Michael Lee didn’t plan to sell his Supreme when he started to buy clothing and accessories in 2016. Every Thursday, at 7:30 a.m., Lee would wake up just in time to buy the Supremes’ drop of new clothing at 8 a.m. Each week the brand updates their online store with clothing, accessories and novelties ranging from $2 to $1,000 or more that can sell out within a few seconds after being released on the site.
“At one point I realized that this is wasting my money. I buy this stuff and don’t ever wear it so I stopped,” Lee said. “It’s cringey to be called a hypebeast.”
But Lee still had a lot of stuff, and he figured out that there was a potential profit within his collection. Lee started to resell through Facebook groups in his home country, Taiwan. He would ship merchandise after being wired money or meet up with customers at the Taipei Metro station to make exchanges. Since moving to the states, Lee uses StockX.com, an online market where people can buy verified merchandise, to resell his collection.
“I think the resale culture gives people the opportunity to start their own business,” said Lee. But he thinks of his reselling business as more of a side hustle to make some money while he’s in school.
Lee’s Supreme collection currently consists of 50 to 100 accessories, 100 to 150 shirts, and 40 to 50 hoodies. His Supreme is unused to lightly worn, and if he’s worn something he has it dry cleaned to maintain the quality. Lee has no problem pulling up his receipts when people ask him to verify his merchandise. He has built a reputation for consistently selling authenticity.
Lee’s style has changed since he started reselling. He strays away from wearing Supreme and focuses on buying products he knows he can profit from. “Back then I use to wear Supreme everything. I was really insecure and not as confident as I am now,” Lee said. “Now I’m more into how the fit looks and not how expensive it is.”
His current style is low-key with little-to-no branding and dresses to be comfortable. He’s dressed in light brown slacks and an olive green tee with a denim jacket draped around his shoulders. He prefers to lightly flex by paying extra for clothing that has quality.
“If you like it and you feel confident wearing them, just do it, wear what you want. Just make sure you don’t lose yourself in the process of buying that stuff,” Lee said.
Words and photos by Kimberly Harris
