When I first thought about selling Nike stuff on Amazon, I was totally hyped because everyone wants Nike, right? Here’s how my journey went down step by step.
Getting Started & Authorization Nightmare
First, I created a seller account on Amazon – easy peasy. Then came the brutal part: proving I could actually sell Nike. I had to submit invoice after invoice showing where I got my shoes from. Amazon rejected me twice saying my paperwork was “suspicious.” Had to call up my supplier at 3AM begging for handwritten invoices with stamps. Finally got approved after four weeks of back-and-forth emails that made me want to smash my laptop.
Sourcing Products Like a Detective
Started hunting for deadstock Nike Air Maxes. Hit up liquidation auctions, begged local retailers going out of business, even drove to storage units in sketchy neighborhoods. The trick? Find unpopular colorways nobody wanted – cheaper to buy, easy to flip. Made an Excel sheet tracking sizes/colors/purchase prices like my life depended on it.
FBA Prep Center Chaos
Shipped all my sneakers to an Amazon prep center. BIG mistake. They “lost” 12 pairs immediately. When boxes arrived, stickers were peeling off and sizing labels were wrong. Had to redo everything myself:
- Spent $200 on industrial shoe boxes
- Printed barcodes at Kinkos at 2AM
- Manually inspected every pair for defects
Took three weekends just to ship inventory to Amazon warehouses. By then I hated the smell of new sneakers.
Listing Game Strong
Watched YouTube tutorials for 72 hours straight learning Amazon SEO. Wrote listings with every possible Nike keyword I could cram in – “sports shoes,” “basketball sneakers,” even stuff like “Michael Jordan wannabe kicks.” Took product photos in my garage with bedsheets as backdrops. Pro tip? Steal competitor photos then edit the hell out of them so Amazon doesn’t notice.
PPC Advertisements Burn
Started with $5/day ads. Nothing happened. Upped to $50/day – still crickets. Finally went nuclear at $200/day and started getting sales… but Amazon ate 85% of profits in fees. Adjusted keywords constantly – turns out weird searches like “comfortable shoes for flat footed nurses” actually converted better than “Nike Air Max.” Who knew?
End of month report showed I made $1,200 revenue… with $1,450 in costs. So much for getting rich quick. Still doing it though – just ordered another pallet of unsold size 15 Kyrie Irving’s. Maybe next month I’ll actually turn a profit!