Newcop CEO explains how sneaker resale becomes a success

The resale market for the most exclusive sneakers has grown exponentially in recent years. It is a dynamic ecosystem where the culture of collecting and fashion merges with complex market strategies. Supply and demand determine prices and availability, but luck also plays an important role.

After dedicating himself to sourcing the best sneakers to resell them on specialized platforms such as StockX and GOAT, David Camprubi decided to focus entirely on his company Newcop, which had a turnover of almost 6 million euros at the end of its last financial year in 2023.

FashionUnited investigated the success story of the reseller, which currently has three points of sale in Spain and a fourth in Paris, together with CEO and founder Camprubi: “Sometimes it’s about finding someone in Serbia who has those shoes. The network that allows you to reach that person is the most complicated part.”

How has your business model evolved from digital to physical channels?

In the past, we managed our inventory differently. For example, if we had 30 models in stock, we tried to present as many of those models as possible. That’s how you position yourself, and people know you have a large stock when they’re looking for that model. And when a new model came out, we bought as many as we could. Hundreds of pairs that we tried to sell little by little.

Now our strategy has evolved. We have around 300 different models in stock, each available in a variety of sizes. But we only buy as much as we expect to sell in the next three weeks. This allows us to manage our inventory more efficiently and better meet market demand.

What do you think is the key to Newcop’s success?

I think one of our greatest successes was that we identified a market in Spain with great potential that was under-exploited. There was competition, but it had not positioned itself as a benchmark.

We noticed that there was a huge demand for popular sneakers and that many people were buying them online, often from unreliable sites, and we decided to fill that need by offering a superior offline service and correcting the mistakes of others. So we chose a great location, worked on an attractive design and improved marketing.

In addition, our product range makes a difference because in stores customers can usually only buy what is in stock. But at Newcop, if we don’t have a size, we guarantee delivery in a maximum of 2 to 14 days because we have an experienced and well-connected team that makes it easy to source hard-to-find products, even from private individuals in other countries.

Ultimately, in this world, you buy from other private companies that have THE shoe because they bought it at the time to speculate. And you have to find out who has it and buy it from that person. These are often not dealers or known suppliers. Maybe it’s a private person in Serbia who has shoes and you have to reach that person. That’s the most complicated part.

When I hear this, I wonder how the company can maintain a good profit margin under such circumstances? After all, you have an obligation to customers who, for example, want the very shoes that this person bought in Serbia with the intention of making a profit.

In our process, we first determine the retail price and then estimate at what price we can buy the product. For example, we know that we can buy these shoes for around 150 euros.

The selling price is set after careful comparison with our competition to ensure it is competitive. We do not follow the practice of simply adding 35 percent to the purchase price, as this could result in an unattractive selling price if we have acquired the product at a high price.

However, sometimes it happens that someone sells a product at a very high price that we cannot find anywhere else, but which turns out to be the same price at which we offer it. If the cost exceeds this limit, we will not make the purchase unless it is absolutely necessary due to an order received.

In such cases, we would rather forgo a profit from the sale than cancel the order days later and lose some of the reputation we have built up with the motto “We have what you are looking for”.

On very rare occasions we have experienced someone buying a shoe that we know we cannot get at the moment because the status on our website has not been updated. In these cases we cancel the order immediately and apologize to the customer. This has happened about ten times in the last two years; quite a few considering that we have more than 250 models in our store and between 600 and 700 online.

How many members of your team are usually involved in sourcing these shoes?

There are currently three or four people in charge of procurement. But ultimately the most important thing is the contacts of these four people, because maybe we can’t get to this person in Serbia directly, but maybe we know someone who knows them. Then the person acts as an intermediary and takes a commission for the purchase.

To do this, we have a website where we list all the products we are looking for. It is called “Want to Buy List” and shows all the products we are interested in. It is updated in real time, so those who know us in the industry can check what we need on a daily basis and offer us what they have available. This platform has made our job a lot easier, as we now receive purchase suggestions without having to constantly actively search.

How many employees does Newcop have in total?

We are now at about 35.

What do you pay attention to when deciding which product could be included in your catalog?

We have a huge advantage over retail stores that have to buy their inventory six months in advance. As a reseller, we act after seeing what products are out of stock and what people are asking for. We look at that and react accordingly.

If we see that a product is selling out quickly and is in demand, we investigate and add it to our store, even if it wasn’t originally planned. We are not obligated to buy in advance or directly from the brand, which gives us more flexibility to adapt to market trends in real time.

Regarding prices, it is important to mention that they may be higher compared to the official website or other large chains like Foot Locker. This is because we get our products through resellers who sell them at a higher price than we could get them directly from the brands.

It is important that our customers understand that we purchase resale products just like they do and that we add a margin to cover our operating costs.

How did you logistically achieve the 48-hour delivery within Europe?

This option is available on a selection of models that we have in stock. All of these orders are shipped from one of our four stores. We do not have additional fulfillment centers in Europe as we prefer to keep everything in stock directly in our stores to ensure we have them ready for direct sales.

Speaking of abroad: How is your new store in Paris doing?

The store is doing very well in its first month, although we don’t have much of a French audience on Instagram yet. It will take a few months to get more French followers, but we are very happy.

It is difficult to set targets, but we are confident that the Paris store will be the most successful of the four, due to increasing tourism, high local purchasing power and the prestige of fashion. Paris is key to our European expansion; once it is established, we plan to open in other European cities.

Which countries do you currently have your eye on?

We are very interested in expanding in Europe, especially in Italy and Germany, as European capitals are always attractive. On the other hand, we are not considering the US because of the strong competition and high transport costs from Europe.

What was the biggest challenge you faced as a young entrepreneur in this industry?

I never had any training in this field, I learned little by little and faced every challenge with confidence. And although everything could have gone wrong, we are lucky that everything is going well.

This article originally appeared on FashionUnited.ES, translated and edited to English.