Reselling Sneakers Is Billion Dollar Business
Listen to the story (American Accent)
Sneaker-lovers know that the sporty shoes can be expensive. Reselling sneakers has become a popular business and is growing quickly.
Sneaker designs like Nike’s 2007 limited-edition "Freddy Krueger" Dunk Lows have a resale price between $40,000 and $95,000 USD. Some sneakers can be resold for $140,000. The sneaker resale market is expected to earn $30 billion worldwide by 2030.
The CEO and co-founder of Impossible Kicks, John Mocadlo, recently turned his sneaker hobby into a million-dollar business. Mocadlo says his store is the largest brick-and-mortar resale company in the US, with 17 locations. The company will generate more than $50 million in sales in its first year.
Nike sneakers seem to be the most popular on the resale market. There are affordable options and luxury price options. Generally, sneaker models that are produced in smaller quantities are the most expensive on the resale market.
However, Nike has been trying to fight some of the resale companies, especially big ones like StockX and GOAT.
Resellers often use bots and other technology to buy newly released shoes in large quantities as quickly as possible. Nike is against this method of purchasing and has recently changed its rules. The company will cancel orders, charge a fee and block accounts that use bots to buy sneakers.
Vocabulary19 words
- Resell
- to sell something again, usually after buying it from someone else
- Design
- model; version; type; kind
- Limited-edition
- only a small number made and not produced again
- Market
- the field/area of trade or business; the buying/selling of a specific product or service; a category of potential buyers
- Expect
- to think something will happen; forecast; predict; suppose
- Earn
- to get something (usually money) because you worked, sold something, or helped someone; receive
- Billion
- 1,000,000,000 = one-billion
- Worldwide
- all around the world
- CEO (Chief Executive officer)
- the top person in a large company; president; boss
- Co-founder
- someone who starts a company with one or more other people
- Brick-and-mortar
- a real, physical store, not online;
- Location
- store; shop; venue for business
- Generate
- produce; create; cause; make
- Luxury
- very expensive and high quality
- Quantity
- amount; number
- Bot
- a software program that performs tasks automatically, especially on the internet
- Release
- make available to everyone; launch; put on the market
- To be against something
- to go against something; to disagree; to oppose
- Method
- a way of doing something; procedure; technique; approach; way;
Discussion questions
- Why are some resold sneakers more expensive than others?
- How has Nike responded to the growth of sneaker reselling companies? Is Nike's response fair?
- In your opinion, how has the rise of sneaker reselling impacted the traditional retail market for sneakers?
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