Underground Market of The Limited-Edition Sneaker Launch
Limited edition sneaker launches are nothing new to the marketIt is a marketing strategy used by sneakerother streetwear brands to ensure that there is always some hype whenever they release new products into the market.
How this works is that these companies intentionally produce a limited number of productsTake, for example, Air Jordan, a well-knownloved sneaker brandWhen releasing a new line of Jordans, they may limit the number to, say, 10,000This means that only 10,000 pairs will be available,once they sell out, it’s doneThey will ensure that they make this clear to potential buyersthat by itself generates a lot of hype even before the shoes are officially available for purchaseWith a demand of over a milliononly ten thousand pairs available, they command the pricebest believe that these sneakers will sell out within hours of being released.
As a result of this limited-edition sneaker launch, there is an underground resell market worth well over $2 billionis expected to continue growing in the futureThis resell market is where people who were unable to secure a pair of their own during the launch can get one but at higher costs, sometimes even 20 times the retail price.
One of the trailblazers in the resale market is Brandon WebbA 21-year-old entrepreneur who has capitalized on America’s obsession with sneakersHaving an interest in luxury fashion from a tender age, he started sneaker reselling while he was still in high school.
During this time, he plowed back some of the profit from his first sneaker resale into buying moreThis, however, was very time-consuming,it wasn’t easy to find limited sneakers at a retail price since there were so many people who were in the same business as him.
Necessity is the mother of invention,where there is a will, there is a wayThe increased competition pushed Brandon Webb to improve his computer programming skillsapply them to the sneaker resale businessThis was a turning pointwould not only change how Brandon went about his business but the entire sneaker resale business.
He had designed a custom software that could buy up large quantities of sneaker inventory in just secondsThis made all the difference as it gave him a huge advantage over other sneaker resellersWhile he could clear up stock with his software, some people had to stay up all night waiting for the sneakers to drop,others would camp outside of stores waiting for a new releaseHe made significant progress before anyone could realize what was going on.
Soon enough, other players in the market had caught wind of what was happening,they began coming to him for helpSubsequently, he took them as clientsgave them access to his proprietary software to scale their sneaker reselling businessesThis led to further growth of the underground sneaker resale business because more people had access to the software that gave them an advantage during sneaker launches.
However, Brandon emphasizes that this is a catmouse game,some retailers have caught onto the strategies being used by Brandonother sneaker resellersAs a result, they have to team up with cybersecurity companies to limit the number of sneakers purchased by one personthwart bots’ attempts to clean out the entire stock.
Through Hypluxe, a members-only community that reveals the secrets of the billion-dollar secondary market for limited-edition sneakers, they can find loopholesproduce exponentially great results for themselvesother sneaker resellers.
This just shows that there is so much that goes on in the underground market of sneaker launches,there is no sign that it will stop any time soonWith more people gaining interest in luxury fashionsneaker culture, especially here in North America, these brands will continue doing limited-edition sneaker launchesAs long as it happens, the underground market is here to stay.
People have so many questions concerning this market,you can count on us to keep you updated with the answersBelow are some of these questions.
What Drives Up the Prices of Sneakers?
For prices, it is all down to supplydemandWhen there is so much of something, prices tend to be low because sellers will want to clear out their stockConversely, when a product is scarce,many people are looking to buy it, sellers can dictate the prices because if one person isn’t willing to meet the asking price, you are guaranteed someone else willThe same thing applies in the resale marketPrices tend to be high because there are a lot of people chasing limited sneakersResellers are always assured that they will find someone who is desperate enough or with the money to buy a limited pair of sneakers at their prices.
How Do Sneaker Resellers Stay in The Know About Upcoming Launches?
For this, it’s pretty easyMost big-name sneaker resellers, such as Brandon Webb, are usually well connectedget intel whenever a new sneaker dropsThey are provided with exact stock numberstherefore know just how limited a particular sneaker will beAlso, sites such as StockXGOAT usually provide helpful information on sneaker launches, such as wherewhen new sneakers will be availableSneaker blogs also make lists of the most popular upcoming sneakersupdate them frequently, providing critical information such as what websites they’ll be releasing onas long as there’s hype, it is relatively easy to stay in the know.
Conclusion
The underground limited sneaker market is here to stay because even if retailers find a way to curb them, the resellers will always find a way to navigate around thatAlso, as long as brands continue to release limited edition products, there will be people who miss outwill be willing to cough up huge sums.
