Sneakers, kicks, creps, trainers, boogs, whatever you call them are unashamedly being upsold online to hungry hypebeasts’ every second.

Whether it’s a Nike SB Dunk or Kanye West’s Yeezy there is always someone out there willing to dig deep into their back pocket to acquire a holy grain item.

The market once catered for the ardent sneakerhead and solely relied on a little black book of contacts.

Transactions were secretive and stock levels were concealed mysteries. Now there is little mystery thanks to apps such as StockX and SNKRS, everyone can now lend their grubby little hand to this unapologetically dirty game of resell. Currently valued at a $2 Billion industry and estimated to rise to $30 Billion by 2030 I uncover the truths, lies and history behind this relentlessly ruthless market.

The humble beginnings

In 1984 a contract was signed between NBA superstar Michael Jordan and sportswear giant Nike that would change the way trainers were consumed indefinitely. These trainers that were sublimely designed by Peter Moore happened to be the first to spark this concept of ‘hype’. This brand within a brand famously depicted by the 6ft 4¾ leaping silhouette of MJ released trainers that would for the first time ever sell out.

This sold out stock or ‘deadstock’ as it is commonly referred to would gain value instantaneously, offering a whole new price tag to the thousands who couldn’t get their hands on a pair. Resell during this period was scarce, most purchasers wore what they bought. Transactions were shadily carried out in sport shop parking lots, little did anyone know at the time resell would go on to evolve into the untamed beast that it is today.

The Golden Era

The 1990’s supplied some of the most sophisticated and innovative trainer design, from the Nike air max plus to the Reebok DMX, hundreds of models were pushed out weekly. Many of these remain masterworks such as the Japanese bullet train inspired Air Max 97’s and timeless staple the Reebok Classics. Still mass produced 30 years later these 90’s models are still in high demand demonstrating that the 90’s really was the time for pioneering trainer design.

Growing up in the 90’s I will always remember the moment my Mum bought me my first pair of trainers, an Action-Man Velcro trainer purchased from the local Woolworth’s. The first day of wear I awkwardly stumbled into class sporting these hideous vinyl monstrosities whilst the other school kids haughtily sported box fresh Nike Shox and 98’s.

I had never felt a crippling pain like it before as I was taunted for my poor taste in trainers. It was clear that even aged six that your choice in footwear is a statement and an extension of ones self, whether we like this or not.

Deadstock Drama

The 90’s birthed trainer collectors, a group of dedicated street wear aficionados who kept everything box fresh. Unbeknown to them their collection of trainers would be gradually gaining huge capital as an army of customers lay dormant. Then the internet happened. Suddenly the demand was finally visible from a previously undetectable face-to-face market.

Forum’s and Ebay soon led the way, and one forum in particular entitled ‘Niketalk’ soon became one of the most frenzied cyber space’s to date. The world had abruptly woken up to the demand for deadstock. Sneaker freaks finally had an online breeding ground and it was about to go parabolic. I spoke to Omar who runs a training resell store in Kensington who was purchasing in the early days.

“Niketalk was crazy, I mean straight up chaos. A whole group of people just came outta nowhere with wodges of cash buying up Jordans, Dunks and even some rare Reeboks. I knew this was just the start, so I started saving and copping what I could with the money I had. I thought it could be a fad but look where we are now, a fad isn’t someone buying a pair of trainers for four grand is it?”

You are what you wear

Whilst it is predominantly a two horse race between Nike and Adidas there are instances of rival brands such as New Balance and Louis Vuitton occasionally shaking up the market. Today however Nike knowingly rule the market by dropping audacious rereleases with limited stock, the resell market tends to ceaselessly orbit around the mighty swoosh.

It is now common place to find trainers selling for 10x their retail value thanks to these drops such as the flamboyant Nike and Ben and Jerry’s collaboration, the ‘Chunky Dunky’. A cow print and ice cream dripped super shoe that had every sneaker freak fiending. £1000 on top of retail however is just the tip of the icecream-berg. Step in the professional reseller.

Peering over their laptop within his smokey bedroom empire, the reseller is not as visibly devious as they may seem. Typically under 25, male and an avid listener of lo fi hip hop playlists, they run the market through any means necessary. Whilst the latest releases run a lottery type format, the reseller have found a way of cheating.

Instead of going online at the release date to try their luck at copping a pair of the latest Yeezy’s, the reseller runs an intelligent bit of software aka ‘A Bot’ to buy up as much stock as possible. Leaving the majority seething week in and week out, the minority who own these bot’s such as the most powerful ‘Ganeshbot’ control this booming market. Trainer resell is now a profession as Trainer resell giant Resh tells me.

“I have no guilt, the websites are built perfectly for my bots to intercept. Stores like END and Size? are practically welcoming me in to make money. If someone is willing to pay two grand on top for some Off white collaboration shoe I’m obviously gonna let them go for that. I don’t think bots will last forever but for now there are a few of us who will indefinitely control this market”.

Tip toeing in my Jordans’

As Detroit based resell platform Stock X features a stock like pricing framework for the latest models, it is now currently the home of resell, valued at $3.8 Billion. The price you pay rises and falls dictated by supply and demand, no different to the stock market that we know. Look, it a merciless game, but there is no secret that there is always a extortionate price to pay for fashion. But lurking in the obscure corners of the internet there are some positive responses to resell.

Linus Nutland owner of ‘Nike Server’ a vintage Nike upcycling resell page aims to celebrate the older and quite frankly more bizarre sneakers of the past. Restoring rare Nike model’s and reselling for a fair price ‘Nike Server’ is a breath of fresh air in the present suffocating climate of resell.

Recently collaborating with Vibram’s ‘repair if you air initiative’, Linus has encouraged trainer owners to keep hold of their old trainers and restore them to their former glory. Honouring the weirder side of running shoes ‘Nike Server’ is offering a more environmentally conscious approach for sneaker heads.

Whilst I miserably fail week in week out at winning trainer raffles online it’s becoming clear that obsessing over two shoes has become normalised. Paying over retail for trainers is now just routine as outlandish as that seems. Whether we like it or not trainers have made us wildly avaricious and this is just the start of our new resell reality.

A Look Inside: Sneaker Capitalism

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