Copped or dropped? That is the question that many high schoolers are thinking about all the time. Whether it is for a pair of new Yeezys or for a Supreme tee, students are constantly thinking about the latest and greatest releases each week. But it isn’t always as simple as just obtaining the item for themselves anymore.
Now there is another complication for high school hypebeasts: resale value. More and more people are starting to get into the resale game in order to profit off of highly popular brands such as Supreme, Gucci, Adidas and Nike.
There are many reasons a student may get into resale, but one of the main reasons is so that they can have some money to spend without having to ask their parents. Tarun Vedula, a freshman at Pleasant Valley, said “I wanted to be able to financially support myself without always having to ask my parents for money.” Many students feel similarly to Tarun which is why the business has picked up so rapidly.
There are multiple methods through which prospective sellers can connect with buyers, making connection with customers more efficient. Obviously, meeting people in person and selling to them directly is always an option, but recently other online methods have gained more popularity.
Websites such as StockX, GOAT, and Flight Club provide a hub for buyers and sellers. These online avenues for resale have become popular because of the larger market they provide for sellers. Tre Reyes-Sutton, a junior at Pleasant Valley, said, “I use online methods like StockX because it is convenient for me and there aren’t very many people around here willing to pay full resale for an expensive item.”
The sites take a small commision for allowing sellers to connect to buyers through their site, so the profits won’t go entirely to the seller. For example, the site StockX has a mandatory 3% fee for payment processing plus another fee that starts at 9.5% and decreases as a seller makes more sales. However, this commision is typically a very reasonable amount and it comes with the guarantee that the site will verify the authenticity of the product being sold.
Resale continues to be a big area of interest for students and the channels for them to pursue this interest are growing, making this an easy way for students to make some quick cash.