Jordan 1 Chicago - Reimagined aka Lost and Found - November 19, 2022

This is all hilarious :rofl:
I also think there’s a segment of this hobby or whatever you want to call it that is simply delusional about values and the desirability Mendoza Line. Perfect example are these mall resale stores. Walked into one out of pure boredom the other week. I know those places seem to be mostly money-laundering fronts or whatever, but I still turned right around and walked out laughing when the first pair of shoes I picked up randomly was some women’s panda dunks. Priced at nearly double the actual market value right now.
You see it on display at more reputable resale shops, too. Especially consignment shops. My local one, so many shoes have the prices set two, three, even four times what’s actually realistic. Because stupid people are clueless about what their shoes are truly worth.
Resell shops are laundering drug money for Mexican cartels?

...my A Ma Maniere 1s have blood on the soles?
 
Resell shops are laundering drug money for Mexican cartels?

...my A Ma Maniere 1s have blood on the soles?
:lol:
I don’t know. I just see these mall resale shops, what they’re trying to charge and for which shoes, the fact they usually have barely any customers in the store, and the fact their rent alone (at least here in a place like Los Angeles) has to be substantial … they’ve gotta sell a lot of dunks etc every month to people who are fine with paying way over actual market value in order to turn a worthwhile profit. Something just doesn’t compute.
 
:lol:
I don’t know. I just see these mall resale shops, what they’re trying to charge and for which shoes, the fact they usually have barely any customers in the store, and the fact their rent alone (at least here in a place like Los Angeles) has to be substantial … they’ve gotta sell a lot of dunks etc every month to people who are fine with paying way over actual market value in order to turn a worthwhile profit. Something just doesn’t compute.

It's either money laundering or pushing fakes. Or both.

Taking drug money to a Sneaker Con or event and cashing out sounds like a pretty easy way to clean money. IF 50 CENT DOES THIS IN AN EPISODE OF POWER NT DESERVES IT'S CREDIT.

I can see Riq now with a dime piece on his arm leaving with 50 pairs of pandas.
 
It's either money laundering or pushing fakes. Or both.
Even if they’re pushing fakes it still doesn’t make sense because the prices are comical. Who’s paying $360 for a pair of panda dunks like I saw in one of these stores just two weeks ago? OK, I can assume there are some people ignorant enough to pay it. But there need to be a lot of people week after week that are that out of touch with prices to keep the business going.
 
OR… they sell online too. Not rocket surgery

In-store or online, my personal point/question was, their prices are so far out of whack with the rest of the resale market that I have difficulty understanding who, exactly, is paying those prices and keeping these businesses afloat. Other than newbs who have no idea about anything. But I'd think even those people who are new to all this would quickly become aware of platforms like SX, Goat, and of course eBay. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to realize within five minutes that you don't need to pay $360 for some panda dunks (just one example). I'm interested to see if the particular mall store I'm thinking about here is still in business a year or so from now.
Anyway, wasn't meaning to derail the thread.
 
I have never personally bought a pair from a consignment shop because like others have said, I can find better deals and cheaper prices on goat/ebay/sx (previously). I have, however, consigned a good amount of shoes at my local shop. Some stuff goes quick, others take a while, but it's very hassle free. My shop charges 20% on top of whatever I'm asking so that's probably why most shops have inflated prices. Say for example, I want 500 back for my L&F pair, the shop will add 20% on top of that so now someone will have to pay 600 for it. You can blame consigners for being greedy and wanting a high return so the shop really has no other choice but to add the percentage fee on the top, thus the high prices you see.

I don't know about other shops around the US, but mine gets a regular amount of tourists from Japan and Australia. I hear resell prices in those countries are quite high so maybe it makes more sense to pay the higher prices at the consignment shop since it's still less than what they'd pay back home in their consignment stores.
 
I have never personally bought a pair from a consignment shop because like others have said, I can find better deals and cheaper prices on goat/ebay/sx (previously). I have, however, consigned a good amount of shoes at my local shop. Some stuff goes quick, others take a while, but it's very hassle free. My shop charges 20% on top of whatever I'm asking so that's probably why most shops have inflated prices. Say for example, I want 500 back for my L&F pair, the shop will add 20% on top of that so now someone will have to pay 600 for it. You can blame consigners for being greedy and wanting a high return so the shop really has no other choice but to add the percentage fee on the top, thus the high prices you see.

I don't know about other shops around the US, but mine gets a regular amount of tourists from Japan and Australia. I hear resell prices in those countries are quite high so maybe it makes more sense to pay the higher prices at the consignment shop since it's still less than what they'd pay back home in their consignment stores.

To clarify, and I could be totally wrong, but I draw a distinction between my local consignment shop down the street (or places like Flight Club and others here in L.A. and elsewhere) and these new resale stores that have popped up in shopping malls. The latter is the type of store I was speaking about in this context. These stores aren't real sneakerhead stores where you're going to find a wide variety of models like you will at the other places. They go for this high-end look to their store and the shelves are filled mostly with nothing but hypebeast collabs and the dunks and Jordan 1s (and previously, Yeezys) of the moment, and that's kind of it (I'm not going to find a pair of 2016 black/metallic Vs in there). With prices substantially higher than tons of other well-established resale platforms for the same shoes. That's where my confusion comes in as to how these are sustainable businesses.
 
To clarify, and I could be totally wrong, but I draw a distinction between my local consignment shop down the street (or places like Flight Club and others here in L.A. and elsewhere) and these new resale stores that have popped up in shopping malls. The latter is the type of store I was speaking about in this context. These stores aren't real sneakerhead stores where you're going to find a wide variety of models like you will at the other places. They go for this high-end look to their store and the shelves are filled mostly with nothing but hypebeast collabs and the dunks and Jordan 1s (and previously, Yeezys) of the moment, and that's kind of it (I'm not going to find a pair of 2016 black/metallic Vs in there). With prices substantially higher than tons of other well-established resale platforms for the same shoes. That's where my confusion comes in as to how these are sustainable businesses.
Lots of people making bad decisions because they're either not smart enough to make anything better or just dont care.
Read a few threads on this forum alone and you can see people paying $100-200 over retail on a GR just to have it early and impress their boys.
Everything that's common sense in my mind is not on the table when speaking about the masses and it doesnt seem like that will change anytime soon.
 
Lots of people making bad decisions because they're either not smart enough to make anything better or just dont care.
Read a few threads on this forum alone and you can see people paying $100-200 over retail on a GR just to have it early and impress their boys.
Everything that's common sense in my mind is not on the table when speaking about the masses and it doesnt seem like that will change anytime soon.
True about bad decisions, but I'm not talking about early releases and the panic buyers. And even that is a very small number of people in the grand scheme, I'm sure. But I know you're just using that as one example. Still, I'm talking about stores that, at least when I'm at the mall at various times and on various days, always seem pretty much empty and are apparently relying on suckers to buy Dunks and Jordan 1s and other shoes that are READILY available elsewhere for far less months after release. That's really why I made the joke that these places seem like money-laundering fronts to me LOL. But hey, I don't see their books or know how much business they're actually doing.
 
If you live in a big city there's tons of people who buy these over-market shoes.

Plus you have to think, spending $300-400 on a pair of sneakers today is no different than we were spending $125-150 on sneakers back in the 90s.

Inflation is real, $100 dollars doesn't get much now, especially in a big city. So spending $400 on a pair of shoes doesn't shock regular people as much as it shocks us.
 
At least in LA tourists from out of the country are mainly the ones that buy from those shops.
 
At least in LA tourists from out of the country are mainly the ones that buy from those shops.
Ain't no (or VERY FEW) tourists visiting the malls I'm talking about LOL. Again, there's a difference between these mall stores and the established sneaker boutiques and consignment shops in certain parts of town (at least here in L.A.) that have major foot traffic from locals and tourists alike.
I don't doubt these mall spots sell some shoes to people, but enough to cover the lease, insurance etc and still put something worthwhile in the owner's pocket? That's where it gets murky for me.
 
I agree with most of what has been said about resale shops. Though I would add one thing: their inflated prices probably reflect the instant gratification from buying through them versus the 1-2 weeks it takes to get your shoes from the sneaker apps. Some people will pay for speed/convenience.

It's like going to a sporting event and buying jerseys/merch at the team store. You'd likely get the same stuff cheaper online or in a retail store but it doesn't matter to some people, they want that instant gratification.
 
:lol:
I don’t know. I just see these mall resale shops, what they’re trying to charge and for which shoes, the fact they usually have barely any customers in the store, and the fact their rent alone (at least here in a place like Los Angeles) has to be substantial … they’ve gotta sell a lot of dunks etc every month to people who are fine with paying way over actual market value in order to turn a worthwhile profit. Something just doesn’t compute.
Nike is probably involved in this in some way.

Coming in 2024: the Jordan 1 Pablo Escobar.

...3 white lines on the red outsole.
 
2015's today...
20230104_175759.jpg
 
Christ that’s about as asinine as people saying things that sell for high amounts on eBay is money laundering :lol:

I’m sure the suburban white kids that get money from mom and dad to open “______ kicks” are definitely laundering money

Y’all realize that consignment shops are always higher than eBay and things like that right? They aren’t gonna consign shoes to make $15. They have those $300 pair of Pandas in there because there is a mom using her card to buy them for her 13 year old kid
 
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If you live in a big city there's tons of people who buy these over-market shoes.

Plus you have to think, spending $300-400 on a pair of sneakers today is no different than we were spending $125-150 on sneakers back in the 90s.

Inflation is real, $100 dollars doesn't get much now, especially in a big city. So spending $400 on a pair of shoes doesn't shock regular people as much as it shocks us.

Shoot. I remember buying the original Shaq Attaqs for $175 in 1992. According to the inflation calculator, thats a $389 retail shoe in today's $$.
 
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