A round-up of the best sneaker resellers in India

Once a niche market, reselling sneakers is now a flourishing business both online and offline

If the newest pairs of Yeezys or Air Jordans have sold out online even before you could feed in your card details, you know you’ll have a tough time finding them on the World Wide Web. With numerous resources available online, it’s easy to get duped off your money, or end up buying fakes.

The “hobby” of reselling sneakers, which once had a niche market, is now a thriving business. A 2019 report by database tracker Statista estimated that the sneaker resale market was valued at around $6 billion dollars, while a 2020 insight by Cowen Equity Research estimated that it would be $30 billion globally by 2030. Going by these numbers, the growing community of sneakerheads will make you realise how profitable the sneaker reselling business can be.

While globally the hype culture has a cultish following, it’s slowly catching up in India with sneakerheads as young as 18 getting on Instagram to turn their hobby into a flourishing business, with 100 to 200 per cent markup than the original price of the sneakers. So if you’re putting a big pile of money on your feet, you better make sure to buy your kicks from legit sources. We’ve shortlisted some of the top resellers in the game right now, so that you can build that shoe shrine.

SoleSearch

Before starting SoleSearch, Param Minhas knew the sneaker boom was going to happen in India. With the help of his cousin Prabal Bhagla, he set up SoleSearch as an experiment when they had trouble sourcing sneakers for themselves. “One of the ways you could possibly get a pair of hype sneakers is if you’re lucky enough to cop them at retail from the brand. Or you go to resellers, who use bots, and make friends with the store owners and have the back-door pass to those very limited drops. You’d have to go on Instagram and message these “sneaker mafias”’ independently, all of which would have different rates and explanations for the cost,” says Minhas. “There was neither any transparency nor was it a great buyer experience,” concludes Bhagla. The cousins, with a backing from actor and former MTV VJ Rannvijay Singha, first consolidated the inventory available on Instagram, including prices and sizes. With the help of their website, they offer a platform for buyers to connect with the sellers, lending transparency and authenticity. Apart from hype sneakers, you’ll also find apparel from hype brands such as Anti Social Social Club and Off White to homegrown labels like No Grey Area and Acid Moons.

Mainstreet Marketplace

When Vedant Lamba started a YouTube channel for sneakerheads in 2017, little did he know that one day he would become the poster boy for sneaker reselling in India. Mainstreet Marketplace comprises online and brick-and-mortar stores, the first of its kind in the country, in Mumbai and New Delhi. “We were there at the right place and the right time,” says Lamba, whose clients include Bollywood celebrities like Karan Johar and Jimmy Shergill. Apart from Yeezys, Air Jordans and Dunks, Mainstreet Marketplace also retails Drew Apparels, which is Justin Bieber’s streetwear clothing line.

Crepdog Crew

What started off as an Instagram account in 2019 for sneaker reselling, Anchit Kapil, Bharat Mehrotra and Shaurya Kumar’s Crepdog Crew (CDC) has expanded massively in just two years to earn the reputation of the one-stop-shop for all things street. From Jordan 5 Retro Off-White Sail (a reimagination of the first Jordans Virgil Abloh owned) to Yeezy Foam Rnnr, CDC is here to make sure that your street cred is up to date. CDC also houses homegrown streetwear talents like Kanika Goyal Label, PRXKHXR and Delhiwear among others.

HypeFly India

Eat, sleep, breathe sneakers? Hype Fly India caters to all these needs and more with unique collaborations like G-Dragon x Nike Kwondo 1 (Nike’s collaboration with the famous South Korean rapper) or Yoon Ahn’s AMBUSH x Nike Dunks. Founded by Abbas Ali Zaveri, HypeFly India promises to have the latest hype sneakers or clothing worn by your favourite celebrities, including Air Jordan 1 in ‘mocha’ which was spotted on Deepika Padukone, and an Essentials sweatshirt that Ranveer Singh copped from HypeFly India.

Kicks4Value

For New Delhi-based Ishaan Chauhan, it was his brother who got him hooked on to sneakers by waking up as early as 7.30 am to buy the latest release from Nike. “I thought it would be easy, it’s just a pair of sneakers. Within five minutes of the drop, when he put in his card details, the website flashed ‘better luck next time’ on the screen,” says Chauhan, who now buys, sells and consigns sneakers only via his Instagram handle called @kicks4value. If you’re looking for Air Jordan 1 high-tops in a bubblegum colour or Nike’s collaboration with Japanese luxury brand sacai VaporWaffle, this 18-year-old will sort you out.

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