The most expensive pair of sneakers on StockX, a shoe reseller goes for over $40,000! Those are the Back to the Future Nike Mags.
Ok, so most of us don’t spend $40,000 on our shoes, even in 2020, but sneakers are an integral part of everyday life, and can also be a key element in some wardrobes.
A quick inventory of shoes in a given classroom shows Adidas Yeezy 350 V2s, Addidas Ultraboosts, and a pair of Nike Air Force Ones. There’s no doubt that Longfellow is home to a few sneakerheads, as sneaker enthusiasts are called.
“Although some shoes can sometimes, very rarely, be worth their price, $40,000 is way too much,”said 7th grader Batu Y., who was wearing his Yeezy’s.
Large scale sneaker brands are making lots of money.The biggest sneaker brand, Nike’s profits spiked to 4.2 billion last year, according to Forbes Magazine.
Adidas is quickly growing in the sneaker business as well because of one man; Kanye West. Kanye has broken the sneaker business, selling Yeezys across the world making 1.5 billion dollars in sales according to Forbes.
Though the most desireable sneakers can cost a lot, there are plenty of sought after shoes seen in the halls in the $100 range.
Shoe lovers generally buy their sneakers from a reseller, because when the shoe companies only put out a limited number of any given design. These sell out from the stores almost immediately, and then turn up on the resale market.
“Looking merely to make a quick buck (or hundreds of quick bucks), many more buyers got into the game with the sole intent of flipping limited edition shoes, sometimes on the same day they bought them,” explained Matt Powell, a contributor to Forbes Magazine,
It seems like that’s a bad deal for Nike, but actually, it is a good thing. The more people resell, the more people run to the stores when a new shoe comes out. They also, occasionally, re-release shoes, creating excitement among collectors.
Longfellow sneakerheads are mostly in it for the love of the shoes, not for profit. As 7th grader Gavin S., who favors Jordans, said, “Sneakers make people feel cool and swaggy.”