Engaging in a thought-provoking dialogue with a friend about the evolving dynamics of the sneaker resale market, we reached a consensus that anyone claiming to earn a substantial income from reselling sneakers without access to the Nike employee store is, without a doubt, not being truthful. The reason? The average sneaker on most third-party platforms is priced at or below retail, making it virtually impossible to turn a profit unless procured significantly under the MSRP.
The reasons behind this struggling resale market are multifaceted, and though I’ll delve into my thoughts on this in a future post, one key factor is undoubtedly market oversaturation. Speaking of oversaturation, Jordan Brand’s release this week perfectly encapsulates this issue – the Air Jordan 1 High OG Royal Reimagined. This iteration, seemingly derivative of the classic ROYAL 1, boasts a different material composition, but I suspect it may not strike a chord with buyers.
The shoe maintains its iconic Black, Royal Blue, and White color scheme. However, unlike previous “Reimagined” releases, it will feature a full suede build, replacing the traditional leather used in the original. The design includes a Black base with Royal Blue Swooshes, overlays, “Nike Air” tongue labels, and insole branding. The Black “Wings” embellishment on the ankle, set atop a White midsole and Royal Blue rubber outsole, completes the design.
If you’re looking to pick up a pair, refer to the details below
Where To Buy The Air Jordan 1 High OG Royal Reimagined
- Price:$180
- Release Date: 2023-11-04
- Style Code:DZ5485-042
- Color: Black / Royal Blue / White
Retailer(s)
Nike, Footlocker, Finishline, JD Sports, Nordstrom
You may also purchase it right away on eBay from our featured sellers via authenticity guaranteed
Resale Value: Air Jordan 1 High Royal Reimagined
The chart above gives us a summary of the average sale price of the shoe since November 1st, 2023. As you can see from the records, prices went from $176 to $183 within a 24 hour period, that looks like a good sign, but upon closer inspection, you can clearly see that this is still below the MSRP, let’s see what the five number summary reveals.
Minimum: 157
Quartile Q1: 171
Median: 177
Quartile Q3: 177
Maximum: 230
The lowest sale recorded was $157, for a size 8 while the highest sale was $230, for a size 10 and a size 11. About 25% of the shoes sold between $157 and $171, see next chart for sizes. And half of the shoes, that is 50% , sold between $171 and $177. The remaining 25% sold between $177 and $230 and there several outliers, $157, $159, $159, $161, $188, $191, $192, $200, $213,$ $230, $230, $230, $230.
With the outliers included, the overall average resale value is $180 with a 9% volatility, and without the outliers, it is $175 with a 2% volatility. You can clearly see that with or without the outliers, reselling the shoe leads to a -$27 loss ( with outliers) and -$32 loss (without the outliers). In either cases, you’re going to incur a loss. Let’s see what types of returns each size is producing.
Earnings/ Losses By Size Sold : Jordan 1 Reimagined
93% of the sales led to losses, that sizes 7-13 except the size 14 that led to a $4 profit margin, a 2% mark up ( significantly lower than normal). The verdict is clear, this isn’t a shoe you want to resell if you’re a day trader. But this certainly confirms my suspicions, either most of the pairs being currently sold on the secondary markets are from the Nike employee store, or the other possibility is that retailers are secretly selling their inventory on these marketplaces since their information is kept private.
There is another reason that might be causing the resale market to stall this bad, the proliferation of fake sneakers, I actually wrote a post about how to identify the Fake Jordan 1 Royal Reimagined, see link below. Once you see how insignificant the differences are between the legitimate and the replica pair, you’ll understand why fakes are now socially accepted.
how to Spot The Fake Jordan 1 High Royal Reimagined
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