Jeremiah Jiang says he made $350,000 reselling sneakers last year.The 19-year old primarily resells inventory through his Instagram, @thesneakerassociate, and by regularly attending sneaker events like Sneaker Con.Jiang told Business Insider that going to events helps him bring in an average profit of over $2,500 in just one to two days. He shared the exact spreadsheet he recently used to maximize his profit ata sneaker event in California.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.For experienced or novice sneakerheads, attending sneaker events is just one part of hacking the sneaker resale industry, which a recent Cowen & Co. analysis estimated could be worth $6 billion globally by 2025.Sneaker Con is iconic among the various events there are for buying and selling sneakers.Billing itself as "the greatest sneaker show on earth," Sneaker Con draws thousands of sneakerheads to its gatherings, which occur multiple times a year in different locations around the world. For buyers, Sneaker Con and similar shows are a great place to barter for desirable shoes. For sellers, they're ideal for making business relationships and a sizable profit in just a few days.Jeremiah Jiang started reselling sneakers during his freshman year of high school. The 19-year-old says says he made $230,000 in sales in 2018 and $350,000 in sales last year.Though Jiang conducts a lot of business through his Instagram, @thesneakerassociate, he says that sneaker events are an important way to make connections and profit. The San Jose, California, native goes to more than 10 US sneaker events a year as a vendor, aiming to sell between 30 and 50 pairs at each. By limiting his expenses to between $800 to $1,000 per event, Jiang says he manages to pull in an average profit of more than $2,500 in just one to two days.But when Jiang started attending sneaker events in high school, he said he usually left with little profit."I wasn't planning that well," he said. "I was very inexperienced."After attending more events, Jiang learned that he needed to plan one to two months in advance to make the most out of his time there. Eventually, these types of events became major boons to his business.Jiang shared the spreadsheet he used to maximize his profit at a sneaker event in California, outlining exactly what he spends during a sneaker event.Here's a step-by-step breakdown of how Jiang plans his expenses to make the most money:SEE ALSO:How a formerly homeless sneakerhead built a multimillion-dollar resale empire starting with just $40 to his nameJiang plans what he is bringing to sell in advance.Jiang makes a list of all the shoes he expects to bring to each event around one to two months in advance, carefully selecting shoes he think will sell easily."What I do is I'll write down how many shoes I'm bringing and how many shoes I'm expecting to buy at the event," Jiang said. "And I'll kind of factor in how much shipping costs will be and how much it will cost me to bring the shoes to the event."Jiang organizes his inventory with different descriptions.Jiang has columns for categorizing each shoe. The columns indicates a shoe's size and whether it is new and in a box.Jiang goes in with a bottom line in mind.Perhaps most importantly, Jiang sets the lowest price that he would sell each shoe for. This helps him stay on track to avoid falling behind his expected profit for the event.After figuring out what shoes to bring, Jiang figures out shipping costs.Estimated ideal shipping cost: Between $100 and $200If he is flying to an event, Jiang will either bring his shoes with him on the plane or ship them to his friends who live near the event and get them when he arrives.If he buys shoes at the event to resell later, Jiang says he generally uses FedEx to ship those shoes back home. It usually costs him about $30 to $40 per box.Other expenses can vary per trip, but Jiang broke down what the ideal estimated cost of each category should be.TransportationEstimated ideal cost: $300Jiang says that in order to ensure he gets the best deal possible, he usually takes a week or two to monitor flight prices and choose a flight with a good deal.If the event is local, he'll take public transportation or travel with friends.AccommodationsEstimated ideal cost: $70 to $80When it comes to hotel rooms, Jiang generally goes for the most cost-efficient option possible."I always try to find ... definitely not the best hotel because I want to keep my expenses very low," Jiang said, explaining that he hardly spends any time in the hotel room when he attends a sneaker event."I'm basically only in there to rest," Jiang added.FoodEstimated ideal cost:$100 to $200For breakfast, Jiang usually eats what his hotel is serving. For lunch, he said he'll generally spend around $15 to $20 on a quick bite.For dinner, Jiang said he likes to go out with friends, where they all order a bunch of dishes to split.Vendor TableEstimated ideal cost:$100 to $200The price of a vendor table varies depending on the size of the event. Jiang said that a table at Sneaker Con can cost up to $400 for two days. Local events can cost around $100 a day.When he is selling at an event, Jiang usually makes the move to share a vendor table with his friends to mitigate the cost.MiscellaneousEstimated ideal cost:$50Jiang said he also factors in costs for fun activities to do while he's travelling.He usually puts aside some money for activities like seeing a movie or going to a fair with friends.Even though the trips are generally strictly for business, having fun is a big part of the experience for Jiang.Sign up for Business Insider's retail newsletter, The Drive-Thru.
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