The Sneaker Market in South Africa
The sneaker market is slowly but surely becoming one of the most lucrative industries to start investing in. Some people are now opting to invest in sneakers, instead of actual stocks as many believe that certain sneakers only rise in value over time, thus providing a better ROI. Similar to stock prices which often fluctuate, the resell value of sneakers fluctuates as well, but majority of the time, the value increases exponentially. This has led to many hopefuls in South Africa turning to the sneaker trade, in order to make a quick buck. But how exactly does one resell shoes and what’s the process of doing so? In order to answer that question, one first needs to be able to understand 2 important terms in the sneaker world, retail and resell.
Retail vs Resell
People are often flabbergasted at the price that certain sneakers sell for these days. We often get DM’s as to why are our prices are so high and the simple response is, supply and demand. The rule of supply and demand is no different in the sneaker world. The reason why sneakers sell for exorbitant amounts are because that same sneaker is released in limited qualities, with tens of thousands of people all gunning and mauling for it. The demand heavily outweighs the supply and that results in resellers, like us, charging what we charge. In essence the shoe is worth what the next person is willing to pay for it. In addition, we hardly ever manage to source our stockfrom retailers. We usually buy them when they hit te secondary market. This means that even we, in most cases, pay resell.
In short, the difference between a retailer and a reseller is that a Retailer is a business or person that sells goods to the consumer, as opposed to a wholesaler or supplier, who normally sells their goods to another business, whereas as a reseller is a company or individual that purchases goods or services with the intention of reselling them rather than consuming or using them.
A retailer usually receives their goods from a wholesaler or producer which directly manufactures the goods whereas a reseller generally buys products from a retailer or a person and then sell them to someone else at a profit.
That pretty much gives you a basic understanding of retail and resell prices
Stock Allocations in South Africa
When it comes to the sneaker market in South Africa, various retailers often employ different release mechanisms to make it as fair as possible for everyone to stand an equal chance to obtain a highly coveted or sought-after sneaker. With South Africa still being a developing nation and considered a third world country, the stock allocation of these sought-after sneakers are often extremely low, thus making the sneaker extremely limited in the country. The sneaker may not be considered limited overseas due to various first world countries receiving a much larger stock allocation. To put things into perspective, a single South African Retailer will usually get only between 20 and 50 pairs for an Air Jordan 1 Release and there will usually be at least 300 people all trying to secure one of those 50 pairs for the recommended retail price. If one is not able to obtain the sneaker for the retail price and you still desperately want it, you will have to turn to the likes of resellers like us to provide you with a pair.
Sneaker Releases in South Africa
As mentioned above, its often the case where a retailer is only selling 30 pairs of a said sneaker, and there are at least 200 people wanting to buy that sneaker. In the past, retailers used to employ a first come first serve method in order to buy the shoes. This would then result in sneakerheads often camping out a couple of days or sometimes even weeks in advance in hopes of being first in line to secure their pair. This often raised a safety issue as people would be risking their lives spending various days outside a retailer all in hopes of buying a pair of shoes. As a result of this, various retailers, decided to rather opt for an instore raffle option, instead of selling the shoes on a first come first serve basis.
The way the raffle system works is that each and every hopeful that would like to purchase the sneaker, is handed a ticket or wristband with a number on, and then a copy of that number is tossed into a box. Once everyone has received their number, the raffle begins. If the number on your band or ticket is called, you have won the opportunity to purchase the sneaker. Many consider this to be a much fairer way of releasing shoes as it provides everyone with an equal opportunity/chance of being able to buy the shoes. The raffle continues until the last pair the store has is sold.
For the last couple of years and more recently due to the worldwide pandemic we are facing, a lot of retailers have opted for online releases. Public gatherings of more than 50 people are still not allowed, hence no in person raffle will be allowed. This opened up the door and made online releases the new norm. Majority of online releases work on a first come first serve basis as well. A retailer will set a time for the shoe to go live on their website and customers will ensure that they are glued to their computer screens, refreshing the webpage to ensure that they are able to secure a pair. Online releases often end in a lot of disappointment for budding customers as they miss out on pairs due to the use of online bots or having the website crash multiple times.
Platforms to sell your shoes
Recently we have seen a significant rise in the number of resellers in South Africa. Majority of resellers across the nation make use of the various social media platforms to sell their stock with few opting to sell on an international basis using a platform like StockX. There are also yearly events such as Sneaker Exchange, that offers a marketplace for buyers and sellers to meet and trade their shoes.
All in all, the sneaker trade and sneaker market in South Africa is heading no where else but north. Even with the global pandemic and lockdown restrictions put in place, people are still finding various ways of acquiring the latest kicks and trying to flip them for some extra cash in their pockets. As mentioned in the beginning, with the price and value of sneakers skyrocketing and growing exponentially, we highly recommend buying your grails or the pair you’ve had your eye on immediately as they are only bound to increase in price. Be sure to check out our products here as we can ensure you that it wont be long before they are all sold out! Also be sure to follow us on all of our social media platforms so that you can always be up to date and first to know as to when we decide to release a sneaker to purchase on our sight. Take care and stay safe!
