Written by Kayli Jamieson, SFU Student
The resell game among SFU students has always been quite strong in the textbook department. But who could anticipate the winning strategy of selling bougie clothing pieces from one’s closet to pay off tuition?
I make my way into a 4,000 square ft. walk-in closet, with walls painted a shade of red deep enough to rival SFU’s new logo. I’m here to sit down with Alex Mac-Queen, an eighth year undeclared student at SFU, to learn his Master Plan™ to evade student loan debt.
“You should close your mouth or one of my stag beetles ($89,000) might fly in,” Alex greets me with a once-over of my outfit and a slight frown — he might have noticed the beat-up Air Jordan 1s I found in a dumpster. He led me further into the room, strutting brand new spiked Louboutins ($1,600), which looked like they could hurt if they kicked the right area. We settled down on a roll arm sofa next to his pet chimpanzee, and the first question to roll off my lips was, of course, about his tuition.
“As an international student, my tuition costs upwards of $10,000, my right hand, and the virgin blood of a first year,” he explains.
Alex normally receives financial help from his father, but as he quickly elaborates, Mr. Mac-Queen was recently displeased with his son’s extravagant spending habits at Holt Renfrew; apparently, the credit card statements from these “casual shopping trips” were causing his father heart palpitations. Alex initially panicked, but his distress quickly ceased after pacing back and forth inside his closet — an exercise he often practices for mindfulness — that soon led to his eureka moment.
There are several streetwear resell groups on Facebook in Vancouver, and Alex figured that with a blend of aggressive bartering and high quality photos from his Instagram, @hypebeast_juul69, he could sell enough designer pieces to pay off his fall tuition.
“The most grievous decisions had to be made!” Alex bawled, wiping his tears with a Gucci handkerchief ($175). I consoled him with a pat on the shoulder, being careful not to wrinkle his Valentino silk shirt ($1,150).
Alex broke down the numbers in his quick math resale valuation of clothing pieces he sold:
- A red Balenciaga logo sweater ($1,190)
- A Supreme x Comme des Garçons collaboration box logo hoodie ($700)
- Balenciaga Triple S sneakers ($900)
- Off-White x Air Jordan 1 Retro Highs in the “UNC” colourway ($2,500)
- A Bape camouflage shark hoodie ($750)
- an Off-White belt ($300)
- A Raf Simons ‘I Love NY ’sweater ($1,200)
- A Stone Island puffer coat ($1,600)
- A pair of Yeezy Boost 700 ‘Wave Runners’ ($550)
- A vial of Mac-Queen-original tears from after Kanye West’s concert ($250)
- A classic Burberry collared shirt ($700).
After writing down these mind-boggling numbers, I added them up to reveal a grand total of $10,640. Alex had made enough to not only pay his tuition for the semester, but also cover the cost of a new gold-encrusted Juul.
Out of all the pieces, it was hardest for him to part with the Off-White Jordans, as he enjoyed “flexing on the new kids,” while strolling along Cornerstone.
“It’s such a clean colourway by my guy Virgil,” he gushes in admiration, referring to the designer Virgil Abloh, who worked on Off-White’s collaboration with Nike. Alex gets up to gesture at a shrine in his closet dedicated to Abloh, complete with incense and a signed shoebox.
I asked Alex how it felt to pay off his tuition on his own. Before answering, he takes a long puff through his brilliant, glittering Juul.
“It was extremely bittersweet,” he murmured, the most softly — and candidly — he’s spoken yet. “But I decided to reward my dedication to myself by buying another Supreme hoodie.”
