[Discussion] Downsizing and/or Having a Minimal Sneaker Collection (or Quitting Sneaker Collecting Altogether) - WITH TIPS/RESOURCES

[soggysocks]

I keep thinking about letting my 2020 black cat 4s go. when i first sold my 2006/07 pair, i regretted it and said if they ever released again ill keep them. the price shot up after release and i only wore them twice. now im thinking about letting them go

 

[HarlemShakeStory]

This was a big turning point in my life and I could probably talk about it for a while. My “grail” back in the day was the DMP XI’s. I remember they were probably worth $500-$600. This was a fortune for a college kid living paycheck to paycheck. Had them, never wore them, would take them out about once a month. Part of me giving everything up was realizing there were real things I was missing out on just to essentially have these boxes in my closet.

After I got out, I probably went about ten years before I bought anything cool. Now that we have some extra money I buy what I like (mostly old Nike runners) and they bring me joy. Starting to run into the issue of having too many pairs around the house as part of my rotation, may be time to unload some more.

If anyone is holding on to tons of shoe, I want to encourage you to dump them. There’s no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Glue rots, soles crumble, and Nike retros most everything anyways. As an investment - there are plenty of better options. If you have something sitting in your closet that you are holding on to for the “right“ occasion, just throw them on next time you go to the grocery store.

 

[NipseyRustle]

As a true sneaker lover, I'll never be totally done with sneakers. But, to I'll never be a glutton for sneakers again.

(Original contributor to the conversation in the am1 thread)


1. Mostly OGs for me from here on out. (Nike/Jordan and others can keep all these stupid + colorway)

2. Only wearable, comfortable kicks otherwise.

3. If I cop 1, I'm selling 1. (Even if I only get 20 bucks for that 1. I'll consider it 20 bucks off my new pair)

4. If I'm not gonna wear it, it's no use having it.

5. I'm no sneaker storage facility, or a sneaker museum.

6. Absolutely no doubles, triples etc under any circumstances. By the time I get to wear the double up, another retro will be here, it right around the corner.

7. If it's in my closet and the "value" keeps me from wearing it, it must go.

Just a few of the new sneaker commandments I've established for myself.

 

[us3less]

First of all, glad this thread is helpful to have around! Also if you do see any of this kind of discussion in any of the other sneaker threads (if you go there), give them a heads-up about this post! I feel like it'll help those who may be interested in having this conversation and see where others like us are and what they hope to achieve if they want to reach this as the "closest to nirvana."

tuxedo1208 - you can do it! Hopefully this thread and our conversations here will help and encourage. 👍

Fozz kickvicisous - see, that's what I DON'T wanna deal with, haha. Having to move all those shoes.

jaypesoz - so it really was exposure that just got you to fall back in? No shame, that exact situation happened to me on and off. I think lately, I've just been most pissed off about that and my habits. I really do think that ultimately no matter what we try to do to cope, the best way which seems to be the tried-and-true way is to actually limit or remove the exposure.

sosa labumba Dhizzle - I'm glad this helps! Yeah, I can't even figure out my tipping point since I've had multiple tipping points, haha. I was telling my friend awhile back who relapsed (but may have stopped again) that it's usually when you imagine the outfits and stuff. Once you imagine the outfits, you don't only think of the shoes, but you think of everything that goes with it. That's the dangerous part. I had that issue, too, but when I decluttered my clothes and narrowed it down to a few neutral colors for main essential clothes like hoodies (navy blue, black, grey, green), it really just resolved everything.

clippermitch - Okay, I thought it was just me who thought that! Conspiracy theory confirmed. yeah, I'm starting to come to that point too. I'm able to work with the Silver Bullet Air Max 97s but only thanks to my insoles.

206to813 - That's dope how you got it narrowed down eventually. Was that 5 years until you found your happy medium just a matter of a lot of "experimenting," you'd say? By "experimenting," I mean like just buying and then changing your mind on them. What's the reason for why you feel like you're about to check out? Also stressful to stay up to date or something?

suchafraud23 - That's also one point where I may hope I can reach: being able to see shoes, say "cool" and not mind a single thing about it right after. When you got your grail and felt that it just didn't matter, was it because it was a "mission completed, so now what?" moment?

4one5 - That's why I bring up the stress factor question for everyone. It's just a lot of playing with Nike/Jordan's games that it just takes a toll on us.

アキラ - Do you plan to do anything with the ones you're not wearing?

soggysocks - I'm having a similar moment where there's a shoe I want to sell because I truly don't care anymore about having it just to have it and not wear it or enjoy it. Echoing what +HarlemShakeStory said, this is as to why it's not worth having in my closet anymore.

NipseyRustle - excellent commandments! Those are great to live by. For real, I still enjoy sneakers to some degree but I can't "love it" anymore, especially with the way sneakers have changed.

Question of the day. Do you feel like ultimately if the exposure to sneakers is much more limiting compared to the exposure it gets today that it would really calm our buying/collecting habits way down?

By the way, sorry if I'm constantly tagging you guys. I feel it's helpful to have conversations so that not only is it me who could learn, but to the others who may see this thread and may want to learn too.

 

[Fozz]

First of all, glad this thread is helpful to have around! Also if you do see any of this kind of discussion in any of the other sneaker threads (if you go there), give them a heads-up about this post! I feel like it'll help those who may be interested in having this conversation and see where others like us are and what they hope to achieve if they want to reach this as the "closest to nirvana."

tuxedo1208 - you can do it! Hopefully this thread and our conversations here will help and encourage. 👍

Fozz kickvicisous - see, that's what I DON'T wanna deal with, haha. Having to move all those shoes.

jaypesoz - so it really was exposure that just got you to fall back in? No shame, that exact situation happened to me on and off. I think lately, I've just been most pissed off about that and my habits. I really do think that ultimately no matter what we try to do to cope, the best way which seems to be the tried-and-true way is to actually limit or remove the exposure.

sosa labumba Dhizzle - I'm glad this helps! Yeah, I can't even figure out my tipping point since I've had multiple tipping points, haha. I was telling my friend awhile back who relapsed (but may have stopped again) that it's usually when you imagine the outfits and stuff. Once you imagine the outfits, you don't only think of the shoes, but you think of everything that goes with it. That's the dangerous part. I had that issue, too, but when I decluttered my clothes and narrowed it down to a few neutral colors for main essential clothes like hoodies (navy blue, black, grey, green), it really just resolved everything.

clippermitch - Okay, I thought it was just me who thought that! Conspiracy theory confirmed. yeah, I'm starting to come to that point too. I'm able to work with the Silver Bullet Air Max 97s but only thanks to my insoles.

206to813 - That's dope how you got it narrowed down eventually. Was that 5 years until you found your happy medium just a matter of a lot of "experimenting," you'd say? By "experimenting," I mean like just buying and then changing your mind on them. What's the reason for why you feel like you're about to check out? Also stressful to stay up to date or something?

suchafraud23 - That's also one point where I may hope I can reach: being able to see shoes, say "cool" and not mind a single thing about it right after. When you got your grail and felt that it just didn't matter, was it because it was a "mission completed, so now what?" moment?

4one5 - That's why I bring up the stress factor question for everyone. It's just a lot of playing with Nike/Jordan's games that it just takes a toll on us.

アキラ - Do you plan to do anything with the ones you're not wearing?

soggysocks - I'm having a similar moment where there's a shoe I want to sell because I truly don't care anymore about having it just to have it and not wear it or enjoy it. Echoing what +HarlemShakeStory said, this is as to why it's not worth having in my closet anymore.

NipseyRustle - excellent commandments! Those are great to live by. For real, I still enjoy sneakers to some degree but I can't "love it" anymore, especially with the way sneakers have changed.

Question of the day. Do you feel like ultimately if the exposure to sneakers is much more limiting compared to the exposure it gets today that it would really calm our buying/collecting habits way down?

By the way, sorry if I'm constantly tagging you guys. I feel it's helpful to have conversations so that not only is it me who could learn, but to the others who may see this thread and may want to learn too.

It really comes down to each person's current situation in their lives. For me, moving across country for work and being the only income in the family, the best option was to get rid of the excess. My wife and I continued that trend when we moved back to CA. Now that she's working and we have two kids, are budget as expanded our 'fun money', but still focused on paying off debt and ensuring the kids are taken care of.

But don't ask me how much I spend this holiday season. I definitely splurged on Air Max's and New Balances a little bit too much lmao.

 

[us3less]

1000%! Sneaker Twitter, discord groups, inspirational quotes, photo shoots, “bricks”…all that made it easier, for me at least, to step away from the chase/need to go after every release. Penny 1 kinda brought me back but sneakers just became too overstimulating for me.

Like mentioned before about traveling. I can go on a week long vacation with just a carry on now. I used to have the sneaker luggage (not sure if anyone remembers that stage in sneakers)…but now I just throw in a pack of fresh ts from target, some Uniqlo shorts, socks, chanclas and a pair of walking shoes.

Yeah, all that same amount of info just blasted on my phone is just way too much. That's the best part with traveling: not having to carry a specific luggage for shoes.

 

[AZwildcats]

I sold a bunch of mine on eBay/Craigslist back during college, but my collection was definitely not as big as a lot of you. I’m down to 7-8 pairs now and am comfortable with that amount.

Soccer jerseys are another thing I need to downsize, I could wear a different one every day for damn near two months. Some don’t fit anymore, some never worn.

 

[clippermitch]

I wanted to start the year right and got rid of three more pairs. Sold practically a new pair AM97 Undefeated, AM90 Raptors, and Jordan V low Dunk from Above.

Dude was really eager to meet up so I thought he was a reseller that wanted to flip. He starts checking the shoes out and asked if he can try them on. He was so excited he couldn’t contain himself. He had to relax knowing he still had to negotiate. 😂😂😂

Anyways, he lowballed the crap out of me. I sold all 3 pairs for $125 total. I was happy to get rid of shoes that were just collecting dusts and he was super happy to have shoes he can wear. A win-win. Well more of a win for him. I didn’t know the Jordan V low had appreciated that much. I probably could have sold that one pair alone for more than $150.

Oh well. 2023 is a new year!

 

[206to813]

As a true sneaker lover, I'll never be totally done with sneakers. But, to I'll never be a glutton for sneakers again.

(Original contributor to the conversation in the am1 thread)


1. Mostly OGs for me from here on out. (Nike/Jordan and others can keep all these stupid + colorway)

2. Only wearable, comfortable kicks otherwise.

3. If I cop 1, I'm selling 1. (Even if I only get 20 bucks for that 1. I'll consider it 20 bucks off my new pair)

4. If I'm not gonna wear it, it's no use having it.

5. I'm no sneaker storage facility, or a sneaker museum.

6. Absolutely no doubles, triples etc under any circumstances. By the time I get to wear the double up, another retro will be here, it right around the corner.

7. If it's in my closet and the "value" keeps me from wearing it, it must go.

Just a few of the new sneaker commandments I've established for myself.

Yo. I can dig this. Mostly.
#1 I actually disagree with but it’s all personal preference. What I’ve noticed with “SOME” OG colorways is it’s almost like an old girlfriend. I pursued, I loved, I appreciated what we had, and can move on. 🤣🤣🤣. And when they come back- my feelings are, “I USED to love her, we had amazing times, and I’m ok with leaving it like that”. Then an amazing retro + colorway comes out that’s brand new and I want it more than the OG. There’s several Jordan models that I’ve had and loved all the OGs I wanted and currently only have some retro+s, and I like it better like that. Some of these + colorways can be more muted, sophisticated, earth tones, etc. Like the AMM collabs.
Yes, other OG colorways I want forever so it depends LOL.

I dig the rest of your commandments. Although #7 is one I’ve battled with because in some cases I have that internal debate in my head. It’s like “do I wear these? Nah they’re too expensive. Do I sell them? Nah they’re just gonna be worth more later. I like them so I guess I’ll keep”. Then a couple yrs pass and I never looked at em lol. As I get older I’ve kinda gotten past overthinking the value of them and if they’re in my closet and I love em, they hit pavement. Not always that easy though

 

[206to813]

206to813 - That's dope how you got it narrowed down eventually. Was that 5 years until you found your happy medium just a matter of a lot of "experimenting," you'd say? By "experimenting," I mean like just buying and then changing your mind on them. What's the reason for why you feel like you're about to check out? Also stressful to stay up to date or something?

i guess you could say that, I’ve done plenty of buying and changing my mind. Eventually I’ve come to feel comfortable with my personal vision of my happy medium for sneakers, or your sneaker nirvana as you called it lol. I’ve bought several sneakers over the last few yrs that (as contradictory as it seems on the surface) in my head I’m like “these pairs will help my retirement tour”. Cuz they’re shoes I’ll wear all the time, I feel I won’t get tired of, etc. So I am kinda at that point where I’m happy with what I got. I have some BS to offload. There’s like 3 shoes off the top of my head I’m looking forward to buying in ‘23. Cement 3s. Playoff 13s, black toe 1 lows. Maybe a couple others I’m forgetting

 

[ccastro02]

Sold most of my collection in February 2010. It included almost all the sneakers I purchased from 2001 to 2010. Ended up giving my bother a few for free, and kept my 16’s and a few 11’s from 2001.

Then I found out the cool grey’s were re-releasing on Xmas of 2010. Ended up buying the cool greys, and between 2011- 2014 pretty much re-bought everything I had originally sold, plus all of the regular releases of those years.

Leaving the sneaker game is very hard.

 

[plansb]

I’ve gotten rid of a lot of normal release pairs over the last few years, only problem is since then I have been buying **** loads of NbY.

 

[Air Champa]

I've gotten rid of a lot of pairs these past two years. I think I'm down to about 35 Jordans, and that still sounds like too many.

For me it was more about of adopting a more minimalist way of life. Things really are so much better when you're not so attached to stuff. I'll still cop a pair about once a year now. That's enough for me.

 

[WASHED KING]

I want to buy a house cause I've had to move 75-100 sneakers like 4 times the past 3 years and it's mad annoying.

 

[us3less]

Fozz - the Holiday season + Black Friday weekend was all bad because of the recession. It just created deeper sales like 50% off from some places and stuff. Was wild!

clippermitch - that's dope! Honestly, I've undersold shoes before. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like sometimes selling it for a bit less or well under market value and then just clearing more space from your place is more rewarding. The other person is happy to get the shoes for a great deal and you feel better for freeing up space.

206to813 - Haha, it's always gonna sound contradictory. Best way to say it is "it's complicated." For the market value thing, that's what used to bug me, too. Hard to ignore from time to time, but when you think about it, it's really sad when nowadays we choose not to wear a shoe because of its value rather than how we really feel about the shoes, which I feel like it's almost something of the pastime now. I'm also considering those AJ13s, especially with listing out purposes/intentions and having it fit my checklist.

ccastro02 - Yeah it seems like a lot of people end up circling back. It's understandable though. You ever think back of getting rid of the pairs you bought back? It's like once we're aware of shoes and learn more about how everything works, it's hard to return to what we used to know about shoes, which was almost basically nothing, haha.

plansb - is it for the uniqueness you can get out of NBYs vs. GRs?

Air Champa - Minimalism concepts really is a life-changer. It's wild how well it works. Even with just 35 pairs now, it must not compare to what you had before.

WASHED KING - So you got a lot less now compared to before after all the moving?

For those who who went down to a very low count and can buy only like... 4-5 pairs a year or 1 pair a year in some cases, how'd you guys do it? I saw someone post in the AM1 thread that he buys one pair every quarter, which is amazing.

 

[WASHED KING]

Fozz - the Holiday season + Black Friday weekend was all bad because of the recession. It just created deeper sales like 50% off from some places and stuff. Was wild!

clippermitch - that's dope! Honestly, I've undersold shoes before. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like sometimes selling it for a bit less or well under market value and then just clearing more space from your place is more rewarding. The other person is happy to get the shoes for a great deal and you feel better for freeing up space.

206to813 - Haha, it's always gonna sound contradictory. Best way to say it is "it's complicated." For the market value thing, that's what used to bug me, too. Hard to ignore from time to time, but when you think about it, it's really sad when nowadays we choose not to wear a shoe because of its value rather than how we really feel about the shoes, which I feel like it's almost something of the pastime now. I'm also considering those AJ13s, especially with listing out purposes/intentions and having it fit my checklist.

ccastro02 - Yeah it seems like a lot of people end up circling back. It's understandable though. You ever think back of getting rid of the pairs you bought back? It's like once we're aware of shoes and learn more about how everything works, it's hard to return to what we used to know about shoes, which was almost basically nothing, haha.

plansb - is it for the uniqueness you can get out of NBYs vs. GRs?

Air Champa - Minimalism concepts really is a life-changer. It's wild how well it works. Even with just 35 pairs now, it must not compare to what you had before.

WASHED KING - So you got a lot less now compared to before after all the moving?

For those who who went down to a very low count and can buy only like... 4-5 pairs a year or 1 pair a year in some cases, how'd you guys do it? I saw someone post in the AM1 thread that he buys one pair every quarter, which is amazing.

When I moved at the end of 2021 I downsized. Cut out at least 20 something pairs.

Basically bought enough pairs in '22 to offset what I sold in '21. I'm basically on a treadmill of around 70-90 pairs.

If I had a house with more space to hold everything I would be in the 100's easily.

 

[fluid hips]

I stopped collecting after college. Ish was just sitting and not being worn. I was wearing my beaters and the same 2-3 shoes constantly.

Stopped being a slave to consumerism. It was liberating.

I always wondered how I would feel if I had a fire and all my material things got burned.

Now I just live by the principle, don't get attached to anyone or anything (only exception I can think of is children if you have them). For me , life is better this way.

 

[MakeNTGreatAgain]

i think im going to take all my sneakers to the salvation army this week
if theres a better way to donate them all drop da link or info papis
gunna stick to vans only, they get the job done

 

[us3less]

WASHED KING - ooh nice! A lot of pairs you bought to where you're at now: are they the same pairs you sold or just new pairs?

fluid hips - Wait, not even the wife?! But yeah, I get it. The whole consumerism thing is just real unfortunate because of how normalized it is.

MakeNTGreatAgain - that's dope! I don't know where you're at, but sometimes, I donate the ones in good condition over to like a local charity/shelter because of their non-profit ways. That's just me though since that's what I've done with clothes.

 

[aepps20]

First step to downsizing: never coming back to this forum

First step in becoming a conservative as well.

 

[206to813]

Off topic, but for donating- I want to donate dress clothes that I don’t need. I’ve left that line of work where I need dress clothes and won’t be back. Even have suits I can give away. I could drop off at goodwill/Salvation Army but wish I could find a non profit geared towards young men or vets that are underprivileged and entering the work force. All my **** is big and tall type sizing tho

 

[superblytrife]

I've maintained a smaller stash than I used to, but I don't think I'll ever have less than 20-25ish pairs.

Been buying a lot of LV trainers the past couple of years too, which has made it super easy to pass on cheaper kicks I would normally grab. Spending more has made me buy less, as backwards as it sounds.

 

[fluid hips]

fluid hips - Wait, not even the wife?! But yeah, I get it. The whole consumerism thing is just real unfortunate because of how normalized it is.

Nah. Not even the wife. Gotta keep her on her toes

 

[finessesosa]

Nothing has been more fulfilling closet wise then having to not sift through 30-50 boxes and figuring out what to wear. I would NEVER go back to that lifestyle ever again.

 

[langfor5]

Under 200 now and would like to be at 100 by summer. Some of the tips posted in here (if you buy, you sell. 1:1) have been really helpful.