Some pairs of iconic Nike kicks fetched as much as a nearly 150,000% premium over their original retail prices on reselling site StockX. The Nike Dunk SB Low Paris, a limited-edition version of a Nike basketball sneaker first introduced in 2003, has been reportedly sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Each pair of the stated sneakers features cutouts from art by Bernard Buffet – a late French expressionist painter.
About 200 pairs were produced and originally retailed for $60. The pairs of sneakers were unique and sold out immediately upon release nearly two decades ago. A pair of these iconic sneakers sold for more than $130,000 in the UK in 2021. The lowest asking price by resellers on StockX was $89,691 – a whopping return of nearly 150,000%.
The 1985 Jordan 1 OG Bred sneakers, described as the holy-grail to sneakerheads, were part of the basketball legend Michael Jordan’s multi-decade partnership with Nike. It was part of the first product line. Back in 1985, these sneakers were sold for $65. Last year, Sotheby’s sold “the first pair of sneakers Michael Jordan wore in the NBA” during his rookie season, for a mind-blowing $1.47 million. The British-founded American MNC also sold a prototype pair of Nike Air Yeezys for $1.8 million. The said sneakers were worn by American rapper Kanye West to the 2008 Grammy Awards.
The reason it sells for up to millions is that sneakers are collectibles. Yeezys, which are limited editions, are often sold for five figures. Its fetches much higher if the shoes have historical value, like those worn by Michael Jordan in one of his NBA games. The price goes up to millions. There have also been some unusual sales in the annals of sneaker history such as a collector paying $130,000 for a pair of “virtual” Nike sneakers.
This was an NFT – part of the Nike Dunk Genesis Cryptokicks collection. The collection is made up of 20,000 NFTs. It was launched by Nike and RTFKT (artefact) – Nike bought its first-ever virtual sneaker design in December 2021. The sneaker NFT is rarely and composed of a colorway, designed by famous artist Takashi Murakami himself.
