Luke Fracher is heavy in the sneaker game, to say the least. As co-founder of the ever-popular sneaker and streetwear boutique Round Two, his passion for fresh kicks and snazzy fits started at a young age — he’s worked at shoe stores since he was just 15-years-old.
Being a lifelong sneaker enthusiast allowed Fracher to turn a relatively obscure hobby into a wildly successful business that would eventually lead to outposts in New York and Los Angeles. Of course, Round Two’s success is just an evolution of what he’s always been doing: hunting for grails that somehow slipped away for one reason or another.
That’s why we connected with Fracher for our eBay Market Mentor series, where sneakerheads in our world give us their best advice on shopping for authentic kicks on eBay. “eBay is like second nature — it was always a fixture in my household,” he explains. “If I don’t want to go out to the store to get it or I can’t find it locally, eBay’s probably the first place I’ll check, realistically.”
Watch our video above to dive deeper into Fracher’s background along with his best tips for copping your own sneaker grails on eBay, and stay tuned for the next edition featuring Obscure Sneakers.
Sort from highest to lowest
“Sort from highest to lowest which may seem counterintuitive, but it’s a lot easier to sort through a few dozen higher-priced items to find a fair price for the sneaker as opposed to sorting through random 99 cent auctions that aren’t the right thing.”
Don’t be afraid to lowball
“Never be afraid to shoot people a wild offer you might think is too low because the worst thing they can say is no, and a lot of times people will take your offer. Especially if something has been sitting for a while.”
Sort by ending soonest for potential steals
“A good way to find steals is sorting by ending soonest and sniping auctions as they’re about to end.”
Take advantage of mislabeled titles
“Look out for potential mislabels and take advantage. A lot of times sellers can either misspell or mislabel something — you can really find good prices and steals by searching those common misspellings or trying to find a seller’s mistake.”
Don’t be afraid to buy
Don’t be afraid to buy something that seems too good to be true. eBay has an Authenticity Guarantee [service] so you know your [sneakers] will be real and they have buyer protection to make sure they have your back whenever you’re buying something.
