Supreme Secrets: The Inside Scoop on the Skater Brand
We all recognize the red rectangle with the word “Supreme” written in bold white letters. This logo has many stereotypes attached to it; it’s the brand worn by hypebeasts, celebrities, skaters and people who just love the brand and can afford it. But does anyone know about the original purpose of the brand? Or about the resale culture that has come from selling these limited edition pieces on apps like Grailed and StockX? Don’t worry, you’ll get the rundown. I got the inside scoop on the world of reselling from a friend of mine who loves Supreme and has been skating for years. After moving to NYC, he started buying Supreme from drops and reselling it for high profits.
The Culture
The brand was started in 1994 by James Jebbiah, co-founder of Stussy. Supreme was created to give skaters quality skate-wear so they no longer had to wear standard workwear like Dickies or Carhartt. This attracted a niche crowd of skaters who were into fashion and could afford quality clothes. Eventually, the brand began to collaborate with other brands in many different industries such as Honda, North face, Santa Cruz, Nike and more. It eventually caught on to rich kids who were into street style who are now known as hypebeasts. They simply buy and wear Supreme for the clout because most Supreme is limited edition and expensive.
The Collabs
The Drops
How does one acquire these limited edition pieces? The answer is an easy one, but the steps may seem absurd to some. First things first, you have to live in a city with a Supreme flagship. There are only 11 locations in the world, located in New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Japan. The flagship in Brooklyn is the closest location to acquire the newest, most exclusive Supreme collabs. My good friend took me through the weekly process of buying and selling Supreme; it’s quite interesting how serious it is. It’s so serious that he would only eat microwave chicken to save money to purchase items from the drops.
Monday—The Drop is announced
A sneak peek of the collection is posted on Instagram by @supremenewyork. This is the first time people will see which brand they have collaborated with for the collection to be released on Thursday. My friend says, “Often times, this random dude named Jay (@dropsbyjay) leaks the drops hours before Supreme does. No one knows how he gets the photos, but if he gets them, he posts them.”
Tuesday—Registration
On the Supreme New York website, one can find the registration form for the drop. Registration is only open for about 15 minutes, and after that, it’s closed until the next drop.
Thursday—The Store
The drops occur every Thursday at 11 AM (except for a few weeks in winter and summer). Once they have registered, shoppers receive a group number and a line number. Their place in line is chosen completely at random. First, the customers line up four blocks away in front of Domino Park. 20 people are placed in each group. They move each group one-by-one to the next line that’s in front of the store. They check everyone's ID and credit cards to avoid credit fraud. (My friend told me a kid didn’t get in because he was planning on using his dad’s credit card!) Security then lets people in one-by-one as others leave the store. The customers must have what they want written down, and the worker will look at the list and check if they have it in stock. They can only buy one size, and the workers can refuse to give them products if it’s clearly not their size. Then, they give the customer a box with the clothing, and they stand in a single file line to check out. Before leaving the store, their IDs, credit cards, receipts, and products are checked. Yes, that’s that strict… it’s surprising that people are still able to resell when the purchasing process is this rigorous.
The Atmosphere
So what is it like once someone gets through the crazy lines and security? My friend says, “It’s the perfect environment for 3 minutes. It’s a bunch of cool kids in there all after the same thing; there’s a bunch of boards and TVs with skating videos. It’s everything I looked up to as a kid in one room.” He described the Brooklyn location as the ultimate nirvana for skate kids. While the space is cool, if you don’t fit into the skater scene like my friend, you’ll stick out like a sore thumb, and the Supreme workers won’t be so cool to you.
Blacklisting
Yup, you read that right. Blacklisting. You can get put on a blacklist and banned from buying Supreme!
Things that get you blacklisted:
Registering and not showing up on time or at all (makes sense)
Taking pictures inside the store (understandable)
Making purchases with a card that is not yours (alright, I guess)
Selling or making deals within the proximity of the stores (duh)
If the Supreme workers don’t like you (what?!)
If you look at a Supreme worker funny or act too much like a basic hypebeast, you’re out. Don’t get me wrong, it’s understandable that they’re trying to preserve the exclusivity of their brand, but that doesn’t stop people from following the rules, keeping their head down, and then still coming out with products to markup and sell online to the hypebeasts of the world.
Selling & Profits
Supreme on Stock X
Source: Fortune
After the drop is over, it’s time to sell or keep. For the most part, my friend sells everything he buys from the drops unless he falls in love with a piece, in which case he keeps it. He first checks Grailed and Stock X for a price range from sellers in the UK or Asia as the collections drop sooner there than they do at the US flagships. Then, he converts prices from that country’s currency to US dollars. He then takes photos of the product(s), and finally, creates a listing on Grailed and Stock X. The markup is typically 50-70%. That’s over twice as much as he buys it for! Often after bartering with potential buyers for a few minutes, they buy it and he ships it out the next day. The product goes quick if it’s a hot item. Just within the last month, he made around $600, even having kept some of the pieces he liked.
Supreme has gone from skate-wear to exclusive streetwear, but now everyone has found a way to get their hands on it if they can afford resale markups or if they can find a good fake. Through the exploitation of Supreme and high demands from hypebeasts, reselling Supreme will continue to flourish. Maybe because of the business my friend will make enough money to eat something other than microwave chicken!