Teenage entrepreneurs who make thousands of dollars each month by reselling sneakers and clothing items feel underestimated by their peers who think the work is easy.

The business of teenagers selling limited shoes and clothing items to other people online or in person is thought of as easy work. In reality, it’s very hard work that happens 24/7 because of the passion that is attached to the items that also comes with cash.

Everybody thinks that it is just so easy,” says sophomore Alex Haddon about reselling shoes. Haddon started reselling shoes and limited clothing just a few months ago and has noticed very quickly that people think of it as a sketchy business. When people ask him about what he does to earn extra money, they are confused when he says he sells shoes.

“Who would pay that much for shoes?” is a question that Haddon says he gets a lot.

Haddon says that it is because for these people that are into these shoes who are referred to as “sneakerheads” value the shoe more than something on their feet. For them, it is a piece of art, a piece of culture and a collectible object that they need.

Haddon’s first and biggest sale to date was the Off White Air Max 90’s in black. He entered an online raffle in which the app would randomly select people to buy the shoe. After 10 minutes, he was sitting in the car with his dad when he was notified that he had won. These shoes that he purchased at a price of $190 he later sold for $700.

This was great in all however for him, he was not able to purchase anything for the rest of the month, this isn’t because he had won those shoes, it is because of the fact that he didn’t get lucky with anything else that month.

Reseller Ethan Johnson has also been selling shoes and clothing items for just about 6 months. Johnson claims that people think “we are people that we are not.” He means that people think that he is into drugs, does poorly in school and does not care about things outside of reselling. For him, this is not the case.

He has been quite successful in the time that he has been selling these limited shoes and clothing pieces. His biggest sale to date was the Union Jordan Ones, He paid $220 and sold them for a whopping $1100.

However, he has also lost money on certain items.

Students in the reselling business say “it changed as a person and lets you understand business in a whole new aspect.” Johnson says that the business of reselling has taught him so many business skills such as documenting his sales, going to the bank, writing checks, and spending money responsibly (at least most of the time).

It’s a very profitable business that relies on the hard work and trust of that individual. Without trust, they don’t have customers and without hard work, they don’t have money in their pocket.