As a Florida schoolboy from a family of Russian immigrants made a fortune by reselling sneakers

16-year-old Benjamin Kapelusznik from Florida, whose parents moved to the United States from Russia, supplies DJ Khaled, Chris Brown and Kanye West with sneakers, earning hundreds of thousands of dollars from this.

The success story of a young entrepreneur with Russian roots tells TJournal.

In 2014, the resale market for exclusive sneakers on Ebay or with the help of other services valued at a billion dollars. The same year was significant for 16-year-old Benjamin Kapelushnik.

Kapelushnik is one of the most popular resellers of exclusive sports shoes with direct access to the stars of the rap industry. The ability to get any sneakers in the shortest possible time has made him the reputation of a welcome guest at hip-hop parties in the United States. But despite this, he remains a rather modest guy who studies at home and brings up his younger brother. And earns, according to experts, up to 300 thousand dollars a year.

As one pair of sneakers turned into thousands

When fifth-grader Benjamin Kapelushnik received as a gift from his mother the first pair of limited sneakers Lebron galaxies, he was not thrilled. When a Florida native whose parents moved to the United States from Russia came to school in new shoes, he immediately became the center of attention. And one of his friends asked for how much Kapelushnik was ready to sell sneakers.

The student was surprised, but took advantage of the situation and asked his mother to buy another pair. As a result, he sold both, and the money earned was set aside for the implementation of a new idea.

For the next three years, he worked as a washerman for cars, walked other people's dogs, went home and sold candy to earn. Around the same time, he managed to find limited sneakers LeBron X MVP for $ 400 and immediately resold them to a friend for $ 4 thousands.

When Kapelushnik decided that he had saved enough money, he started paying his acquaintances at $ 50 so that they would stand in store lines for limited runs of sneakers and buy them at a retail price, and he would resell them at the rate increased by 30-40.

At first, the business was going slowly - an inexperienced teenager had a hard time competing with other vendors who had direct connections with suppliers of sneakers. The turning point came at the end of 2014, when a Kapelushnik acquaintance brought him to a rapper DJ Khaled.

He immediately ordered 6 pairs Air Jordan Ultimate Gift of Flight and made friends with a teenager, appreciating his entrepreneurial skills. Together they began to broadcast in Snapchatwhere Khaled is very popular and go to parties.

Once, sitting in the jacuzzi during the broadcast in Snapchat, the rapper asked the teenager how the business was going. The schoolboy replied that things were going "bombing." “I like that,” Khaled replied contentedly. The record became viral and turned into a meme, and the teenager made connections with the secret representatives of the sneaker industry. He no longer needed to queue for shoes — he began to receive them directly.

Very little time passed, and famous athletes and stars of the hip-hop scene began to turn to Kapelushnik. Among them was DJ carnage, Kanye West and Chris Brown. According to the teenager, some customers buy up to 20 pairs at a time, so he took the habit of purchasing sneakers in large quantities.

In the wake of success, Kapelushnik launched his own website. The sneaker don. The business was growing rapidly, and at some point the teenager realized that it was difficult for him to combine work with the school.

Kapelushnik got up at six in the morning to place orders, went to study and worked for eight hours. There was little benefit from this - in the lessons he was constantly distracted, thinking about business and communicating with clients.

As a result, the teenager moved to home schooling, although he now leaves the house even more often. He could be seen at parties rappers Travis Scott, Lil Yahti, Young Taga, as well as Kendal Jenner models. The young businessman met Kim Kardashian, Jaden Smith (the son of actor Will Smith) and Dennis Graham (father of rapper Drake). Later he will make friends with the performer himself.

Benjamin says that he does not use drugs and alcohol, does not spend money unnecessarily, but goes to parties to make useful connections. In addition, the teenager often carries on transactions 9-year-old brother and jokingly calls him his manager. He describes himself as a person with a calm disposition who, despite his fame, remains friendly and makes dating easily.

To cope with orders, Kapelushnik hired four people for a full-time job. During the day the team earns several thousand dollars. The teenager did not disclose the supplier of sneakers, but claims that he is a very influential person in the industry. He also does not talk about total earnings. According to service representatives StockxFor a year a teenager earns from 200 to 300 thousand dollars.

Kapelushnik said that in his collection from 4 to 5 thousands of pairs of sneakers, its total cost is more than a million dollars, and the most expensive pair is worth a little more than 30 thousand dollars. By the end of 2017, the teenager plans to open stores in Miami, Los Angeles, New York and Chicago.

In the summer of 2016, he declared that he wanted to get a higher education. He is particularly attracted to Yale University - one of the most prestigious in the United States. According to Benjamin, he has already achieved success, but education will help to go further. A business can be done remotely.

For quite some time now Kapelushnik writes down vlogs, and they plan to shoot a television show about his life.

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