The Secret Sneaker Store: Pharmacist is set to turn over $20M of sneakers

An ex-pharmacist who quit his job at Chemist Warehouse will turn over $20million in the next 12 months after opening a designer sneaker store filled with more than 10,000 pairs of shoes.

Edwin Low, from Melbourne, bought what he thought was a ‘rare’ pair of sneakers for $500 from a seller in a Facebook group, but was left feeling ‘defeated’ when he opened the box to find the footwear was fake.

‘The seller had a legitimate Facebook profile, but when I tried to get a refund – he instantly blocked me,’ he told FEMAIL.

‘I quickly told my friends and was shocked when they said almost everyone buying sneakers on social media would eventually run into a scammer.’ 

After that experience, the now 31-year-old launched the Secret Sneaker Store in 2017 – an outlet protecting customers from buying fake sneakers online and giving them the opportunity to choose from more than 1,000 limited-edition styles from Yeezys to Jordans and Nikes. 

‘My very traditional Malaysian parents thought I was crazy to give up my stable job at Chemist Warehouse to chase my dream of opening a sneaker store,’ Edwin said. 

He used all his savings working as a student pharmacist, Uber driver and Airtasker moving lawns to get the business up and running.

‘My parents still think I’m crazy – but at least they brag to their friends now that I am successful and crazy!’ Edwin said.

Prior to launching the brand Edwin admitted he had ‘no money’ because he was fresh out of university.

‘I calculated I would need at least 400 pairs of shoes to start with, so instead of buying inventory I figured why not try to find a way to help people sell sneakers,’ he said.

‘But I wasn’t sure if this concept would work or not so and hired a few people to help gather sneakers from friends and family.’

Another challenge with building a business from the ground up was reputation, as Edwin knew it would be difficult for customers to trust his brand with their expensive sneakers to begin with.

From there he opened a pop-up shop for a week to test the concept after receiving sneakers from sellers – and it was a great success.

‘People were lining up to buy and sell shoes, and at times before we could even put the sneakers on the shelf customers would ask us about sizing and if they could buy it,’ he said.

From that week alone he turned over $16,000, which was huge at the time.

Today the Secret Sneaker Store spans across three locations in Melbourne, Sydney and Chadstone.

‘Everything we resell goes through a rigorous authentication process, tagging shoes with our tamper proof authenticity tag to mark them as legitimate,’ Edwin said.

‘There is no room for error because our reputation depends on it.’

Since 2017 the 31 staff have authenticated more than 100,000 pairs of limited-edition sneakers and prices range from $150 right up to $14,500 for a pair of Nike x Louis Vuitton Air Force 1.

In addition to the staff, the store uses technology dubbed ‘sneaker botters’ to not only confirm the authenticity of the sneaker but will dictate how much the shoes will sell for. 

The store also has around 700 resellers per month. 

When asked how to determine if a sneaker is authentic or fake, Edwin said there are usually a couple of key indicators – though this always changes as scammers keep up with the tweaks in design.

Edwin said the details his team always looks for is differences in colour tones, quality of the stitching, the smell and if the number on the shoe matches the box.

‘It’s a real cat and mouse game because the scammers are also staying up to date with the changes made to the shoes,’ he said.

In store customers can browse from hundreds of products by Jordan, Nike, Yeezy, Fog Essentials and New Balance.