It has been over a decade since Michael Jordan stepped foot on a basketball court, yet seeing the prices for his Air Jordan sneakers would make one believe he is still dominating the hardwood. Week after week, a new Air Jordan sneaker releases to a substantial amount of willing spenders plotting to get their hands on the latest look. Even with multiple retailers holding inventory both online and in store, sneakers frequently sell out within minutes of their release. However, the hunt simply does not end there; after the original release date, sneakers now end up at third party sellers that charge over retail pricing in order to see some profit. Since the craze over footwear seems to have no end, brands such as Jordan and Nike are now increasing the prices for upcoming releases; with prices going high as $300.
In this day where the newest release takes weekend’s hostage, sneaker sales succeed throughout different regions. Take local Buffalo clothing store, Streetgame, as an example of an independent store capitalizing off major trends. When speaking with store manager, Guy James, he spoke of the disparities in sales between Jordan and Nike products compared to everything else. “Compared to all of our other products, both Jordan and Nike apparel sell out significantly faster in a shorter period of time,” James revealed. Moreover, James also gave his take on the exponentially increasing price of sneakers.
“We’re always hearing it’s because of changes in materials or that factory’s are charging more, but if I was Jordan I’d lower both the quantity and price of the sneakers,” adding that stores receive too much material at too high of a price. Yet these are changes that can only be executed by the higher powers. Since the suggested retail price is already set so high, stores must charge an equal amount or higher to keep revenue up.
Nonetheless, no quantity change will be enough, as hundreds of watery-eyed people faithfully awake at 7 A.M. whenever there is a new product. Nike deviously ensures that the hysteria sways buyers to pull the trigger in order to avoid the disappointment of a potential missed chance. Part of this problem is the threat of resellers, buyers who purchase sneakers in high volumes to sell the product under their own terms. Fernando Candia is one of these resellers based in New York City, having gained clout with metropolitan consignment shops such as Flight Club and Image. “Reselling was only big on eBay at first, then after seeing the amount of money people would bid, I knew I had a chance to make some money,” Candia explains of his beginnings.
With a little bit of luck, and a lot of attentiveness, Candia has become extremely knowledgeable of the tactics Nike and Jordan use. “Often times they switch up the distributors of the sneakers and how many pairs each store gets,” adding that he makes calls to listed stockholders during the weeks prior to ensure success. Roughly four percent of sneakers released by Nike hit the reseller market according to Highsnobiety online magazine. Although it may seem like a small percentage, this is a market that has grown to generate millions of dollars per year.
“I don’t really think anybody saw this coming, people have been able to open up stores, with really busy traffic, just off the strength of reselling sneakers,” says Candia. Image, a consignment shop located in Queens, New York is a store that has built a strong following from reselling. Shu Lam, founder of the shop, elaborates as to why consignment shops are rising in popularity. “There’s no real hassle with consignment, instead of putting yourself at risk by camping you can easily get the sneaker from a consignment shop for just an extra $40,” Lam quips. Also, resellers could reap benefits from working with a consignment shop. “You get great exposure for your product to the point you get your money back and then some,” Lam explains.
Although many consumers complain of the pricing and having to deal with third party sellers such as individual resellers and consignment stores, there are also customers who don’t mind to spend. One shopper at Image, who asked to only be referred to as Cooke, had an interesting outlook on the sneaker fanatics spending habits. “When I come to consignment shops like image, they don’t only have the newest sneaker, old releases are also in stock, so they offer us a variety of products for varying prices,” it is this sort of flexibility which has given stores like image a base to keep building around. “With sneakers always selling out, Nike has resorted to raffle systems to keep everything fair, but you’re competing with millions of others, so plan B just becomes plan A for many,” adds Lam.
No end seems to be in sight for the rage over sneakers, being that Jordan has loomed large for 30 years now. “As long as people have feet, they will go out and by sneakers,” states Candia. It seems that sneaker hunting has become a sort of cultural staple within several communities. From the day a sneaker releases to months, even years after, the search continues on a phone, laptop, or in store. As long as this trend of extreme searching continues, you can bet that Nike and companies alike will have their cake and eat it too.
