Sneakers

The sneaker market is absurdly large. Though understanding size is difficult, use this as an illustration. StockX, an online shop that specialized in reselling sneakers and may operate the world's largest sneaker gray market, was valued at $3.8 billion in 2021. A lot of shoes, that is. How did it get to be so much? Due to the $79 billion global shoe market.

People adore footwear, and sneakers are frequently updated. Initially, there was a market for antique sneakers, which are getting more and more difficult to find as a result of the fact that people wear them all day and cause damage to them. Those that kept theirs discovered they could sell them for a respectable profit.

This sparked the development of the custom sneaker market, in which an ordinary shoe is transformed into something special, perhaps even by a famous person. The price of some shoes can reach the tens of thousands of dollars due to their strong demand.

So how exactly is this a gray market? It's all a gray area, to put it mildly. Of course, the first sale doctrine allows for the subsequent sale of real shoes. But since phony shoes are frequently mixed in, it is challenging for customers to distinguish between the two. The issue of customized shoes is another.

In 2021, when 666 pairs of Nike's "Satan Shoes" were sold, there was uproar. The sneakers were created in association with Lil Nas X and contained human blood. But they were altered Nike Air Max 97s, not "genuine" Nike footwear. They were created without the knowledge or involvement of Nike. But because of the outcry over Nike's demonic Satan sneakers, Nike filed a lawsuit for trademark infringement.

Normally, Nike and other shoe manufacturers don't care about customized versions of their shoes, but the public storm probably compelled Nike to act. The matter was settled. This is the beginning of a shadowy, murky market.