Before the internet and the SNKRS raffle system, sneakers were actually bought in person, and there was stock available, people would have had to line up early in the morning on a weekend or Friday just to have a chance at a glorious grail.
Lining up for a sneakers has always been a rite of passage for some sneakerheads as it was an opportunity to meet new people that shared the same passion as yourself.
Fast forward some years later and the sneaker game is completely different, gone are the days of lining and dealing with first come first serve. As the present-day sneaker game is pretty much all digital. During the 2015 NBA All-Star weekend Nike unveiled an infamous app that would change the way sneakers are purchased. This app was known as ‘SNKRS’ which served to be the beginning of the end of first come first serve outlets and pick ups as online raffles started to become prominent throughout sneaker culture. This obviously led to an increased frustration with for sneaker enthusiasts as solid releases became near impossible to get at retail.
One specific reason why sneakers are hard to get at retail is mainly because of supply and demand. With Sneakers such as the Nike Dunk, Jordan 1 and Yeezy, that have massive hype and popularity are often made in limited supply, allegedly, so when demand is greater then the supply, which it usually is, the likelihood of you actually copping a sneaker in your size is a lot more slimmer, as essentially you are competing with thousands if not millions with other sneakerheads, enthusiasts and even resellers. Yeah that's not a pretty picture to paint.
Lining up for your shoes wasn't as tough mainly because it was the early bird catches the worm, if you were early, you most likely could get a pair in your size.
Even then Jordan's weren't hard to buy on things like Ebay, and Depop, as you could easily find a near deadstock condition at a reasonable price.
Now its just fakes and overpriced general releases....Tough times
Another reason why you wake up holding an L is because of a bunch of Jabronis called resellers. In the Sneaker community everyone knows what a reseller is, and chances are we've all lost to one when trying to get our favourite pair. Reselling sneakers has been always been around since the 90s, as Japanese collectors would pay an arm and a leg for some air max's, Retro J's and Dunks. However, it wasn't too common, whereby today, any person that gets there hands on a regular pair of white AF 1's is trying to flip it for at least a bill (£100+). Resellers are genuinely unpopular due to the unfair advantage of bots. Bots are a specific piece of software which precisely targets the retail purchases of sneaker raffles, these bots are way quicker that the human hands so therefore provide a big advantage to resellers and backdoor employees.
So to put it straight not only do you have to compete with thousands if not millions to get a specific pair at a specific size, you've also got to deal with the hundreds of resellers and their bots.
See how hard it gets?
Comment down below a sneaker you wish you had but unfortunately lost in a raffle.
Mine is the Cactus Jack Olive Jordan 6.
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