Will_Bx_NYC_718]

Man fuck resell! I just cops replicas, I don’t care what anyone thinks about it either. You should be able to go into a store and cop sneakers at retail, anywhere.

[@Jammo1978]

It's out of order put all that extra ££$$ on trainers especially when they try and buy out all the trainers that people want

[@harboco]

So according to the guy in red to be a reseller you have to jack up prices a shit ton to justify your "hard work", fuck any resellers

[@dreytonbennett8791]

Re sale got six letters g

[@fpolloa]

This all happens because of demand. Why would people buy overpriced shoes?

[@verderriscursey]

what song is that at the beginning????.....dope track!

[@ThatLIGuy2002]

facts that's not reseller that's fucked up make money bro

[@beill]

The shoe that changed the reseller game was the Tiffany dunk.

[@MrRedskins0021]

Why would you buy shoes at that price? Shows how stupid people are getting!

[@mohammadaljbour139]

He’s rapping at 9:56

[@quinnestbanks]

Gold supreme uptempo for 230 sZ 7 it was a steal

[@MoonbearWears]

I feel like I just went to skool

[@a.k.productions1569]

I don’t believe shit you saying with a haircut like that lol

[@lostcompass]

Been here since the early days of internet sneaker culture (because there was pre-internet sneaker culture, where cats used to go through unsold sneakers piled up in basements of mom and pop shops - real sneaker hunting). The best decision I ever made was to keep my collection under 100 kicks, no matter what. With the way today's market is saturated, cats who sat on joints from 10-15 years ago can barely get back the money they spent because their DS shoes can no longer be used, or they have been retroed so many times that the youth has essentially moved on. You can see it by how retros of legendary AF-1s and more than a few, once unattainable Jordan colorways are now sitting and going on sale. I have paid after-market prices, but it was always for shoes that I really wanted and never without selling a couple of shoes to cover the cost. Never camped, never owned a storage unit. After all, I can only wear one pair at the time, and it ain't that serious. Peace and rock your kicks before they crumble. They all do.

[@charleshodge6920]

Dont you hate it when casuals start taking notice of your shit.

[@justanotherisekaiprotagoni7293]

lol mans was serious about reselling lol too serious

[@thegmanpaints]

Shoes are not assets. Art is an asset, not factory made items

[@f0rest554]

Ok so I’m retarted but I really want to understand reselling,it’s a bit confusing on some points.Can somebody help out?

[@smilespov6739]

company makes a limited number of pairs of sneakers or hot items, people buy these items, they sell out in stores, people then resell these items for a price higher than retail, supply and demand 101.

[@williampittman6703]

SmilesPoV way to break it down homie

[@avonrepus89]

Anyone knows what's that intro track?

[@SecondIncomeOpportunities]

It must be hard staying focus on the question while looking at that haircut. No wonder resell is a 4 letter word....Lol

[@maalogtv]

The big companies release a LIMITED amount of exclusives for a reason...Yall dont see people reselling the original white, black AF1s . Why, because they make a life time supply of them. It happens with cars too.. People want what they want

[@jedijooj]

T BLAKE needs to upload more

[@josephgroves2691]

someone tell him to roll his sleeves down ffs

[@TorresProductionsLLC]

4 letter word

[@sunigbiskit2904]

Whats the four letter word? This guy keeps saying it

[@KuraudoGMS]

The announcer needs to go to school

[@iTheRealMercy]

first off, the hosts barber needs to be fired

[@thiagof9481]

As someone who buys sneakers to fucking wear them (shocking) I love how the market is flooded by resellers now, so even if you douchebags hog all the fucking shoes on a release the price won't be too high afterwards

[@GaryIndiana219]

I resell shoes I don’t want just to collect my points at shoe stores I buy them from. Just so I’ll have a chance to win a reserve a pair I really want. So 🖕🏾to all the ones mad at us 20dollar gainers 😂😂😂

[@sm00thpursuit33]

96 freshwater Ken Griffey Jr, Shaq Attaq Reebok pimp Orlando, Frank Thomas Big Hurts. First 3 shoes I’ve bought to resell or hang in the wall, Shaq pumps I could find ds the other two I feel are rare ds

[@marcusjenkins7541]

Just came for the haircut comments

[@stillregular]

Resell your barber .

[@marcellajaynes5997]

I have a pair of Nike Silver Bullets from the OG launch in 97! They’re in very good used condition. Can anyone tell me if they’re worth anything? I know nothing about them, for the most part. Thank you! 😘

[@brodysparks7378]

These comments are 50% about the video and 50% about this mans god awful haircut

[@rawsanity27]

mI'm gonna resell sneakers this time around once I get back into Buying N' Selling. I got no shame in My game.

[@trilltayo]

shoutout trusted kicks. shoutout t blake. dope episode. need a streetwear episodes. lets talk about off white / vlone / FOG

[@georgedorn9394]

what a dope complaining about people undercutting him $5 and squeezing his margin as if they are evil and doing anything different than he is.

[@pugilisticfront6777]

sneakerwealth changes lives

[@thestein1970]

The fade more rare than em sneakers

[@silaspurdy6167]

Either yeezy 350 v2 static’s non reflective or nmd human race trail multi color

[@zainicaliboso7148]

How I can order for you sir if you don't have imo or wathsup sir....because I want to order for you sir....

[@austinfrmrare]

I resold a pair of yeezy cream whites for like 500 but those aren’t v rare, that was my first pair of yeezys

[@b3z18]

8:09 what the fuck is this music