Dropping sneakers on eBay has allowed Daniel and Kristi to open two brick-and-mortar stores and give back to their community.

In New York’s Lower East Side, where sneaker culture reigns supreme, it’s not uncommon to see a line wrapping around the block outside of District One, a resale store “for the people.”  Daniel, one of the owners of District One, has been a prominent seller on eBay since 2007, moving over 14,000 pairs and bringing NYC’s sneaker scene to enthusiasts worldwide through the platform's tools.

We sat down with Daniel and Kristi, the married business partners behind District One to hear how they turned their passion for sneakers into a profitable business, in their own words:

Their journey from streets to storefront

Daniel: My journey in the sneaker business began 12 years ago. I would line up for new releases in NYC, take them home, and then list them on eBay and sell them for more. Once I graduated from college, I decided I was going to focus full-time on reselling. I started buying everything that was coming out and listing them on eBay.

Kristi: In 2015, Daniel asked me if I’d quit my corporate job and join him because he couldn’t keep up with the demand. I used my background in customer service and retail to help him scale the business so he could focus on what he was really good at, finding the dopest sneakers in NYC.

Daniel: In 2019, we partnered up with Simon, my main competitor. We joined forces to sell out of an office, and then used the profit to open District One in the Lower East Side in 2021. It was life-changing for us and we made more money than we ever have. From there, we opened our second storefront in February and continue to scale.

I think our street cred is why we’re one of the most well-respected sneaker resellers in New York, but also the country. We put in our work in the streets for seven years and started from zero. People know we’re fair, we don’t overprice our sneakers just to make a dollar.

Dropping sneakers on eBay to create hype

Kristi: We do what we call drops on eBay. Every Wednesday and Saturday we schedule a bunch of new listings to go live at a certain time and advertise it on our Instagram and TikTok channels. It excites buyers and helps them know when they can get the new merchandise.

What sells in our eBay store is a little different than what sells in our brick-and-mortar store. On eBay, there’s a wider audience, so we see a ton of sales for Jordans and Adidas. People also love vintage sneakers on eBay, so we sell a lot of Nike Dunks and other shoes from the early ‘00s like the Adidas Yeezy Boost 750. Pricier stuff sells well on eBay, too.

Daniel: Having an established brand outside of eBay that’s trustworthy differentiates us from other eBay sellers. With around 8,500 people following our eBay store, we get a lot of repeat customers. So we reach out to that community and provide exceptional customer service so they’ll stick around.

Giving back to the Lower East Side

Daniel: We do a lot for our Lower East Side community. We've given away thousands of pairs since we opened, and we give out turkeys at Thanksgiving and free food at events. People call us a bank because we’re open 7 days a week, and we buy 200 pairs of shoes a day from regular, everyday people. We pay out same-day and we’ve helped neighbors in a pinch pay for weddings, funerals, and cancer treatments.

As first and second-generation Latinos, we’re grateful to have made it to the point where we can care for a lot of people. Right now we have 21 employees, and in five years I hope we have 100. We just want to keep pushing and creating opportunities and becoming financially independent. But we’re only 32 years old, we’re not retiring yet.