The internet is where it’s at these days. Online is the place to make moves. Business consultants have been running this mantra for a couple of decades, but in the dawn of the e-commerce era it was complex terrain — strictly for the experienced to navigate and code their way through. Those that went before us were gracious enough to forge a trail so basic to follow that even the least technologically savvy are now able to breeze along it, with ropes secured all the way to the summit of Mount Online Sales. Never has it been so simple to sell on the net, there’s a million ways to do — eBay, Big Cartel, Paypal, direct debiting, forums, Facebook groups, and Instagram are all handy tools to assist in the bid to move product.
Now if we look to the right and focus on the current state of the sneaker realm we’ll notice that it’s absolutely booming. There are new releases daily, hundreds of them it seems. The market is ripe and the major players are in full tilt mode trying to keep up with the demand. Colabs and other limited releases, along with hard-to-get-your-hands-on product are hitting the shelves at an unprecedented rate. And yet, you guessed it, it still ain’t enough. So what do you get when you combine these super easy to use at your fingertips e-commerce apps with an ever increasing demand for product?
Resellers. It’s a dirty word, but really it shouldn’t be. If there’s an opening to make a buck then you can bet your Yeezys that someone is gonna fill that niche. Where there’s demand, there are suppliers. It’s not that much of a complex equation to fathom, is it? Over the past couple of years a new breed has entered the game, and it’s become impossible to ignore, we're now in the age of the yung hustler. Sneakers and streetwear are the new trading cards, and flipping product is the latest fad. If you check out photo recaps of sneaker events in the US you’ll be confronted by a sea of teens hustling their little hearts out. If you line up on release day for Air Prestos in Melbourne you better get set to battle some whipper-snappers for your pair. The next gen has arrived and they’ve got it all sussed.
When I first started noticing this phenomenon a couple of years back, I gotta say I was kinda bamboozled. What’s going on here? Shouldn’t these kids be at the skate park? Shouldn’t they be chasing girls around the mall, or trying to blow up the neighbour’s post box with a homemade bomb? Shouldn’t they be out scribbling their names on the walls and poking their tongues out at old ladies from the tram window? Back when I was a teenager… Then it dawned on me. Perhaps I’ve finally passed the cusp and become old and out of touch, and in reality this new school grind is actually kinda fresh. Sneaker fiends of my generation a pretty quick to come out with the old, ‘They weren’t even born when Air Max 90s first released,’ and ‘We used to have to catch a plane over to New York to pick up exotic sneakers, now these kids just jump on their phone and click buttons.’ But with the addition of the online dimension we simply ain’t living on the same planet anymore.
I can’t even comprehend what it would be like to be a kid these days, surrounded with devices and perpetually plugged in to the WWW. Information is pinging around at an alarming rate, and social media has unwittingly opened up an entirely new style of marketing. People are generating their own sales media by taking photos of their latest pickups and wants, if you’ve got your eyes even half open it’s a no-brainer to work out which products will sell fast. Kids are switched on, I’ve had 13 year olds come to the sneaker store that I work at and tell me what is going to be releasing next month. They’ve got dates set on their smartphone calendars and strategies in place with their mates on how they’re gonna get the goods. The new gen is craftier too, they’re pushing the limits and coming up with completely new ways to obtain unobtainable shoes. Hell, there are even youngsters out there that have somehow got hookups inside the actual sneaker factories in Vietnam that on the hush-hush filter bulk product through the mail to them months out from release dates. Ingenious, I love it.
However I still can’t help but feel a little sad that young bucks are monetising their hobbies and passions. Is there any real value in buying sneakers only to take a few indoor bragging right photos to boast on their Instagram page before on-selling their grails for inflated pricing? Coming up on a couple of hundred bucks here and there is nice, but it’s a culture that I guess I’m just too damn old to really fathom. Nerding out on shoes and communicating with your mates (who are sitting right next to you) through your smartphone isn’t what older generations would consider an ideal way to spend your youth — but hey… You can’t knock the hustle. It’s a brave new world out there people, and you’ve gotta hand it to the new breed for getting amongst it. Yeah, working part time at Maccas or doing a paper round can teach you a good work ethic, but the pay sucks and chances are you’ll have a bossy boss. These kids are out here hustling, and not only that, they’re making big boy money!
