What's the Best Way to Resell Your Sneakers? A Definitive Guide
From go-to favorites like StockX and GOAT to eBay and Instagram, here’s a definite guide to reselling sneakers and the best places to sell shoes.
Big money can be made if you land the right sneaker or sell a ton of pairs. But what’s the best way to flip your inventory?
There are many ways to resell your shoes. You can flip them hand-to-hand to people you know, drop them off at big consignment retailers such as Flight Club or Stadium Goods, list them on eBay, or sell them through websites such as StockX and apps like GOAT.
But you need to be mindful of a lot when you’re reselling your shoes. What are the fees? How long will it take to sell the sneakers or get paid? How will you get paid? How much effort do you need to put in on your end? Will anyone save you if you get scammed?
To break it down, here is a roundup of the most popular sites, stores, and ways to resell your shoes. We want you to be informed, so we’ve taken the who, what, where, when, and whys into consideration and presented it here so you can make up your own mind. Here are the pros and cons:
StockX
Locations: Based in Detroit, online
Selling process: StockX is based on a bid/ask process. You can list your sneakers for however much you want on the site and potential buyers can choose to accept your price or not. Buyers can also list their own prices, and if that amount is acceptable to a seller, they can chose to sell their shoes for that amount. Once a deal is agreed upon, StockX will email a shipping label to send the sneakers to them to be verified. The service typically gives you two business days to ship your sneakers, or else there will be a fee taken out of your price. They must be in the original box and unworn.
Fee: Seller fees are 10 percent when you start, but the rates will decrease to 9.5 percent as soon as you complete three sales. Payment processing is 3 percent. Fees will drop to 8.5 percent after 25 sales or $5,000 in volume. Fees will then drop to 8 percent after either 250 sales or $30,000 worth of transactions. Beginning October 4, 2022, sellers will be charged a $4 shipping fee for single-item shipments.
Payment process: Payment is put in your PayPal account once the shoes are shipped and verified. You can also opt for direct deposit.
Pros: The more you use the service, the better. Your rates go down the more sneakers you sell, and eventually you won’t have to wait for someone to buy your shoes to get paid; meaning that if there is a bid for the sneakers you own and you’re OK with that price, you’ll have the money within a few days. You can also make educated guesses on how much you want to list your sneakers for, because StockX has a database of how much recent pairs sells for in their respective sizes.
Cons: StockX goes through a high volume of transactions and people have had issues, on the buying end, with the quality of some of the sneakers in the past. The platform has also experienced a major data breach, exposing a reported 6 million customers' personal information including their name, email address, shipping address, username, hashed passwords, and purchase history. This information was then reportedly being sold on the dark web for $300. Despite StockX acknowledging this and making system updates, it is still something to consider and be aware of as a threat to both buyers and sellers.
Instagram/Twitter
Locations: Online
Selling process: Post the sneakers that you want to sell on your personal account and hope that people see it. You can also be the worst type of person on the internet: the type that comments on big sneaker accounts to announce that you have a size available of a certain sneaker for sale.
Fee: None.
Payment process: However you set it up: Venmo, PayPal, in person.
Pros: You make your own rules. You keep all the money from the sale.
Cons: There’s no regulation, so every sale is risky. You’re relying on your own following and word of mouth to promote that you’re selling sneakers.
Flight Club
Locations: New York City, Los Angeles, Online
Selling process: At Flight Club, you drop the sneakers off at one of its physical locations. You can also ship the shoes to them. You work with the staff to find an agreed-upon price that’s based off the store’s selling history of a certain sneaker. The shoes will then be sold in-store at that location, but will also be listed on the store’s website. Once someone buys your shoes, you get paid. You can either pick up a check in person or have the money deposited to your bank account.
Fee: Flight Club takes 9.5 percent of each sale, as well as a $5 seller fee and a 2.9 percent cash-out fee.
Payment process: You can either have the money paid out into your online account and have the money transferred to the bank, or you can pick up a check at one of the physical locations.
Pros: Flight Club is the O.G. in the game, and is a trusted place to sell your sneakers. The stores are tourist hubs and product often sells very quick once you’ve put it up. You can also adjust your pricing online if you’re having trouble selling it at the set price. Flight Club is also allowing the sale of lightly used sneakers, but they have to be dropped off in person. All selling is anonymous. Items are cross listed on GOAT.
Cons: Flight Club has the right to refuse any sneaker, whether the store is overstocked or it’s having a hard time selling a certain product.
Grailed
Locations: Online, based in New York City
Selling process: Grailed is a marketplace that offers more than just sneakers—it’s known for high-end clothing and streetwear, too. Instead of having to go directly through Grailed employees to sell your product, you upload the product and post three photos. One of them needs to be tagged with your username on it. You can sell your product in one of four markets, which are separated into high-end designers, streetwear and sneakers, classic menswear, or lower-end items. You need to fill out a description for the product, and Grailed suggests basing your price off already sold items on its marketplace. Selling is not anonymous, as buyers know which sellers they’re purchasing from. Sellers need to ship their own products.
Fee: 9 percent plus 2.9 percent and 30 cents for PayPal processing.
Payment process: All payment is through PayPal.
Pros: Grailed is a diverse marketplace, so there may be a different swath of product. Other reselling stores/apps may not accept a certain shoe, but you can still upload it to Grailed and try your luck. The fees are much lower than the traditional 80/20 split at other stores. Your listing can also be edited.
Cons: There’s no vetting of whether the product is real or fake before it’s uploaded, so you need to do your research and see the seller’s feedback. Shipping the shoe yourself is going to take money out of your profits, so you need to negotiate a shipping price with the buyer.
Stadium Goods
Locations: New York City, online, Nordstroms location, partnerships with eBay and Alibaba
Selling process: Stadium Goods may have only opened in 2015, but it’s quickly become one of the biggest and most reputable secondary sneaker marketplaces out there. You can either drop off your shoes at the store’s physical location in New York City or ship them to the store. You come up with the prices with the store’s staff based on market values. Once your shoes are sold, you’re paid. The store does weekly pay outs.
Fee: The store has an 80/20 split.
Payment process: You can pick up the check in person or receive a direct deposit on the website that may take a few days to hit your account. You'll also need to fill out a W9 form.
Pros: Stadium Goods is becoming the industry benchmark in reselling, working deals with Nike, China’s Alibaba, eBay, and Nordstrom—the company is to be trusted. The shop’s NYC location is right near stores like NikeLab at 21 Mercer, so there’s a lot of foot traffic. The retailer also occasionally runs sales on the site, which is unheard of in the reselling industry. It doesn’t take the profit out of your sale, though, but only ensures that the product will move faster. The selling is anonymous.
Cons: There’s no way of changing the prices of your listed shoes online. Also, you're paid once a week, rather than when the shoe is sold.
GOAT
Locations: Online/app
Selling process: To sell on GOAT, you need to apply. Once you become an authorized seller, you can list your shoes online. If a sale is made, you will ship the shoes to GOAT for them to be authenticated. Once everything checks out, the money will be deposited to you.
Fee: $5 in the U.S. $12 in United Kingdom, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Belgium, France, and Germany. $15 in Hong Kong. $20 in Canada, Austria, Sweden, Italy, Finland, Portugal, Spain, and Denmark. $25 in Guam. $30 for the rest of the world. There is also a 9.5 percent commission fee. This fee can increase to 15 percent and as high as 25 percent for canceled orders due to “replicas, wrong size, wrong shoe, wrong condition, uncommon manufacturing defects not mentioned.” For each seller cancelation, 10 points are also deducted from their seller rating. The commission fee can also increase incrementally depending on that seller rating.
Payment process: Once the sneakers are verified, the money will be credited to your GOAT account, which you can use to buy sneakers or you can cash out.
Pros: The selling process, as well as the payment, are quick and easy. It’s all done through your phone, so the only thing you need to do is ship the sneaker. Once you’re verified, you can sell new or used sneakers with or without a box. They also launched a program where they clean your sneakers for you. Items are cross listed with Flight Club.
Cons: You need to be verified to use the program, so it may not be the easiest or quickest way to sell your shoes. The company says it’s verifying sellers in small batches.
eBay
Locations: Online
Selling process: You take images of your sneakers and create a listing. You can either have people bid on your sneakers or allow them to be bought instantly at a set asking price. Once a buyer is determined, the seller comes in contact with the buyer and payment is made. It’s not an automatic process and buyers can flake. You ship the sneakers yourself, so you add the shipping into the cost.
Fee: Sellers without stores who sell sneakers for over $100 are charged an 8 percent fee while those with stores are charged a 7 percent fee. Beginning October 10, 2022, sales between $100 and $150 will be charged an increased fee of 12.9 percent.
Payment process: The buyer can pay with PayPal, credit, or debit.
Pros: EBay is the biggest marketplace on the internet, and the more you sell and positive feedback you receive, the more likely that you’re going to make more sales. It’s also the O.G. place to buy and sell sneakers on the internet, so you’ll potentially have more people looking at your listings.
Cons: If buyers flake, you have to re-list the item, although eBay will refund your fees. There are also fakes on eBay, so buyers are sometimes wary about getting sneakers on there
Independent consignment stores
Locations: Various
Selling process: Similar to Stadium Goods or Flight Club. You’ll go to the store, talk to the owner or employee, figure out a price, and wait for the shoes to sell.
Fee: Typically 80/20 split.
Payment process: Varies, but it typically is an in-store cash payout.
Pros: If you don’t live in New York or L.A., it may be more difficult to sell your sneakers with Flight Club or Stadium Goods.
Cons: Lower volume of traffic at these stores. Not as big of a web presence. It may take longer to sell your shoes.
Round Two
Locations: Miami, Los Angeles, New York, Online
Payment process: You bring whatever you’re selling—clothing, sneakers, etc—into the store and Round Two buys it outright from you on the spot. You’re paid in cash there.
Fees: None.
Pros: Instant cash. You can sell new or used items.
Cons: You need to do your research and know how much you want to sell the item for and be able to negotiate the price. You need to come to one of its multiple locations.
