So I've been running a small sneaker resale business for about three years now, mostly online and a little at local shows. A guy I know from the circuit is getting out of the game and wants to sell me his entire inventory. We're talking maybe 150-200 pairs, mix of GR stuff and some older retros. He's asking $18k, which feels like a lot but also maybe fair? I've never done a bulk buy before. My biggest worry is ending up with a bunch of bricks nobody wants. Has anyone here bought out another reseller? What did you check before handing over cash? He says he has a spreadsheet but I haven't seen it yet.
Inventory
My sneaker business might buy another reseller's inventory
150-200 pairs for 18k is like $90-120 per pair average. Depends entirely on what's in there. If it's all GR dunks and $70 retail stuff that's a terrible deal. If there's actual heat mixed in it could be a steal.
get the spreadsheet first. no spreadsheet no conversation. also ask him for the last 6 months of sales records if he has them, even if it's just his own notes. if he can't produce that, he's hiding something.
lol 'he says he has a spreadsheet' is the reseller equivalent of 'the check is in the mail'
I did this about two years ago. Bought ~90 pairs off a guy leaving the scene. Biggest lesson: assume 30-40% of it is dead stock you'll sit on for a year+. Price accordingly. If he's asking 18k for 200 pairs, offer him 10-12k and see how he reacts. If he's desperate to exit he'll negotiate. If he's firm, walk. There's always another deal. Also physically inspect every box, check for yellowing on anything white or clear, smell test for smoke, and pull a few random pairs to check they're not fake or mismatched. I found two reps in my buy and the guy swore up and down they were legit.
the spreadsheet will tell you everything. Sort it by retail price and by release date. Anything older than 4-5 years with no retro hype is probably a brick. Also check sizes. If he's got 20 pairs of size 8 and your customers are all 10.5, that's a problem.
Size distribution is huge, and nobody talks about it enough. You're not just buying inventory, you're buying whatever size curve this guy had. If it doesn't match yours, you're stuck with dead sizes.
did he say why he's getting out? if its just 'moving on' that's fine but if he's in a hurry that's a red flag. could be he's sitting on a bunch of stuff that stopped moving and wants to dump it on someone.
just bring a scale and weigh each box. if a pair is 20g lighter than it should be, it's a rep. 100% foolproof method, trust me, I saw it on youtube
Ignore the scale guy. But do bring a friend if you go inspect. One person counting boxes, one person checking condition. Also count everything twice. Guys 'accidentally' leave out the good stuff when they're packing it up for you
18k is a lot for a first bulk buy. If you don't have the cash to burn and sit on it for 6-12 months, maybe pass and start smaller. Buying 40-50 pairs from him at a proportional price would be a better test run. See if he'd split the lot.
Splitting the lot is good advice. Also worth sking if he'll do consignment on the slow movers. Some guys exiting the game will take 70% of sale price on a consignment basis just to get it gone. You get less risk, he gets less money, but still gets money. Win for both if you negotiate it right.
Appreciate all this. The size thing is something I honestly hadn't thought about at all, so that's already worth posting. I'm going to ask for the spreadsheet and his sales records before I even go look at anything. The consignment idea is interesting but I doubt he'd go for it since he wants cash out. Might propose splitting the lot though. We'll see what the spreadsheet says.