Essay Sample on Collecting Sneakers: My Dad's Gift on My 13th Birthday

My uncle and I developed an interest in collecting sneakers when I was about twelve years old. The interest gradually grew as we spent more and more time around them and seeing what went into them. My parents also noticed that my interest in sneakers was a lot and decided that they would not discourage me from going on with my passion for collecting sneakers. I vividly remember that my dad got me a pair of Kobe sneakers on my 13 birthday. What excited me most is that that was the first pair of Kobes that I had fallen in love with, mainly because it was the first pair of sneakers in my collection.

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The pair of Kobes increased my interest in collecting sneakers as I used all the money I had been gifted on my birthday to buy a pair of Jordans. A week later is started researching on the internet looking about various brands and designs of sneakers and the reason they were sold at higher prices than other models of shoes. My research yielded positive results as I gathered the information that made me realize that I could make a lot of money from the sneaker collecting hobby.

When I was around the age of 14, I decided to spend the few hundred dollar bills that I had saved up to go for my first sneaker release. Although I did not have a ready collection of sneakers, my father and I used my savings to buy more shoes from other collectors in my neighborhood. After a few days buying sneakers from other collectors, I had grown my collection to little more than $400 worth. It took me to sell all the inventory since the demand for sneakers was not that high. Even though the profits were little, I kept selling sneakers on GOAT sneaker market and social media platforms such as Facebook.

After my family and I moved from Sandiego to jasper, my business was greatly affected since there were no malls where sneaker releases could be held. I had to find a way to steer my business forward, so I turned to Instagram. It was difficult for me at the beginning since I was new to the site, and I had no following. I spent more than six months trying to build my Instagram profile to attract more followers and potential customers. My efforts bore fruit as, by the end of 2016 and 2017, I had made sales worth $19000 and $30000 respectively.

My business took a turn in 2018 as I successfully convinced my friend to join me in the business, and we started selling shoes together. With combined efforts, we expanded our clientele and grew our sales and profitability significantly. We eventually got to attend a small sneaker release at the end of the year; this was a great reassurance that the sneaker culture was gradually developing in jasper. I felt that everything was working out well and that my efforts throughout the years were not in vain as I managed to make sales to the tune of $48000.

Thanks to my growing following on Instagram and other social media platforms, my clientele has continued to grow through this year. I have also landed several big clients and increased the capital invested in the business. In March, my friend and I attended a massive sneaker event in Cleveland and walked out with more than $8000. As at this August, our business is still growing at a steady pace; evidence of which is that we have doubled profits from last year.