Kent Fujita

In recent months, there have been numerous supply chain issues. The pandemic has disrupted nearly every aspect of the national supply chain including manufacturing, and transportation. As consumers are demanding the improved speed, quality and service, they have started to shop on secondhand online shops, such as those owned by CHS students.
Sophomore Emmanuel Carrillo designs and resells shoes on StockX, an online marketplace that allows vendors to sell shoes as well as electronics, collectibles, trading cards and accessories. Carrillo has had issues since the beginning of summer getting his product on time because of the increase in demand of shoes that has occurred. He said the pandemic has played a major role in why reselling on StockX has gotten more popular recently.
“I think the pandemic has to be part of the reason reselling has grown a lot, as people are trying to find another side job or income method. And if people like sneakers, it leads them to be more interested in reselling them,” Carrillo said.
Carrillo also said third party websites like StockX are growing at a rapid rate because consumers prefer online shopping to reduce the risk of infection.

He said, “(Secondhand websites) are affecting reselling by acting as another place that people can start reselling, it is changing the game because there are a lot more people now that have access to these websites.”
According to junior Bryan Rivas, who has built his own shoe resale business, the amount of products shipped can change significantly depending on the month. He said he expects more orders in November because of Black Friday and the upcoming holiday season.
He said, “A lot of it depends on luck or what I’m doing. I’ve had a few months where I had to sell 10 shoes a month, then others where I don’t get any luck and can’t sell any.”
Black Friday, the biggest shopping day in the United States, is on Nov. 26. Carrillo said people will most likely take a different approach this year since most in-person stores can’t afford to have big sales because of the setback that has been happening for the past year or so.
“Black Friday won’t have too much of an affect on reselling, as most of the products that are put on sale or new releases aren’t really profitable so most resellers won’t usually hunt down clothing articles on Black Friday unless a new release or restock is coming out,” Carrillo said. “Online though, Black Friday deals are made on seller fees and sometimes websites like StockX or Goat decide to give away or sell some shoes for free, so there is definitely some type of benefit, it just doesn’t have too much of an effect on reselling.”
Along with Carrillo, Rivas said he got into reselling because one of his friends showed him the nooks and crannies of the business and he wanted to try it out.
“A friend of mine named Harrison Schmidt got me into reselling, showed me a few ins and outs about how to do it. Seemed pretty straight forward, and I saw he was making a bit of money off of it and thought to myself maybe I can just do this as a part time hobby and make a few bucks,” Rivas said.
Unlike Carillo, Rivas said that he’s had issues in the last few months, struggling to get sales.
“Obviously it has a lot to do with luck but with these recent supply issues, it has been a struggle for me because it not only affects the seller but it also affects the buyer. There are also lots of new people that are trying to get into the business of reselling because of the pandemic so it has gotten a lot more competitive recently,” he said.
Michelle Foutz, economics teacher, said she doesn’t know the specific reason why these supply issues are happening but believes problems might occur due to inflation.
“I understand there may be an increased demand for secondhand products due to supply chain issues… like existing homes, used cars, gaming devices, etc. And, those prices are likely driven up due to the increased demand,” she said. “It also could be because of COVID and companies having less people work for them, as well as less products being shipped in for them to sell.”
Rivas said despite the stress he can feel from the increased number of orders during this time, magnified by supply chain issues causing consumers to look to small businesses, he enjoys resales.
He said, “I’ll 100% keep doing this until I graduate, as long as I can. It’s not hard work, it’s just knowing the ins and outs of something like reselling… It’s definitely something I want to keep doing.”