From the game’s once-loved elders, casual shoppers, hypebeasts; to parents whose kids ask for new encouragement, there’s one thing we can all agree on. This deal is eventually how the price of sneakers has gone up over the years for a wide range of reasons. Costs have increased as a result of general economic inflation, manufacturing, production, marketing costs, and something as easy as a resale market.
You can go to a sneaker stockist, clothing store, boutique, barbershop, and most likely any school, and strike up a long conversation about the price of sneakers. Ask anyone over the age of 35 and they will most likely tell you they fall way short of their proposed retail price. Even with that eventuality, shoes are still being bought and resold for 250%-800% of their original release price. Is it the prestige and hype that makes it worth the price of admission? Are these shoes really worth it? Especially with re-releases inevitable for most pairs, and ultimately restocking for many releases, why are people content to pay these exorbitant prices for new releases?
You ask any sane person and the answer is “NOTHING”. Most casual consumers will complain and question the retail price of the release. They won’t ever understand a situation where they will pay the resale prices circulating on social networks, EBay, Sole collectors and Kixify. And for the most part they’re right. But how did we arrive at the interesting situation we are in now? I personally remember being in seventh grade and buying Jordan’s first pair to release for $200 retail. The presentation was flawless, and the hype Nike created made it worth the money in my opinion. Now when this happened in the early 2000’s it wasn’t standard, it was rare, and truly very unique. Even years after that release, retro re-releases do not touch that price label, and other signature lines have largely yet to reach that threshold.
Times have certainly changed, and now there are signatures that start at $200. Nike has all the time managed to put out special premium or elite releases that are way above that price point; and there appears to be no end in sight. The LeBron 12’s elite retail is currently $275; and while they’re good releases, I have not seen ANYONE say they’re worth the money. So far they’ve sat down, as have many LeBron 12s. I have personally been told by many people who they will wait for them to reach a clearance price before they even consider buying a pair. No, that’s not to say the shoes aren’t cool, and the price is not without reason. LeBron’s signature lines tend to have tons of sneaker technology in them, so the price increase is understandable, but the price point is still very high.
Now here’s a chicken or egg question that applies to today’s sneaker climate. Was the recent increase in price as a result of manufacturers paying attention to price and the success of the resale market? Most people must agree with that. Nike is very market aware, hence their attempts to level the playing field with online releases; trying to thwart the Add to Cart service. There’s no way they cannot see that their products often sell for a minimum increase of 33% without any doubts or complaints from buyers. The resale market is most likely the biggest reason for the recent increase in prices. It has been thought and disclosed that if Nike continues to raise prices, the resale market may diminish. I personally am not too sure or convinced by the theory. As retail prices increase, resale prices also increase. Don’t get me wrong, there are some cases, such as the Gift of Flight package where the percentage increase at resale is minimal. However, every shoe can’t be listed for $500 in hopes of scaring off or discouraging resale.
PS: The Jordan x Fragment Collaboration just restocked, and since refilling the price has gone up to $1700. I assume you cannot stop the hype.
