The Effect of Shoe Resales

Everybody has things they are into as a kid growing up. Personally, that thing was basketball and everything about it. The games were entertaining to watch, but what also fascinated me were the shoes the players would wear. As a 6-7 year old kid, basic black converse and maybe a little basic pair of Nikes/Adidas were what shoes were to me. Seeing all these colors and models of “Jordans” all these people would wear had me stealing my dad’s phone to go on Pinterest to look up “cool shoes to buy”. They were all expensive, and I thought there was no way I could get a pair, but my birthday was coming up and I told my parents I wanted these “cool shoes” as a 7 year old would describe them. I got these Jordan 1s, and I was happy as ever.

Now that I am a teenager, it is no surprise that I have a sense of fashion I would love to call my wardrobe. Shirts and pants are easy to find with my budget at this age, but shoes that I think would go well with them may not fall in that same category. 

Air Jordans/Nike Dunks seem to be the most popular shoes for a teenager as of now. They retail at about $150-180 range, but there is a very low chance you’re really paying this for the shoe. This is because of reselling and the concept of how to do it. In order to get the shoe for retail, you need to most likely enter a raffle on a Nike app and hope you win it, or be one of the first people to purchase the shoe at release times. Since there are very few pairs made compared to the amount of people actually going for them, the demand is insane. Due to this, people have created “bots” that automatically can get you the pair/multiple to sell the pair for a way higher price or get lucky on the release and resell them in general. Not every shoe has to go through this reselling insanity, and you can still find great budget shoes without doing all this. However, in terms of style, the average person here at Pitman High and even people our age would most likely prefer to wear a nice pair of Jordans that may just cost a little extra than the retail price instead of some shoes you can find at Famous Footwear instead. 

     However, these prices really are no joke. The most anticipated shoes of the year can cost a ton. For example, about every year, Travis Scott releases his own customized version of the Jordan 1, some of the most anticipated releases of the year. They retail at $160, but they can resell for 10 times the value. The original Travis Scott Air Jordan 1, released in 2019, still resells for about 1.5k today and even more. The “reverse mocha” model retailed at $160 in July, but sold out instantly on Travis’ website and was unfortunately majority sold to bots by hackers during the raffle on the SNKRS Nike app, all because of demand. This shoe costs around $1,100, and has been around this same price even days after the release. Pop culture knows this is the latest fashion trend and wants to extort the price, just like everything else that trends lately. People do resort to replica/fake shoes that pretty much look identical, in order to get their desired shoe even if it isn’t “real” for much cheaper. However, these replicas can cost you how much the real shoe retails for, and I’m sure anyone would much rather have the real shoe at a little higher price than retail, then a fake for that same price or the same shoe for hundreds and even thousands more.

As previously stated, “Dunks” and the normal Air Jordans or just about any anticipated release shoe (Yeezy, Nike, even designer brands like Louis Vuitton/Rick Owens) can resell for a lot of money, as well. If you can not find a shoe you can purchase right away on the Nike website and even at a foot locker/wholesale shoe store, they are all sold out due to demand and you most likely need to pay 2 times more for the shoe that you want. 

In order to prove even more that shoe reselling can be annoying, I asked a few friends of mine their opinion on it. I asked my friend, Nick Washten, a junior at Pitman, and one of my good personal friends, Ayo Kirk. I asked these people who I know that always try getting the new release of shoes to add to their collection, their opinion on the concept of reselling. 

Me: “What is your opinion on shoe reselling?”

Nick: “Shoe reselling can be a good or bad thing, but mostly pretty bad, it is a good way to make money for yourself but for the buyers and the shoe community, it makes a lot seem pretty unfair.”

Ayo: “It is a great money method but it just really is not fair at all for someone like me who spends the time actually buying the shoe rather than selling it.”

Me: “Would you say when trying to win on a draw/hit on a release, have resellers and botters affected it?”

Nick: “All the time. I always think I am going to hit it finally and then when the draw happens, I lose to people, sometimes even bots, and then 5 minutes later the price of the shoe online goes way too high. It’s very annoying”

Ayo: “Reselling has taught me to be smarter with my money. I do try to hit on the shoe releases and I know for a fact that resellers are going to extort it, so yes, they have affected it because I am not going to blow all that money after the draw ends for a shoe. 

At the end of the day, your money is your money and you can do whatever you may like with it. I’ve even paid resell price for some shoes that I still wear and love today and do not regret it, but just like everybody else who makes an expensive purchase, I do wish what I bought was a lot cheaper.