MANALAPAN - Dominick Ruiz sat at the kitchen table in his parents' townhouse and held up the Kanye West Adidas 750 Boost - size 8 - like they were crown jewels,cheap retro jordans.
He bought them from a friend for $2,000. He thinks he could resell them for twice that, or even more. But, man,http://www.killswat-klan.xf.cz/index.php?site=forum_topic&topic=9616cheapjordanshoesfreeshipping.com/bolg, are they comfortable,cheap jordans, so he's keeping them for himself.
"I'm lucky to have this shoe," Ruiz said.
Ruiz, 16, is an up-and-coming star in the sneaker resale market, an estimated $1.2 billion-a-year industry in the U.S., where sneakerheads buy and sell rare shoes through social media and at trade shows like baseball cards or stocks.
It is not a typical summer job. He is on his cell phone at all hours. He drives hard bargains. He is desperate for respect in an industry where his peers can flash sharp elbows and attitude. And sometimes it can go horribly wrong. His mentor and best friend Jamal Gaines was killed in a robbery last February at East Coast Boutique, a sneaker store in Rahway. Gaines was 21.
SNEAKERHEADS: Are 52 pairs of shoes too many,cheap air jordans? Not if they're Air Jordans
Ruiz was shattered. But he pressed on,http://mejora-e-pyme.com/web/foro/index.php?topic=13160.msg13237#msg13237cheapjordanshoesfreeshipping.com/bolg, drawn to the connections he has made, energized by the challenge - and the money - by tracking down the right shoe in the right size.
"He's trustworthy," said Joseph Diorio, 37,http://gilde-12012.hol.es/index.php?site=forum_topic&topic=5012cheapjordanshoesfreeshipping.com/bolg, the owner of Solexchange, which will host a convention Saturday and Sunday at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus. "He has a very good reputation. If he says he's going to get you a shoe,cheap real jordans, he's going to get you a shoe. If you don't have trust in the community,cheapjordanshoesfreeshipping.com, you don't get anywhere."
Ruiz is going into his junior year at Manalapan High School. He lives here with his father,cheap jordan shoes, David, and mother, Elaine. He has an older brother, David. And his attraction to sneakers isn't complicated; he said he simply likes fashion and what shoes can bring to his appearance.