Nike Sneakers Sold

Nike has been disappointing on multiple dimensions and consumers have jumped ship - the revival of New Balance and Asics, combined with the emergence of ON and Hoka have all come at Nike’s expense. Instead of being the brand of innovation, forward-fashion, and quality, they have resorted to the same strategy that they have been using for 15 years now - Retro’ing sneakers from the past. It is unimaginative and frankly, boring. The only thing that has changed is the prices - they continue to rise and the quality continues to go down.

Sneakers take up a lot of space. They require a climate controlled storage unit to keep them from completely falling apart (especially sneakers that are 10+ years old). They are not like watches that can be easily stored in a safety deposit box.

What is rare and valuable today can be re-released tomorrow. Case-in-point…the Nike Wu-Tang dunks from 1999 that just released. That shoe was a Friends-and-Family (F&F) ‘icon’ - a true grail (only 50 pairs produced) that often fetched upwards of $40,000 on the open market. The pair that just released is not a limited sneaker and sells for $150.

Point being, Nike is cratering the market of its most avid collectors. There is no telling that they won’t re-release anything anymore. The Eminem Jordan 4’s, the ‘original and true’ Nike Yeezy’s, the Tiffany dunks, etc. There is already rumors that the Jordan 1 Shattered Backboards from 2015 are going to release next year.

Rather than wait to see which sneaker’s value they will crater next, it was prudent to find a broker who could move a lot of 35 pairs of my most valuable sneakers. You definitely take a haircut by selling the full lot instead of selling each pair individually, but it is truly a hassle to do that. It also helps to have everything in a Size 11.0 - a very popular size with a large market of buyers.

So for the second time, I have sold a large lot of sneakers all-at-once, but this time it was out of fear - fear that the value of these sneakers will be a fraction of what they are worth today because Nike looks to drive revenue by destroying the one thing that made them valuable - rarity.

New Balance has become the staple - they are far more comfortable, have a much higher quality being ‘Made in the USA’ and don’t come with all the hype - they’re just great shoes.

And nobody was ever criticized for paying off debt - even if that debt was a 3.25% mortgage.