A 19-year-old entrepreneur who made $400,000 in sneaker sales reveals the 4 biggest mistakes every novice reseller should watch out for

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A 19-year-old entrepreneur who made $400,000 in sneaker sales reveals the 4 biggest mistakes every novice reseller should watch out for
Ishaan Jain
  • Ishaan Jain is a 19-year-old sneakerhead who makes thousands of dollars reselling sneakers.
  • He started selling sneakers seriously in 2015 and made $325,000 in sales between September 2017 and March 2019.
  • Though now a college freshman, Jain still sells sneakers, albeit less often than he did in high school.
  • The teen revealed the biggest mistakes he made when growing his business and explained what new resellers should avoid when they try to break into the multibillion-dollar business.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Every sneaker reseller remembers the first shoe they flipped. For Ishaan Jain, that shoe was a pair of Lebrons that he initially got as a Christmas gift as a kid. They originally cost his parents around $80, but after wearing them for a couple of years, he sold them for $200 as an eighth grader, with the help of a friend.

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"That's when I realized that there's something there," Jain told Business Insider. "And that's where it truly, kind of, began."

The teenager started to resell sneakers seriously in 2015, mostly through GOAT, an online sneaker marketplace. In his peak period, between September 2017 and March 2019, Jain did about $325,000 in sales. To date, he estimates he has done close to $400,00o in sales.

Now a freshman a the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill studying business administration, Jain still runs his business from his dorm room, though he said it has slowed down since his time in high school.

Looking back on his early days as a reseller, Jain said it wasn't always an easy road getting to where he is today.

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"I feel like a lot of times, people think reselling is super easy and like everyone thinks it's really profitable," he said. "But in reality, it's not that easy."

Jain explained how he broke into the resale industry, as well as some of the biggest mistakes he has made - and how other resellers can avoid the same pitfalls.

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