" IN TODAY'S SNEAKER GAME: RESELLERS WINS, AND TRUE FANS LOSE "
This past weekend made for an historic release of the Air Jordan 6's & 7's "Golden Moments Package". So for months this hype of this release had many people waiting in anticipation. The internet was buzzing about these on every sneaker site you could find. Plus the fact that release came in two's and not just one made fans want them more. The iconic Air Jordan 6's which his "Airness " captured his 1st championship and the Air Jordan 7's where he was able to capture his 2nd Olympic Gold with the 92' Dream Team. But the thoughts on many minds were "Will we be able to get a pair? and if so how much will it be?" The retail going price was $350, which was about average $175 per sneaker. At this price fans would litterally die to get these. So these were just released to the general pubic with out some type of ticket raffle headed by the good people at Footlocker, Finishline, and Footaction. This raffle idea was suppose to be a simple plan to allow everyone a pair of this much anticipated sneaker. Potential buyers were litterally forced to signed themselves up on-line and setup an account via twitter for a sure short to get a apir of sneakers. But this was too good to be true for many!
Many online participants weren't guaranteed to score a pair and many stores claimed that didn't have as much sneakers to go around for everyone because the stores got a small amount of sneakers. Many small mom and pop stores in cities such as New York were raising prices 3 times as much. Kids were camped out in Times Square the previous night waiting to get a chance to get a pair the following day. Some were lucky and some weren't. One of the main reasons some weren't able to get a pair was due to people we call "Resellers". These so called resellers are the ones who ruin the game for us true sneakerheads who are denied a pair at the retail price, because someone else has purchased all the sneakers available before you even get a chance to. This unfair practice totally ruins the game we know and grew to love. It's like now a days it's not about getting a rare pair of sneakers for the love, but who can get their hands on the most packeges for the bigger score later.
Man! I miss the days when you were able to walk into a store and get a fresh pair of sneakers without going through so many hoops. It saddens me that not people love the game for what it means. I loved the game for the sports that it was associated with, and not the greed it stands for these days. I miss the good old days when getting sneakers was for the love and not so much for the money. In my opinion "Love" played a big reason why I never fell out my relationships with sneakers, but it seems like greed is slowly ruining the game we all love. I watched Michael Jordan play and though I hated the Bulls I still wanted to be like Mike in everything and buying a pair of sneakers made me feel like that as a child, what a great feeling.Now a days you have to be lucky or have deep pockets in order to get a pair of sneakers. I hope the sneaker companies can change their tactics sooner than later before it's too late!
Sincerely: Jay ~ CEO UrbanMessMagazine (Sneaker Lover for Life!)
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