5 Things That Need to Change With Nike Sneaker Releases
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Women’s Sizes
This one goes out to all of the girls with small feet. Y’all have been marginalized in the sneaker culture for too long. I’m not trying to rub it in, but I had forgotten the feeling of what it was like knowing that my size was not available in a shoe I wanted. The kids’ section does not do justice, especially for exclusive sneaker releases. It’s hard enough to find a good price on rare shoes, and having to find out if the shoe was even made in your size is a nightmare. The smallest size for most releases is a Men size 6, which translates to a Women’s size 7.5, but that’s just TOO big. There needs to be more variation.
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SNKRS app
Honestly, this one should be lower on the list, but I have had a couple friends get lucky recently which gives me hope that maybe one day I’ll hit. My problem with the SNKRS app is that it takes no effort. I miss the days of waiting in line for shoes because only the most dedicated sneakerheads were able to secure a pair. Before SNKRS app, shoes were more accessible and prices were not inflated from people only trying to get a pair for resale. It’s guaranteed that you will make money if you get lucky which causes thousands of people to try their luck even if they don’t want to wear the shoes.
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Limited Supply
At this point, you think Nike would realize the popularity of some of their shoes when they sell out in .005 seconds on their SNKRS app. If America can print more money, why can’t Nike just print more shoes?? Nike needs to bring back the general release sneakers of the past. You used to be able to find a regular pair of dunks at the Nike outlet for less than $100. I understand that most people only want limited shoes, and I’m one of those people. I don’t like wearing what other people can easily get. Not everyone cares about exclusive shoes. It would help break up some of the hype around new shoes that Nike releasing because sometimes it feels like everyone is after the same pairs.
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Resell Prices
The prices of Nikes specifically dunks and air maxes have become so inflated that I’m starting to think we’re in a sneaker bubble. Why is every single pair of clean, basic pair of AM1s or Dunks over $300 immediately after release. It makes no sense. The last pair of dunks I bought cost me $200 in 2016. If I took that same pair and ran a marathon in them, dragged them through mud, and then went to a dog park and stepped on a couple of land mines, they would still be worth $700. It’s difficult for me to articulate about the crazy high prices of shoes now because it makes me upset. I feel bad for the kids today that won’t be able to get into sneakers because the barrier to entry is insanely high compared to when I was in high school. You would never catch me or any of my friends paying anything over $150 for a pair of shoes back then. Now, a brand new sneaker costs $350 resell plus transaction fees and shipping. There is no reason a basic shoe should be $170 over retail 10 seconds after release.
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Resellers
Respect to everyone that finds a way to make money selling clothing. Admittedly, I wish I could be doing the same thing making money doing something fun and effortless. With that said, there’s something really wrong to me about hoarding the supply of a shoe just to turn around and sell them for double because of a limited supply. It’s not fair to people that want a particular shoe to have to pay high prices all because one guy has connections or uses bots. It makes my stomach turn to see photos of people sitting next to a hundred pairs of a newly released sneaker (but also, I want to have your life). One of the craziest stats I heard was this one I found in a GQ article about sneaker resellers, “The secondary sneaker market has swelled to somewhere in the range of a $2 billion market with the potential to reach $6 billion by 2025” (Cam Wolf, 2019). I wonder if, in the future, Nike and other companies will try to take some of these resell profits for themselves and raise their prices.
