▲ Nike stores lined up with young people trying to buy limited edition products (Source=Google)

A few days ago, a close friend of mine bought a pair of Nike shoes and sold them again, which profited them with 220,000 won. She ordered shoes that were sold as limited edition on the Internet, but she ended up earning them instead of out of a draw. It was purchased for 130,000 won, but it was re-sold for 350,000 won on the online site of used goods trading.

With this kind of example observed frequently even around us, we can tell that it's time to make money by buying and selling shoes. The so-called "Sneakers Resale" is very popular among Korean teenagers.

Sneakers Resale is a popular way to buy limited-edition sneakers and sell them back on top of them, earning them with profit. In recent years, young people in their 20s and 30s have emerged as a new means of investment technologies that can earn stable profits with a just small amount of money.

Teenagers who want to save pocket money from their parents are also increasing rapidly as it is possible to invest around 100,000 won. Moreover, most limited-edition sneakers sold by sports brands Nike and Adidas are determined by the raffle system, where a person is drawn randomly to earn the sneakers at a fairly discounted price. If you are lucky, you can buy limited-edition sneakers and sell them at high prices without requiring special knowledge or skills about a business.

In fact, more than 10,000 people are said to participate in Nike's domestic shoe draw, showing the recent popularity in the sneakers resale system. As it is an easy and safe way to invest with such a small amount, the size of South Korea's Sneakers Resale market has soared to 500 billion KRW recently.

Sneakers Resale also makes unexpectedly high profits. Air Force 1 Para-Noise', which Nike released in November last year in collaboration with GD, is a representative example. The limited edition of the red logo of the sneakers, which cost 219,000 won, is said to have soared to more than 3 million won at one point in the used market. It recorded a return of 1269 percent at once.

In the past, limited-edition sneakers were mainly sold in online communities or small platforms, however, as the Sneaker Resale market grew rapidly, even large companies entered the market. Naver (the Korean largest Internet company), Musina (a fashion company), and KT (the largest national telecommunications company) all have launched a platform business to trade Sneakers Resale.

However, there are conflicting debates and controversies about teenagers being interested in Sneakers Resale. Affirmatives are claiming that there have been positive assessments since Sneakers Retail is an opportunity to experience and study investment, while those against the case states that it is not desirable to devote time to making money at a time when you have to focus on your studies.

By Siyeong Im