A couple of months ago, watching the US Open men’s quarter-final, the commentator asked the winner, Great Britain’s Jack Draper, about the “kicks” he quickly changed into after discarding his tennis shoes. The runners in question were Nike Air Tech Challenge 2 Hot Lava — popularised by US tennis great Andre Agassi in 1989.
My teenage son, who was watching with me, promptly asked for a pair. However, while Nike did release a new version of the timeless shoe in August of this year, for about $150 (€142), the line quickly sold out. Now you can buy them on a resale site such as StockX for as much as $692, but Santa wasn’t that generous in this house.
There’s nothing new about sneakers, trainers, runners or whatever you want to call them being collectors’ items. Lately, however, they seem to be having a moment.
Consider the sale earlier this year of the Dynasty Collection — Michael Jordan’s six championship Air Jordan sneakers, signed by the basketball giant — which made a staggering €8 million in a Sotheby’s sale. And the GOAT collection, featuring memorabilia from Tom Brady’s career, included a pair of shoes from his Super Bowl XXXIX win with the New England Patriots, which last week sold for $264,000.
While such prices may be at the top end, such exuberance is trickling all the way down to the €100 shoe.
Michael Kolade, of sneaker specialist One Kick Ireland, which has stores in Dublin and Cork, says the sneaker market “blew up” during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The resale game got absolutely crazy,” he says, noting that shoes which went on sale for €250 one day, “tomorrow would be double the price”.
For many sneaker aficionados and would-be resellers, Nike’s SNKRS app is the first port of call. Here, you can sign up to “drops” or product launches.
It can be “extremely hard” to get in on the most in-demand drops, however, says Kolade, noting that the app crashed four times when the Travis Scott Mochas were launched.
If you do get lucky, you can then try to sell on the item at a premium. But should you wear your new shoes first? Many collectors who are successful will often look to get two pairs — one to wear and one to resell. Often the resale price will cover the purchase of the two pairs at retail.
“It depends on your preference,” says Kolade. “A lot of people love to wear the shoes, but it’s very profitable to not wear them”.
So-called deadstock sneakers, which have never been worn and come with the box, tend to have the highest value.
Reselling
When it comes to selling on your items — or buying in the first place — many turn to shops like One Kick, or online platforms like Hypeboost or StockX.
The last is a US site, which ships to Ireland. It is a live, peer-to-peer marketplace, where pricing is based on supply and demand. Buyers indicate what they are willing to pay for a product in the form of a “Bid”, and sellers indicate what they are willing to sell for in the form of an “Ask”.
“Instead of setting an arbitrary selling price, StockX lets the community set the price,” says Drew Haines, director of merchandising with StockX.
And, much like tracking the value of stocks or cryptocurrencies, you can use the site to check out what’s selling — and for how much.
This year, the site’s most coveted collabs’ — or those with the highest average price premiums — include a pair of fuchsia Nike Air Force 1 Low Cactus Plant Flea Market, which have jumped in value by 255 per cent since launch on the site, with an average resale price of $532 (original sale price was $150 when it launched in May of this year).
A pair of Jordan1 Retro Low OG, from the Travis Scott collaboration, jumped in price by 222 per cent, with an average resale price of $484.
It also tracks the shoes that are trading below their retail price — a pair of trendy white and black Nike Cortez can be had for €42, for example, versus a retail price of $85.
But as prices go up, so too can they come down. According to StockX, Nike’s Dunk low panda sold for as much as €300 back in 2021; now you can pick up a pair for about €70.
What to buy
As with most investments, you make your money when you buy, so choosing wisely is key.
“I would say a collab with cultural significance, or a limited or special edition goes for a really good price,” says Kolade. “Apart from looking nice, they have a story to tell.”
“Broadly speaking, sneakers that tend to be most valuable over time carry some sort of cultural significance to the sneaker community — whether it’s an early collaboration with an artist like Travis Scott or a coveted Jordan retro that Michael wore during an NBA Finals run. These types of products tend to do well as collector’s items that may appreciate over time,” agrees Haines.
Looking at the most expensive sneaker sales in StockX history, the list is dominated by collaborative releases. Virgil Abloh’s designs for Nike x Louis Vuitton dominate the list, says Haines, with pairs like the Low Monogram Brown Damier Azur going for tens of thousands of dollars.
Other examples include the Nike x Tiffany & Co friends and family release, as well as the ultra-lux Jordan x Dior Jordan 1. “After announcing this collaboration with Dior, Jordan saw more than five million people register for the raffle to purchase a pair,” says Haines.
And it’s not just about Nike. Haines says more brands, from Adidas and New Balance to Asics — and even brands outside the traditional sneaker space, like Crocs and UGG — are seeing success from collaborations.
Colour is also important: Kolade says colours like yellow don’t tend to sell for as much as darker colours. It’s not the only thing.
“Size matters a lot,” says Kolade. He recommends shoes sized between 8-11. “If you buy those sizes have a chance of reselling and getting good money,” he advises.
And what would he pick if he could choose anything?
The Jordan 4 Travis Scott in olive — most recently selling on StockX for €40,426, or the Nike SB Dunk low Freddy Kruegers. The latter had a retail price of $110 when it launched in 2007, but has sold for almost €50,000 on Stock X.
Haines has some further advice. “If you do want to invest in sneakers, keep two things in mind. First, to resell them for their full value at a later date, they need to remain new and unworn, along with their original packaging. Second, always remember that, like other investments, there is always an element of risk, and prices can fluctuate for several reasons, so nothing is guaranteed.”
But Haines adds that there is something sneakers have that other assets don’t — the desire to wear them.
“A large number of people purchase sneakers to wear rather than to sell, meaning there is an ever-decreasing amount of ‘deadstock’ products available for people to trade. This behaviour puts upward pressure on prices and keeps volatility in check, more so than other non-traditional assets, helping to keep the market more stable and consistent,” he says.
But make sure you’re buying the real deal. Apps like CheckCheck can help with this, while sites such as StockX also offer a verification service for a fee of about €10.
In demand in 2024:
- Fuchsia Nike Air Force 1 Low Cactus Plant Flea Market;
- Jordan1 Retro Low OG, from the Travis Scott collaboration;
- Jordan Jumpman Jack Travis Scott university Red.
Ones to watch in 2025:
- Yuto Horigome x Nike SB Dunk Low Asparagus;
- Fragment x Travis Scott x Air Jordan 1 Low.
Expensive kicks:
- Michael Jordan’s 1998 NBA Finals Game 2 Air Jordan 13s. Jordan wore these Bred Air Jordans — a shorthand synonym for Black and Red’ Air Jordan sneakers — in his last season with the Chicago Bulls. The pair went to auction in April of this year with a guide price of $2-$4 million before selling for $2.2 million with Sotheby’s — a new world record for a pair of sneakers sold at auction;
- Kanye West’s Grammy-Worn Nike Air Yeezy 1 Prototype sold for a staggering $1.8 million at a Sotheby’s sale in 2021. The one-of-a-kind sample shoe was the first to sell for more than $1 million;
- Nike Air Ship: These signed sneakers, from Michael Jordan’s fifth NBA game in his rookie season, sold for over $1.4 million in 2021;
- Nike Moon Shoe: This rare Nike shoe broke the sales record for a pair of runners when it sold for $437,500 in 2019. The running shoe was designed for runners at the 1972 Olympics but only 12 were ever made, and so it was pitched as “one of the rarest pairs of sneakers ever produced”;
- Louis Vuitton x Nike Air Force One: Just 200 pairs of this limited edition collaboration, designed by Virgil Abloh, the late creative director of men’s wear at the luxury French brand, were made. It went to auction back in 2022 at an estimate of just $15,000, before eventually selling for $352,800. You can pick up a pair from $125,000 on Sothebys.com
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