
You See Sneakers, These Guys See Hundreds of Millions in Resale Profit (2014) - t23
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/you-see-sneakers-these-guys-see-hundreds-of-millions-in-resale-profit/
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jaymzcampbell
I used to work as a developer on a large sneaker site based in the UK (Crooked
Tongues). Before then I had just thought of sneakers as something you wear.
One of the guys I worked with was heavily into it and since we would get a
(heavy) discount he'd suggest pairs to me I should buy purely as an
investment. I think the best return I had was nearly quadrupling my money on a
pair of Air Jordan 5s.

One of the last projects I worked on at the agency was a book of rare and
collectables [1] - I think at one point we had the equivalent of half a
million dollars sat behind my desk (the large yellow box in the middle is the
Nike "Air Mag" Marty Mc Fly sneaker they mention in the article) [2]. After
all this I understood a hell of a lot more that there's money in anything when
enough people want it. Sounds obvious, but I didn't fully appreciate it until
then. That and the power of marketing to create value out of thin air.

[1] [http://www.thamesandhudsonusa.com/books/sneakers-the-
complet...](http://www.thamesandhudsonusa.com/books/sneakers-the-complete-
limited-editions-guide-hardcover)

[2] [https://i.imgur.com/bO6nYts.png](https://i.imgur.com/bO6nYts.png)

~~~
patrickbynu
> a large sneaker site based in the UK

You don't call them sneakers in the UK though do you? I thought you called
them 'trainers'.

~~~
jaymzcampbell
Within the office and industry, it was "sneakers" everywhere. [1]. All the
guys in the office and anyone seriously collecting or lurking on the forums
pretty much always said "sneakers". Anyone who _wasn 't_ into the scene though
would say trainers.

I'm from Northern Ireland, so until I moved to the "mainland" I actually
referred to them as "guddies". [2]

[1]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20131031030318/http://www.crooke...](https://web.archive.org/web/20131031030318/http://www.crookedtongues.com:80/)

[2] [https://www.inyourpocket.com/belfast/How-till-spake-Norn-
Iro...](https://www.inyourpocket.com/belfast/How-till-spake-Norn-Iron-A-guide-
to-local-phrases_70619f?&page=1)

~~~
sosa2k
What about "creps"?

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pascalxus
There are days, when I just dont understand.

I understand Nike's position and the resellers and the entrepreuners - they're
all making good money off all this.

But, for the non-investers, those at the end of the chain, I can't even begin
to imagine why someone would pay over 5000, or 1000$ or even over 60$ for a
pair of shoes. Perhaps, i could understand if it was the top 1% of the income
ladder. But, we're talking about middle class buyers right? The very same ones
who struggle to pay rent and food, the 65% of the population we keep hearing
about who has less than 400$ in savings? Is a pair of shoes more valuable than
having a home to live in? I'm confused.

~~~
libertine
I think Wizards of the Coast for example don't quite understand the value of
having such markets.

When products of your brand reach this kind of status, you shouldn't be greedy
about it... just play ball.

They only have positive gains imo...

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pavel_lishin
Are sneakers significantly different from beanie babies or Magic the Gathering
cards?

~~~
bgilroy26
Are Beanie Babies similar to Magic the Gathering cards?

Fashion sneakers, Beanie Babies, and MtG cards all have had prices inflated
above the price for comparable goods (regular sneakers, teddy bears, and
regular playing cards), you can say that. Fashion sneakers and MtG cards have
had longer runs in popularity than Beanie Babies had and sneakers have more
intrinsic value to people than either MtG cards or Beanie Babies do, but
they're all different.

You can say that they are all fads, but owning shares of a company, learning a
particular programming language, or picking a university to apply to are all
subject to waves of popularity that can obscure their value for people as
well.

The question seems disingenuous.

~~~
pavel_lishin
> _The question seems disingenuous._

I know. And I even thought about that before I commented, but I don't know how
else to ask without three paragraphs of what would basically amount to "I'm
not racist, but" clarifications.

It really does seem like a weird bubble, though. Sneakers do have intrinsic
value - you can always walk in your collection, which is more than you can say
for Beanie Babies or MtG cards - but it's still just a handful of companies
producing something whose value stems from arbitrary production restrictions.

Why sneakers? Why not hats or socks?

But I guess it's just arbitrary, like wine, or collectible angel dolls, or
that weird fancy cut glass stuff I see in malls whose name escapes me, or
comics.

~~~
williamscales
I think there is a whole scene of street fashion which is basically this, but
applied to hats, hoodies, and other garments.

Folks like their beautiful (to them) objects and they like to share that with
their friends.

I don't think there's any deep answer to the question of why sneakers. The
high value may stem to some extent from limited production but it also arises
because there's a willing market.

~~~
_asummers
> I think there is a whole scene of street fashion which is basically this,
> but applied to hats, hoodies, and other garments.

Indeed. /r/streetwear is a fun subreddit for pics. The extremes of that side
of fashion (the tech wear stuff, goth ninja, etc) can get really expensive,
really quickly.

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Jonovono
I use to run a super popular sneaker encyclopedia and collected shoes. Mostly
lost interest in shoes and then the site slipped from popularity, but it was
an interesting time. I had every Nike Dunk colorway name and Air Jordan
memorised hah.

I still appreciate nice shoes just as people like art. Some of the sneaker
designers like Tinker are truly artists.

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blairanderson
FWIW this article is 3 years old and much has changed in the shoe game.

~~~
egman_ekki
would you care to elaborate?

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zaveri
A number of new players in consignment like GOAT, Stadium Goods for instance.

[https://www.goat.com](https://www.goat.com)
[https://www.stadiumgoods.com](https://www.stadiumgoods.com)

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rtnyftxx
There is even a Numb3rs episode
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1256331/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1256331/)

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revelation
Sounds like an altcoin

~~~
coldtea
Yes, but one people actually can use.

~~~
wmf
A utility token?

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mbid
You See Sneakers, I See Tulips.

~~~
robotcookies
I think there is a difference here. With Tulips, all the buyers were people
intending to sell at a higher price. Initially, yes people bought them for the
product itself. But it came to point where all the buyers were just interested
in reselling them. They were buying for price appreciation and not the product
itself.

With sneakers it's different because the prices paid are by people interested
in the product itself. In that sense this is more like comic books or baseball
cards. And these things can keep their high prices indefinitely.

