i think that part of the appeal of many sneakers is rarity. companies like nike have historically recognized this and introduced things like the SNKRS app alongside limited-run releases.
recently, shoes that are marketed in advance to maximize hype and fomo seem to be produced in greater number, which is a great business decision if you’re trying to maximize profit. treasuring sneakers based on rarity is also arguably nonsense, but doesn’t remove the exploitative nature of such business practices.
do you have an opinion on this phenomenon? do you like your sneakers more if they’re harder to get, or if fewer people have them? are you pleased with the way recent releases have gone and appreciative that you could Get Em? please let me know.
I don’t think there’s a right way, regardless of what you might want out of the situation.
On one hand, there’s people who value the hunt and covet that feeling of exclusivity, which is not at all esoteric to sneakers, it goes for comic books, cars, jewelry, clothing, etc. Which all have equally (if not more) exploitative secondary markets. They’re willing to put in the work and/or money to acquire something someone else doesn’t have.
On the other hand you have people who want that feeling of exclusivity but much more diluted. In other words, they want to feel exclusive without putting in as much work as the prior individual, as it might not feel justified to this type of person. These people do tend to value less exploitative markets.
That being said, both are products of the desire for overly luxurious living, and a want to demonstrate this to other people. ie: Conspicuous Consumption.
There’s really no way to have stuff be highly valuable and coveted, rare, and still have everyone have it. So something needs to give if we want to maintain that sense of conspicuous consumption.