The Nike SB Dunk Hype Is Real

Last weekend the much-awaited Travis Scott Dunks released to the public and boy, the hype was HUGE. The lines of skaters, sneakerheads, hypebeasts and “investors” stretched far way before the shops opened. The shoes sold out pretty much instantly, aaand... the resell price skyrocketed. If you’re looking to score a pair now you’re going to have to cough up over 1000$. For a 150$ shoe. Madness.

Nike SB Dunk x Travis Scott

Unless you miss out and have to pay the resell price, the whole limited release thing is quite exciting. If anything it’s insanely profitable. With today’s use of social media and new marketing techniques hype is easier to achieve than ever. Hype means a skyrocket in resell prices and high resell prices mean investors. In fact, many of those joining the sneaker-nerds in those early morning lines solely do so for economical gain, which explains why prices often reach the levels they do. Love it or hate it this is the case, the fast and easy money is hard to look away from and honestly, it makes the whole thing a bit more competitive and a bit more exciting. 

The skate-shops that sold the Travis Scott Dunks over the weekend had a lot to deal with. Shops were bombarded with calls, emails, tweets, DMs and comments about the shoe for days before the release and coinciding raffles. Andrew, a skate shop in Miami, made people rap Scott lyrics over the phone in order to get a spot in the raffle. Other shops released info and went off the grid until the date of release. Nevertheless covering your rent in a matter of minutes of sale probably makes up for all the hassle.

It’s fair to say that limited drops are directly associated with stress nowadays. Getting shoes for retail means more than just having a new shoe to rock. It can be a statement, a new member for a collection or for some, their whole livelihood.