In honor of National Shoe The World Day, which spotlights quality footwear, we want to highlight eBay seller Eddie Chung, who is passionate about sneakers. When he first started selling 20 years ago, Eddie was “selling one, maybe five, then 10 or 20 pairs of sneakers a week.” Eventually, he was selling thousands — and today Eddie sells over 75,000 pairs a year at SoleStage. He is currently vice president at the popular sneaker and streetwear retailer, where he focuses on business expansion through technological trend forecasting. This is Eddie’s story:
Day in the Life
What does a typical day look like for you?
I wake up early in the morning, I do my exercise and work out. Then I hang out with my kids. After my son goes to school, I have this precious one hour that I get to spend with my daughter, where we talk about everything. She's only three, by the way. She will ask me what I’m planning for the day and what I am going to do. Then, I go to work, come back, and continue to be a husband and father. We’re usually asleep by 10 o’clock at night.
Do What You Love
How does it feel to find success doing something you love?
Time goes by super fast when you are doing something you love. There are many days that a simple 10-hour day isn’t enough for me. Digging into the business and finding potential and growing this business — this is the industry I wanted to be in for so long. I’m so interested that I don’t realize how quickly time goes by. Doing something that I love really helps.
What do you love about being an eBay seller?
What I love about being an eBay seller is that you can literally sell and buy anything — new, used, refurbished at any given time. eBay was one of the original websites where you could buy and sell any sort of product. I remember searching for a pair of exclusive samples that I was able to snag for a very, very cheap price — which I still have at my home right now. The pricing can vary, sometimes it can be very high, and sometimes can be very reasonable.
Inspiration
What’s your source of inspiration?
[My source of inspiration is] seeing different kinds of sneakers, different kinds of styles, street wear. It’s what drove me back to New York City, time after time — to see what other people are wearing.
And who inspires you?
My father has been a huge inspiration for me. He always told me to do what I love first, and money will come. My favorite quote is “the world's a playground.” You know that when you're a kid, but somewhere along the way, everyone forgets it. It reminds me to always have fun and never treat anything too seriously.
Seller Tips
Since you’ve been doing this for a little while, what guidance do you have for eBay sellers and what’s one piece of advice you’ve given?
Be patient. You can't win every single day. What I told them was that, whatever you have purchased, get your money back first. For example, if you buy a hundred pieces of products, and if your cost is 20 bucks each, sell and make profit off what you have put in, at first. Then, once you break even, anything above that is your pure profit margins. Those, you can take your time, and you can sell them slowly. But for me, I would sell first, make my money back and then anything on top is a bonus.
What’s the secret superpower to selling on eBay?
You gotta pay attention — making sure the pricing is always in line, the inventory is there, just make sure you’ve got returning customers.
Any last words of advice?
Be passionate, be patient, be focused and never stop learning.
Explore our Seller Community page on ebayinc.com to read more stories about eBay businesses.
