Selling Sneakers to Fund Your Next Pair

At Sneakerness, private sellers can also get their own booth to sell their sneaker collections

Metro speaks with three sellers.

Frank Klerks (Outsole)

Outsole is the place to go if you’re looking for vintage shoes, collector’s items and rare sneakers. Outsole specializes in Nike Air Max sneakers. Frank Klerks (25) is the owner and founder of Outsole.

I started collecting around the age of fifteen. I also worked at a bakery back then, earned decent money, but I spent it all on sneakers. My mom sometimes wondered what I was doing. A package arrived almost every day. I even borrowed 3000 euros from her once and promised to pay it back so I could buy a collection. She had her money back the next day. When I bought collections back then I sometimes paid no more than twenty euros per pair. It wasn’t that trendy yet. Shoes were much cheaper: 180 or 200 euros was a lot. You could build your rotation on the cheap and that’s how I built a solid collection, eventually between 200 and 300 pairs. I had to start selling, because you need to keep it affordable. I was part of different communities, groups on Hyves at the time. In 2010 I also started on Blogspot and sold hundreds of sneakers, but I kept buying back as well. At one point I had close to 1500 pairs in my collection. That represents serious value. With the globalization of the sneaker market that exploded. Sales were already attractive then. I’m not talking huge profits, maybe ten or twenty euros a pair. It wasn’t about profit. You can’t compare that time to now. It was a completely different market, a different era, but I had long wanted to start a business around it. I wanted to sell sneakers in a responsible, proper way.

What makes Outsole special?

Buying a brand-new, hyped sneaker is nearly impossible now: most people who get them flip them immediately. I don’t want to be part of that. Whenever there’s a release we get questions, but we don’t really focus on that. We focus on older, rarer sneakers. We truly serve a niche in the sneaker world. The pairs everyone wants aren’t that interesting or important to me. I’d much rather hunt down the most exclusive shoes and sell them to people who really care. Once an older buyer came in who had nothing to do with sneakers anymore, wasn’t otherwise interested, but he was searching for a nostalgic pair: his first and only sneaker from his youth. He had to have it. I love that, that’s what gives me energy. Those are the sneakers you do it for every time. That’s how we stand out in the market, different from the average seller. Our mission is to supply sneaker lovers with collectors’ pieces from the past. Finding that one pair missing in your collection, that’s satisfying, and that’s what I can make happen.

What does the future hold?

I love doing this on the side. I also have a regular job, I’m a healthcare IT manager, and I don’t necessarily need the double workload. It’s twofold. I’m a collector, but I’m also an entrepreneur. I work around a hundred hours a week. Altogether it’s basically a full-time hobby. My girlfriend goes nuts sometimes. We get packages from all over the world every day. They usually get delivered to my neighbors because I’m never home during the day, and then I drive them to my storage. The goal is to maintain our market position and grow, but it’s not to sell the company and get rich. Maybe if someone offered a million, but even then. Yes, you can make a living from it, but that’s not why I do it. I can’t sit still. If I didn’t have this I’d have to start something new right away. I won’t do that, I enjoy this too much.

Michiel van Dam (Dutch Deadstock)

Dutch Deadstock is the place to be if you’re after unique, sold-out or rare items from top brand Supreme. Michiel van Dam is the owner. He also runs a store as a franchisee.

I’m crazy about sneakers and good clothing. I started wearing Supreme about six years ago. Back then you couldn’t get it in Europe. The only way was to ask people going to the U.S. to bring back a cap or a hoodie. There weren’t any webshops either. It was pretty hard to get, even more than now. I knew there was business in it and I wanted to collect too, so I had to, to finance the collection. Now the hype is such that even twelve-year-olds wear it and ask for it in the shop. There’s also a lot of fake stuff out there. Supreme is still limited and the price is still a thing. It’s more accessible and easier to get, but still expensive.

Why choose Supreme?

Supreme is a dope brand. The coolest thing I have is a patchwork outfit. That’s pants with an anorak. People think I’m a bum, they even say I look like one, while I’m wearing clothes worth around 1000 euros. It’s so hard to get that gear, the resale value is insanely high. It took me three quarters of a year to collect it. And then people say you look like a bum. That’s great, right? It makes me laugh. If there’s one thing I can’t stand it’s people saying, “hey, nice, I’ve got that outfit too.” I want something unique and you can get that with Supreme.

What makes Dutch Deadstock special?

Besides sneakers I also sell Supreme clothing. There’s been a store in Paris for about a year now, but even today you’ll still see lines of 3000 people there. Some sleep outside the store for a day or more to buy the newest drops. People know it’s super limited. That’s why fans can also come to me, Dutch Deadstock. I keep prices fairly reasonable. Some charge absurd amounts. And yes, there are items people pay top dollar for, but I also sell at lower price points. The name of my company is Dutch Deadstock. Deadstock stands for products that are completely sold out in stores but can still be delivered new through other channels, like me. And Dutch: well, I’m a Dutch guy.

What does the future hold?

I want to keep doing all kinds of events. I’m at events like Sneakerness basically for my hobby, not necessarily to make money. And yes, preparing for an event is a ton of work, but on the day I’m relaxed. It’s so chill with all the guys and sneaker lovers there. And I get to expand my own collection. Sometimes I’m happier when I can trade a Supreme hoodie I didn’t have yet at Sneakerness than when I sell shoes for a lot of money.

Babette Broeren (Customs by BB)

Customs by BB is a young family business focused on making sneakers special and unique: every shoe is different and can be fully customized. You can also buy all the supplies like paint and laces to customize your own sneakers, bags and fashion accessories. Babette Broeren (22) is the founder.

As a teenager I didn’t land a job quickly. I wanted to do something creative and earn money at the same time. I started selling painted portraits at fifteen. At first I didn’t charge much, anything extra was nice, but over time I could ask more for my canvases. At the same time I was busy collecting sneakers. I often came across amazing pairs that were usually custom made. I restored an old pair myself and the video I made of it has been viewed over 100,000 times now. People loved that I did that, I got tons of positive reactions and requests asking how I did it and if I could do it for them. I didn’t intend to start a business, but it went so well. When orders kept growing my family started helping out. Everyone has their own task.

What makes Customs by BB special?

People often come to us with a rough idea, and we usually figure out how to execute it. We make wedding shoes, we’ve had requests for Feyenoord shoes or Ajax shoes. We’ve designed shoes for Hardwell and Armin van Buuren. We’ve also had requests from the Olympic Games: from athletes or people going who wanted a great keepsake. One of the projects I’m most proud of was a pair I got for a charity auction. They were grey-white with a red sole. I had no idea at first what to do with them, not a pair I’d pick myself. I ended up painting a floral motif. I loved them so much that I made the same pair for myself and wear them too. I also made a pair for a sneakerhead I know well. He wanted each shoe to symbolize one of his kids using Japanese characters. I added their zodiac signs and various symbols that referred to them. There’s a lot embedded in those shoes without it being obvious at first glance. He was so happy with them, and that’s the best. I’ve also done some crazy ideas just because: I once made a pirate-themed shoe with a treasure map and a pirate flag, sold in a wooden chest full of gold chocolate coins. We keep creating new concepts. It’s about more than just the shoes.

What does the future hold?

I’m graduating now, so in a few weeks I can go full time. Over the next six months I’ll have time to really grow, but customizing sneakers is handmade work, so at some point we simply can’t produce more. We also want to focus more on high-end sneakers, we notice the more expensive sneakers are very popular abroad. That’s why we’re offering other models of the Nike Air Max. We have big plans, but first we need to make the website international. Ordering from abroad is still difficult. Once that’s set up I want to see if we can develop our own shoe line. It’s a dream to design and produce a shoe of my own. Maybe we’ll also run workshops where people can learn how to customize their sneakers, who knows. There’s plenty of interest.