A relatively new online arena allows sneaker collectors to skip the resale market and...
Tony Malveaux, co-founder and director of authentication at Tradeblock, an app for selling and trading high-end sneakers, in the back of Exclusive Elements, a sneaker shop in southeast Houston that the co-founders worked with before they expanded into their own warehouse space.Mahogany “Mo” Terry waxes poetic about her love of trading sneakers with other collectors. But the Houston resident stops short of calling herself a sneakerhead.
More than 250,000 people have traded on the platform, according to Ghogomu, the company’s CEO. Each trader pays a $25 fee plus $15 for shipping to arrange a one-for-one shoe trade, authentication and delivery. Each additional shoe in the trade costs $10. Cash can be added to sweeten the deals. Ghogomu said Malveaux hatched the idea of a sneaker-barter site in 2010 after becoming addicted to ESPN’s “NBA Trade Machine” — in which users become virtual general managers, trading basketball players and viewing the outcome — and figured that the same trading passion could apply to sneakerheads. Smith, for his part, was the first of the three to say,"I don’t like working for The Man,” Ghogomu added.
The North American sneaker and street-wear resale market, estimated at about $2 billion in 2020, was forecast to grow by more than 20 percent a year, with global sales estimated to reach about $30 billion by 2030, according to Cowen Equity Research. “The resale sneaker market had been growing very rapidly, but the growth rate has really slowed down over the past year, so the market isn’t as punchy as it once was,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of New York-based research firm GlobalData. “Trading is much more appealing because it allows consumers to swap out sneakers that they don’t want, and it doesn’t require as much money.
“We invest in some of the best fakes,” said Ghogomu, who said the company general has a “three-strikes and you’re out" rule for members whose submitted shoes are rejected during authentication. “For shoes that are more valuable or more commonly faked, like [Nike] Panda Dunks, we’ll put them through a double-blind [authentication] test. If either one says ‘no’ or we’re inconclusive, we err on the side of caution and we’re going to send it back.
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