I Became a Self-Made Millionaire by Selling Sneakers: 6 Strategies I Used

©StockX

Commitment to Our Readers

GOBankingRates' editorial team is committed to bringing you unbiased reviews and information. We use data-driven methodologies to evaluate financial products and services - our reviews and ratings are not influenced by advertisers. You can read more about our editorial guidelines and our products and services review methodology.

20 Years
Helping You Live Richer

Reviewed
by Experts

Trusted by
Millions of Readers

Vernon Simms has made roughly $10 million re-selling sneakers on platforms like StockX, which he joined in 2016. Simms sells a wide variety of sneakers, from everyday styles to limited-edition releases, using a mix of retail sales and online arbitrage to reach his customers.

Here’s a closer look at the strategies he has used to become a millionaire selling sneakers online.

Starting Off Small

Simms started re-selling sneakers when he was a teenager. He started off small, really learning the trade before scaling his business.

“When I was in high school, I lived in Centerville, Virginia, and I worked at Finish Line,” he said. “I would use my employee discount to buy shoes, basketball jerseys and hats. I would sell all that stuff on eBay. Back then, that was just my money to go to the movie theater and stuff like that.”

A decade later he got back into the re-selling business.

“I was a national touring DJ for a long time, and one day I had these Steph Curry shoes and something just clicked in my head,” Simms said. “I was like, ‘I wonder if I could sell shoes again.’

“The next shoe that came out was the [Air Jordan 12 “Flu Game”], and I told myself I was going buy it and see if I can sell it,” he continued. “And sure enough, I did, and I made a little bit of a profit. I was like, ‘Oh, interesting. Let me keep doing this.’ So I would just go to the Nike store during the week, and I would find shoes on sale and I would sell them on eBay.”

Switching Platforms

The key to scaling his business was moving from predominantly selling on eBay to selling on StockX.

“When I came upon StockX, it changed everything,” Simms said. “With eBay, you have to list pictures, you have to put a description, you have to wait for it to sell. And with StockX, it was none of that. There were no pictures, there’s no description — you could sell instantly. And they authenticate, which is something that eBay didn’t do.”

Because StockX took so much of the legwork out of the process, Simms was able to sell more shoes and sell them faster. He now sells roughly 600 to 1,000 pairs of shoes every month.

Only Buying What He Knew He Could Sell

StockX enables Simms to know what will sell before actually making the purchase, which saves him big on upfront costs.

“With StockX, the great thing is that I could sell the product before I actually buy it,” he said. “So I would be looking at the shoe in the store, and I would list it while I’m in the store. And when I would sell it, that’s when I would go to the counter and that’s when I would buy it, already knowing that I made money.”

‘Looking For Money’

Simms now re-sells sneakers as his full-time job, visiting at least one or two shoe stores every day. At this point, he knows how to identify the shoes that will make him the most profit.

“What I look for is so simple — I look for money,” he said. “When you scan [a shoe on StockX], you can see immediately if you’re going to make money or not. It’ll tell you how much it’s selling for, and if I can buy it at the store for less than what it’s selling for, I just I buy it.”

Expanding the Business

In addition to selling directly to buyers, Simms also has a few other ways he makes money selling sneakers.

“I have a warehouse that I have things go to now, so I don’t necessarily have to fulfill everything myself,” he said. “I do a lot of online arbitrage as well. I do a lot of wholesaling, and I have buyers. It’s definitely a machine right now.”

Staying Organized

Simms’s No. 1 piece of advice for those looking to get into the re-selling business is to be organized.

“That’s a big thing, because if you’re not, you can get lost in the sauce,” he said. “You need to know what’s selling. That way, you know what to get more of and maybe what not to get so you don’t lose money.”

Simms uses color-coded spreadsheets to keep track of what styles are and aren’t selling.

“For me, green means you made a profit. If it’s red, that means you didn’t,” he said. “I keep track of the ones that have been making me a lot of money, and then I’ll just keep buying that shoe.”

Simms notes that he uses this system for bulk buying and wholesaling, not for selling individual shoes that he finds in-store.

An Added Perk

Simms makes all of his purchases with credit cards, which has added another layer to his success and wealth.

“I’ve raised my credit score to over 800 doing this because I’m buying with credit cards, and I’m paying them off immediately,” he said.

In addition to raising his credit score, Simms has saved a ton of money by utilizing credit card points he’s earned with his purchases.

“I haven’t paid for a trip in I don’t know how long with all the points — hotels, flights, I use gift cards to buy food,” he said. “You have points that you’re accumulating by spending so much money buying product and having your business that you can now use that to sustain your lifestyle.”

Share This Article: