Daejin Park

Thoughts while building

[Daejin Park @dpsneak]

Everyone in the sneaker game has such a skewed perception of money

[Daejin Park @dpsneak]

I'm curious what the fake sp5der kids tell their parents they do to make money

[Daejin Park @dpsneak]

Sneaker stores are failing because of the reseller > store owner pipeline.

Running a store vs. reselling out of your mom's basement requires totally different skillsets-

But every reseller who gets big enough always thinks that opening a store is the next step

And then all of sudden they owe money to 100 different people

But have too big of an ego to admit they messed up

And so they try to ponzi their way out of it before inevitably closing down and running away.

[Daejin Park @dpsneak]

Resellers will focus so much on hitting their target ROI that they'll sit on a shoe for 6 years because it's "going up"

And then end up selling for a loss anyways

[Daejin Park @dpsneak]

Reseller A:
- Buys sneakers for $100
- Sells for $125 (25% ROI)
- Flips every month
- After 12 months: $100 becomes $1,497

Reseller B:
- Buys sneakers for $100
- Sells for $150 (50% ROI)
- Flips every 6 months
- After 12 months: $100 becomes $225

And yet 95% of resellers choose to be Reseller B.

[Daejin Park @dpsneak]

It's crazy to me how unsophisticated sneakers is still.

It still feels like a bunch of kids running around without any clue what they're doing.

Things are going to move fast these next couple of years.

Get ready.

[Daejin Park @dpsneak]

I'm always a little shocked when I talk to big Amazon sellers-

I've spent time with some of the biggest sneaker resellers, and the biggest Amazon sellers- and there's a clear difference between the two:

Everyone in sneakers is so scared of "burning the loop"

vs. Amazon- it feels like everyone wants to share "the loop"

I don't think one is necessarily better than the other- but I do think it says a lot about the size of the markets.

[Daejin Park @dpsneak]

Just because something worked last year, or even last month- doesn't mean it will work today.

Stay in front, or get left behind.

[Daejin Park @dpsneak]

I can confidently say that opening a store is the most fun business model in the sneaker game.

But it is 1000% not the most profitable (without online component).

I know a lot of big resellers who opened stores just for fun- but they make all their money from something else.

[Daejin Park @dpsneak]

It's funny- when we first started reselling, we sold "bricks" because we didn't have the capital to buy anything else.

Now, we're back to selling "bricks," because we have too much capital to buy anything else consistently.

[Daejin Park @dpsneak]

It's remarkable how unwilling to adapt resellers are even though their business is failing.

They'd rather stick to what they "know" and make $500/month than switch to a stronger business model and make $5k/month.

Nobody's stronger than the market. Accept it, and adapt to it.

[Daejin Park @dpsneak]

Resellers will make $10k in August and then say they make $120k/year

& then they'll spend like they make $120k/year

Don't extrapolate, stay locked in.

[Daejin Park @dpsneak]

Curious how much money has been collectively lost to scammers in the reselling community

[Daejin Park @dpsneak]

The top entrepreneurs I know all used to be addicted to video games

They just take that same level of addiction and apply it to business

[Daejin Park @dpsneak]

August is not the time to try to expand the business.

August is the time to put your head down and execute on what you spent the first half of the year planning for.

Don't get too cute.

[Daejin Park @dpsneak]

The sneaker reselling market is the only market where people people refuse to take a loss.

Resellers will pass on a 100 pair deal where they'll make $100 on 50 pairs...

Just because they'll lose $50 on the other 50 pairs.

The game is about averages.

Just win more than you lose and you'll be ok.

[Daejin Park @dpsneak]

Your favorite sneaker store is actually a clothing store that just happens to sell sneakers.

[Daejin Park @dpsneak]

There's an entire generation who thinks "reselling" is just fake sp5der & airpods.

We went from the NikeTalk/eBay era

To the Flight Club era

To the Hypebeast era

To the "Asian Bulk Buyer" era

To the "Covid Reseller" era

And now we have the Fake Airpod era.

[Daejin Park @dpsneak]

Resellers will complain about not having enough capital

But will sit on 100 pairs of Military Blue 4's for 3 years waiting for them to go up

Never made sense to me

[Daejin Park @dpsneak]

All this "algorithm hacking" stuff is bs.

If you provide real value-

You will get views.

That's the secret.

[Daejin Park @dpsneak]

You think you want to be an entrepreneur.

You want to work when you want, where you want.

You want the money, the respect, the status.

You want the cars, the watches, the yachts.

You want to be your own boss.

But here’s the problem.

Think about the last time you saw an unsuccessful entrepreneur on social media.

You can’t?

And yet the vast majority of entrepreneurs are unsuccessful.

So how is this possible?

See- you only see the best on social media.

And with entrepreneurship- the best is pretty good- the cars, the watches, the yachts.

But everything else- is tough.

And you won’t see that- you never will.

And so the problem is that social media has tied the entrepreneur to the fruits of the 1%- but forgotten about the roots that grew them.