Is the Sneaker Resale Market Getting Out of Control?

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When people think of lucrative secondary markets, their mind doesn’t always immediately go to sneakers. And yet, few resell industries are as wild.


The rise in popularity of professional sports over the past few decades has fueled this demand. Athletes not only endorse sneaker brands, but they get their own signature shoes. Think about Derek Jeter, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Cam Newton and countless others. They get their own line of kicks and are seen wearing them in all their games. That creates a demand.


Companies are then tasked with delivering the supply. And they do so in limited form. New sneaker drops are generally capped at a certain number, since limited editions help generate more hype around current and future releases. To make the process even more of a circus, sneaker companies have made the drops more “accessible.” Just as there are food-delivery apps, sports betting apps and clothing store apps, there are now plenty of sneaker apps.


Nike has one. Adidas has one. Name all the big brands. They are bound to have one. 


But this quest for “accessibility” is considered a mirage by many. Just because it’s more convenient for you to purchase limited edition sneakers doesn’t mean it’s actually easier. It’s not. And the resale market is all over the place because of it.


“Special Sneakers” by HIGHSNOBIETY is licensed under CC BY 3.0 

The Impact of “Bots” on Buying Limited Edition Sneakers


The process of landing new shoe drops has now been automated by many. They pay for and use complicated algorithms known as “Bots.” 


These programs have each individual’s payment and shipment information stored, as well as their shoe size. To expedite checkout, all a user needs to do is visit the intended site, run the algorithm once the sneaker drop is live and the automated system handles the rest.


Where it might take someone three to five minutes to complete this process manually, it takes the bot only seconds. This inherently stacks the deck against those who don’t use complicated tech to secure not only the pair they desire, but multiple pairs that they can list on third-party sites. 


And that’s the real danger of these Bots. People aren’t just using them to get their own pairs. They are creating a personal inventory—or rather, a personal surplus. They can sell those for monstrous profits, which is a problem for many reasons.

The Secondary Sneaker Market

Let’s use a recent example. The Air Jordan 4 in University Blue colorway was released just this year. Its retail price checked in at $200. However, because it was a limited edition drop, they were sold out within minutes, leaving a bunch of people without them.


So what do many of these sneakerheads do? They head over to Ebay or StockX or another third-party site to purchase them from someone who landed them from Nike or a Nike-approved retailer. 


Here’s the thing, though: These resellers are auctioning the same sneakers off for $450 or more. That’s more than double the retail cost. And this isn’t even the most extreme example. There have been instances in which shoes that retail for $200 end up fetching thousands of dollars on the secondary market. 


This whole process is skeevy in a vacuum. But it is infinitely more unfair for those who don’t have the money to pay double, triple, sometimes quadruple or more above retail price. 


Sure, anyone spending hundreds of dollars on sneakers probably has disposable income. But there are actually people out there who want to purchase and hold onto, if not actually wear, these shoes. They shouldn’t have to pay up the wazoo just to get them.


It’d be different if Bots weren’t creating a system in which people are ending up with dozens of the same shoes with sole intent to sell them at jacked-up rates. But that’s exactly what’s happening. 


“Special Sneakers reseller” by Ryan Stark is licensed under CC BY 3.0 

Can the Sneaker Game Be Fixed?

Can this dilemma be fixed? Surely.


Will it? Probably not.


Shoe companies would need to do one of two things: figure out how to actively prevent purchases made by bots, or just manufacture more shoes rather than have limited edition drops. Neither is likely.


These corporations aren’t going to expand the supply of their limited edition sneakers. That would compromise part of their business model: the hype leading up to these releases. They may not even want to ban Bots for the same reason. Those programs help create a lack of supply, which creates the secondary market, which creates the initial hype surrounding releases in the first place.


Still, some apps and sites have security in place to dissuade bots from operating. But this doesn’t always work. Creators can just tweak the algorithm so it’s not as recognizable, or there will be a new mainstream bot that companies aren’t aware of. 

All of which is to say: The sneaker world is complicated, and that’s not changing anytime soon.


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