What up, family! Happy Inauguration day! Hope you’re enjoying yourself!
I wanted to continue our conversation from Monday on sneaker prices. The Yeezy 700 price drop was especially good to see. BUT, we should also point out that it seems to be a blip in the larger trend of things.
Overall, prices have been on the rise. The Jordan 1 is up to $170 now from being $160 in 2019. The Dunk lows are generally up to $110 after being $100 for so long. Some of Adidas 4D stuff gets above $250 and that’s looking like it might be a flagship for them. You get the point here.
Are you at all concerned about retail prices consistently rising? Or is that just the cost of business for you these days? Let us know in the comments!
Rising costs are never a good thing. Let's remember too that the costs of goods are up across the board because of 1) a fake trade war raged over the last 2 years and 2) Covid significantly impacting exports/imports. Let's hope this too shall pass like the nightmare of the last 4 years. Sorry not sorry for getting political.
I didn’t even think about the impact of the stupid trade war but that’s definitely had an impact. Will be interesting to see if brexit over here could impact prices soon also.
Im concerned about retail prices rising because as you know, sneakers are harder than ever to cop at retail these days. And with the rise of retail prices, I think that ultimately means a rise in resell prices as well, Which will make it harder to cop shoes. While it is a slow rise in cost, I think it will continue to rise due to the demand shoes warrant
It's really hard to stomach a rise in those prices knowing what actually goes into making the shoes we all love and how the conditions and wages for those workers isn't always up to par. If I knew it was directly impacting those people in a very positive way then I'm fine paying extra.
It makes me bristle to be honest. I get the economic climate we’re in, and the immovable factor of inflation, but it turns me off wanting to buy stuff. We’re seeing it with other items too, Adidas’ football shirts rose from £65 to £70 this year. I like the adidas 4D stuff but I’m not paying £170 for them, I don’t care *that* much. The unfortunate reality is, I think many people are still buying at these prices and it just means stuff getting less accessible. Maybe that’s the point! But I’m not dropping you 170 unless it’s a pair of jordans or something I *really* like.
The price hikes "made sense" when they introduced the "remastered" line in 2015. Jordan brand and Nike had been coasting and resting on their laurels for classic models (and still do, but that's another post) and their quality was garbage. The leather was much worse, very plastic-y, shoes were a lot thinner, and the quality just wasn't there. So a price hike for better materials made sense.
But now that the only materials in their factories are those "better materials", it's time to start bringing them back to those levels, or at least plateauing them. I remember when the max you would pay would be $185 for 11's in 2014 with the "Cinco De Restock". I bought Carmine 6's for $170 and now they're going to slap a Nike Air on the back and charge $200 for them 6 years later. And not to sound like "back in my day", but it's not like I'm talking about the 90's when stuff was sitting on shelves. They obviously learned their lesson about awful colorways, but they saw people keep buying shoes at these higher prices.
Obviously the pandemic made trade and imports hard, but you can't tell me a company like Nike needs to raise their prices. Bring everything back to pre-remastered pricing and Nike will make a lot of people happy. 1's for $140, GR/Standard shoes for $160/170, and you can top out the 11's and "special editions" (like CNY/BHM, not "Nike Air") for $200 just to keep that upper tier.
These hikes are a no-brainer for Nike, who knows full well that reseller bots are their primary clientele. They get to grab some of that markup on the front end, and if resellers take a loss down the line then everyone wins.
I'm not too concerned over the price of most sneakers, like Dunks and Jordans, these classic silhouettes don't normally have big price jumps. However, new tech and new silhouettes have sticker shocked me. I'm specifically thinking about the Nike Zoom 004 x MMW, Nike ISPA Road Warrior, and AJ11 Adapt - all $500 at retail. These high heat new styles seem to pave the way for less hyped styles, at a lower price, but at a price that is well above the norm. Take the Nike Double Stack, a more approachable version of the Road Warrior, while it's half the price it still has an MSRP of $230. Is it a $230 shoe? No way!
This is a really good point. The introduction of new silhouettes at the high end, or even ones that re-set the meaning of "high end" like you mention, are probably what will really drive upward pressure if they find continued success.
Just like performance basketball shoes eventually fell out of vogue, you have to imagine some sort of disruption is coming for the 'technical runner' boom we're currently in. If it continues to be a focus on technology and innovation, it seems inevitable, but maybe whatever's around the corner brings a focus on accessibility. Is sustainable the next big boom? Can that be done inexpensively (or at least under $500)?
I don't have the answer to any of this, but thanks for sending me down this train of thought.
Rising costs are never a good thing. Let's remember too that the costs of goods are up across the board because of 1) a fake trade war raged over the last 2 years and 2) Covid significantly impacting exports/imports. Let's hope this too shall pass like the nightmare of the last 4 years. Sorry not sorry for getting political.
I LOVE politics in my sneakers dude. Turn that up! LOL
I expect a graphic that tracks the cost of AJ1's over the years vs the US average min wage. LOL
It’s all political! Wages are stagnant but cost of living is rising etc.
I didn’t even think about the impact of the stupid trade war but that’s definitely had an impact. Will be interesting to see if brexit over here could impact prices soon also.
Im concerned about retail prices rising because as you know, sneakers are harder than ever to cop at retail these days. And with the rise of retail prices, I think that ultimately means a rise in resell prices as well, Which will make it harder to cop shoes. While it is a slow rise in cost, I think it will continue to rise due to the demand shoes warrant
It's really hard to stomach a rise in those prices knowing what actually goes into making the shoes we all love and how the conditions and wages for those workers isn't always up to par. If I knew it was directly impacting those people in a very positive way then I'm fine paying extra.
It makes me bristle to be honest. I get the economic climate we’re in, and the immovable factor of inflation, but it turns me off wanting to buy stuff. We’re seeing it with other items too, Adidas’ football shirts rose from £65 to £70 this year. I like the adidas 4D stuff but I’m not paying £170 for them, I don’t care *that* much. The unfortunate reality is, I think many people are still buying at these prices and it just means stuff getting less accessible. Maybe that’s the point! But I’m not dropping you 170 unless it’s a pair of jordans or something I *really* like.
The price hikes "made sense" when they introduced the "remastered" line in 2015. Jordan brand and Nike had been coasting and resting on their laurels for classic models (and still do, but that's another post) and their quality was garbage. The leather was much worse, very plastic-y, shoes were a lot thinner, and the quality just wasn't there. So a price hike for better materials made sense.
But now that the only materials in their factories are those "better materials", it's time to start bringing them back to those levels, or at least plateauing them. I remember when the max you would pay would be $185 for 11's in 2014 with the "Cinco De Restock". I bought Carmine 6's for $170 and now they're going to slap a Nike Air on the back and charge $200 for them 6 years later. And not to sound like "back in my day", but it's not like I'm talking about the 90's when stuff was sitting on shelves. They obviously learned their lesson about awful colorways, but they saw people keep buying shoes at these higher prices.
Obviously the pandemic made trade and imports hard, but you can't tell me a company like Nike needs to raise their prices. Bring everything back to pre-remastered pricing and Nike will make a lot of people happy. 1's for $140, GR/Standard shoes for $160/170, and you can top out the 11's and "special editions" (like CNY/BHM, not "Nike Air") for $200 just to keep that upper tier.
These hikes are a no-brainer for Nike, who knows full well that reseller bots are their primary clientele. They get to grab some of that markup on the front end, and if resellers take a loss down the line then everyone wins.
I'm not too concerned over the price of most sneakers, like Dunks and Jordans, these classic silhouettes don't normally have big price jumps. However, new tech and new silhouettes have sticker shocked me. I'm specifically thinking about the Nike Zoom 004 x MMW, Nike ISPA Road Warrior, and AJ11 Adapt - all $500 at retail. These high heat new styles seem to pave the way for less hyped styles, at a lower price, but at a price that is well above the norm. Take the Nike Double Stack, a more approachable version of the Road Warrior, while it's half the price it still has an MSRP of $230. Is it a $230 shoe? No way!
This is a really good point. The introduction of new silhouettes at the high end, or even ones that re-set the meaning of "high end" like you mention, are probably what will really drive upward pressure if they find continued success.
Just like performance basketball shoes eventually fell out of vogue, you have to imagine some sort of disruption is coming for the 'technical runner' boom we're currently in. If it continues to be a focus on technology and innovation, it seems inevitable, but maybe whatever's around the corner brings a focus on accessibility. Is sustainable the next big boom? Can that be done inexpensively (or at least under $500)?
I don't have the answer to any of this, but thanks for sending me down this train of thought.
Great point. Those Alphafly Next % joints are $275!