By Alde Nguyen
Staff Writer
Three Costa students are showing how ‘Supreme’ their retail abilities are by flipping Supreme brand clothing in order to make a profit.
Mira Costa seniors Jack McGrail and Kole Barr and junior Kade Barr are tapping into the lucrative reselling market of Supreme, the streetwear clothing brand. Supreme releases items in limited quantities, leading to a high demand that produces high prices per item.
The official website of Supreme
“At first, I was attracted to Supreme because of its exclusivity and the clothing’s unique design. There was no way that I could afford it with my own money, so I thought that if I was to sell it, then I could wear it,” Kole Barr said. “Now, it’s more of a way to make larger profit.”
According to Complex News, Supreme has been dominating the street wear culture since opening in 1994. With nine stores globally, six of which are located in Japan and millions of customers desiring the brand, Supreme has become an international vogue and well-known street wear brand for the limited-edition items.
“When I finally found a way to frequently have clothes going through my hands as well as making a bit of profit, I hopped on the opportunity,” McGrail said.
The reselling economy that surrounds Supreme couldn’t exist without social media. Most reselling is done over apps and websites including Ebay and Instagram. Kole and Kade Barr own a reselling page on Instagram called @preme.heat where they advertise the items that they are selling by listing prices, details and additional information about the products.
The official Instagram of Kade and Kole Barr where they resell their Supreme items
“I sell Supreme to people who want it and follow the demand,” McGrail said. “I usually sell to them through Instagram, Grailed, or sometimes even Depop. When I first started, I was using Ebay and doing the transactions through Paypal. I don’t like selling to people that aren’t credible, and they have to have an image in the community because those people won’t risk their reputation to scam.”
Buying Supreme directly from their retail stores is difficult because of the small supply and large demand, according to Complex News. The only options a reseller has to buy Supreme for retail is by waiting in a line at one of their stores for multiple days due to the high demand or purchasing online within minutes after it is released since there is strong competition to buy items before the products sell out.
“I usually buy my Supreme off the online store when it drops every Thursday during the season, but sometimes that’s really hard,” Kade Barr. “Or I’ll find it on Grailed or Instagram, and I try not to pay the price of resale because it’s more expensive.”
Resellers face many difficulties while trying to buy items, including waiting in long lines, getting scammed by receiving fake product by illegitimate companies and not being fast enough to purchase their clothes online before it’s sold out.
“You just have to be careful with who you’re doing business with and be prepared to strike out, and waiting in line is just super annoying,” McGrail said. “It’s something I hate doing because you will have to be there for hours and the store doesn’t care about you because they know kids are going to buy no matter what, but I do it anyway because I want the clothing.”
As long as Supreme is sought after, there will be resellers ready to supply the demand if the buyer is willing to sacrifice spending more money, McGrail said. Although many participate in reselling, some such as Sandra Ardito, a former Supreme employee, don’t agree with the concept since they believe it is unfair.
“I have to say it’s kind of heartbreaking that reselling has taken over Supreme because it has lost the sense of the brand,” Ardito said. “If someone wants a hat and can’t have a way to pay retail, then they go to a reseller and pay extra.”
Kole Barr, Kade Barr and McGrail all plan to continue working with Supreme clothing, buying and reselling. Furthermore, they plan to continue buying more items and creating more profit as long as they can throughout high school and life after high school.
“For now, Supreme is a great way to earn some extra spending money and wear any company of clothing I want but not have to be tied down to a job with strict hours,” Kole Barr said. “I would say as long as the money I’m making is decent enough for me to actually make a profit, then I will keep doing it.”
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