Is the youth being priced out of Jordan retros?

[kickvicisous]

Not to sound to negative, but I'm honestly starting to be over sneakers/fashion as whole at this point from all brands. Even shopping at thrift stores for vintage clothing has turned to **** cause everyones a damn "curator". Even with the economy (domestic and globally) it just feels like were being abused for any and everything. Every purchase feels so heavy now, feel the same way for the various forms of entertainment (concerts/sporting events, video games, movies). **** sucks

 

[DAV]

Jordan’s are just shoes to them

 

[jjones23]

Nike has priced out everyone. Their biggest asset (Jordan) hasn't played in over 20 years. They need to completely rethink their strategy. Don't believe me? Look at Nike stock spiralling.

 

[sharpshooter718]

My mom wasnt buying me Jordan's in 1992.


Somebody's mom isn't buying them jordans in 2026.

 

[sharpshooter718]

Nike has priced out everyone. Their biggest asset (Jordan) hasn't played in over 20 years. They need to completely rethink their strategy. Don't believe me? Look at Nike stock spiralling.

I bought some stock in the 40s.... will continue to add to my position ...

I think Nike will rebound hard in the long term.... they just need to stop relying on jordan brand and create some new silhouettes in the next 18 months before things get out of control...

 

[usfdrohead]

Once I learned about mass production of products and labour. I don't care no more, ill suggest the youth to understand the supply chain Instead of buying the product as an end consumer.

Wait what?! lol how did you think sneakers were being created? Did you think they were made to order by highly paid artisans and cobblers? What a ridiculous comment lol lol.

 

[the 718 truth]

The prices are ridiculous but these NYC HS kids always draped in designer. A lil $250 ain’t gonna hurt them My son is 12 and honestly he doesn’t care about sneakers

 

[5o'clockShadowBoxer]

The prices are ridiculous but these NYC HS kids always draped in designer. A lil $250 ain’t gonna hurt them My son is 12 and honestly he doesn’t care about sneakers

Kinda always been like that. My fashion idols back then were dudes like Rack-Lo and the Lo Lifes. No way any adult figure in my life was buying me Polo back then. Didn't get my first piece until I was in college.

 

[sharpshooter718]

The prices are ridiculous but these NYC HS kids always draped in designer. A lil $250 ain’t gonna hurt them My son is 12 and honestly he doesn’t care about sneakers

My son is 13 and he wants the freak 7s.... giannis is his favorite player so its easy buying him sneakers. He gets jordans as well but he loves the freak series...lolololololol

 

[justed381]

From my perspective, Jordan Brand has lost their way. They don’t tell stories anymore. They don’t invite the new generation to care. Their entire focus is ensuing the nostalgics from the 80s / 90s continue to buy whatever they put out.

When I was a kid, the “it” shoe was always the newest Jordan. Did I get them? No. But I recall seeing them on classmates feet and I would just stare. That has carried me to now when I can buy them. If JB can reinvigorate that essence so they can become that “it” thing, then the newer generations will follow suit.

 

[rbk93]

From my perspective, Jordan Brand has lost their way. They don’t tell stories anymore. They don’t invite the new generation to care. Their entire focus is ensuing the nostalgics from the 80s / 90s continue to buy whatever they put out.

When I was a kid, the “it” shoe was always the newest Jordan. Did I get them? No. But I recall seeing them on classmates feet and I would just stare. That has carried me to now when I can buy them. If JB can reinvigorate that essence so they can become that “it” thing, then the newer generations will follow suit.

Do you believe resale culture plays a big part?

Like has there been a GR that has sold well without a high resale ticket tied to it?

 

[5o'clockShadowBoxer]

Except for of a few releases, a lot of retro joints hit discount. Some get buyers remorse when they hit on a release, then they find out there's no resale value and return them or take a loss.

 

[justed381]

I can’t think of a recent GR with mass resale value. With that said, I don’t think that is mutually exclusive with being an “it” shoe.

Such a shoe would need multiple things in its favor. For one, a timeless, almost futuristic design. Second, a story. Third, someone to back it. The more troubling thing I see now is there is no singular athlete to make folks truly care. Back “in my day” there obviously was Jordan, but also Hardaway, Agassi, Barkley, jackson, Sanders, etc. and they each had their own unique shoe. Those were the times.

Who is there now? What athlete makes you want to buy sneakers? For me, there isn’t one, aside from Jordan who hasn’t played in 20+ years. Maybe Clark and her upcoming 1s. Maybe. Morant? I don’t think Nike wants to truly get behind him. Anthony Edwards? Durant and Lebron are well past their time.

 

[s dubl]

There’s still stories… yall see da green screen space jams?!


…and resell is basically dead for the most part. Look at the union x fragment 1s, basically retail. Pink Travis lows, and Nigel 4s, not much more than retail. But there are still few instances here and there where stuff ends up going for more, which I don’t see any rhyme or reason to why those specific pairs resell for more.

 

[5o'clockShadowBoxer]

Definitely no rhyme or reason. Military blue 4s at or below retail. Military black with a Jumpman at $300? Wild.

Speaking about DS in my size.

 

[luckyluchiano]

I’m mid 30s and I'm definitely priced out now. Dropping $220+ every release for a pair of shoes Im barely going to wear no longer makes sense to me. Only shoes I got this year were the Wolf Greys and the banned lows. May try for the Space Jams in the fall but im pretty much done with retros now.

yeah lol outside of getting pairs you missed out on back in the day, nobody really cares anymore. And then you factor in you can get more comfortable yet stylish sneakers for 100-150 without dealing with Bots, the business model just doesn't even make sense anymore. Giving DJ Khaled bum self free sneakers if anything makes jirdans seem even more corny

 

[ill4eva]

It’s hard for Nike to replicate their golden era. The confluence of these factors that contributed to their meteoric rise will never be replicated.

1. Technology - Nike was on the forefront of new tech. Also had great designs.

2. Michael Jordan/marketing - it’s easy to push a shoe when you have a transcendent talent like Michael Jordan to advertise the shoe. Jordan was doing stuff the league had never seen before. And the ads built around him were also great. Banned/Mars Blackmon/Bugs Bunny/McDonald’s HORSE ad with Larry/Gatorade “Be Like Mike” ads are all classics.

3. The rise of hip hop/rap music coinciding with MJ’s era - this is probably the hardest factor to replicate. Rap music came up in the 80s and 90s. Rappers wore Jordans and Nikes. Kids from the inner city wanted to dress like these artists. And kids from the suburbs wanted to dress like kids from the inner city. Rap was a “new” genre. It was edgy, rebellious and that is something kids from the suburbs also want to portray themselves as. Nowadays, rap music is just seen by kids as “stuff that my dad listens to”. It’s always been around their whole existence. It’s not new anymore.

We’ll never see all 3 of these factors come together simultaneously, IMO. Nike is just trying to live off their previous glory, all while charging us crazy prices. Lol

 

[Dr.BlasterCombo]

Let’s address the elephant in the room too, many bought the shoes as status symbols. They don’t hold that weight anymore. As adults, most realize there are other ways to fulfill that need or simply don’t care. For the asking price, that “worth” is gone. The kids today don’t see them in that light and/or never have.

Like many have said, just different times and people in different stages in life

 

[staffsgtdignam]

Let’s address the elephant in the room too, many bought the shoes as status symbols. They don’t hold that weight anymore. As adults, most realize there are other ways to fulfill that need or simply don’t care. For the asking price, that “worth” is gone. The kids today don’t see them in that light and/or never have.

Like many have said, just different times and people in different stages in life

I think this is an underrated point.

I'm from the DMV and I distinctly remember when Foams checked this box for a long time as well.

I think during COVID, a lot of OG High and 85 AJ 1s and, hilariously (in hindsight), Panda Dunks also started checking this box due to the insane resell on a lot of releases back then. Nowadays, the allure of expensive shoes that sellout at retail and command insane resell is pretty much gone with everything sitting so they have also in turn lost that status symbol allure as well.

 

[5o'clockShadowBoxer]

It’s hard for Nike to replicate their golden era. The confluence of these factors that contributed to their meteoric rise will never be replicated.

1. Technology - Nike was on the forefront of new tech. Also had great designs.

2. Michael Jordan/marketing - it’s easy to push a shoe when you have a transcendent talent like Michael Jordan to advertise the shoe. Jordan was doing stuff the league had never seen before. And the ads built around him were also great. Banned/Mars Blackmon/Bugs Bunny/McDonald’s HORSE ad with Larry/Gatorade “Be Like Mike” ads are all classics.

3. The rise of hip hop/rap music coinciding with MJ’s era - this is probably the hardest factor to replicate. Rap music came up in the 80s and 90s. Rappers wore Jordans and Nikes. Kids from the inner city wanted to dress like these artists. And kids from the suburbs wanted to dress like kids from the inner city. Rap was a “new” genre. It was edgy, rebellious and that is something kids from the suburbs also want to portray themselves as. Nowadays, rap music is just seen by kids as “stuff that my dad listens to”. It’s always been around their whole existence. It’s not new anymore.

We’ll never see all 3 of these factors come together simultaneously, IMO. Nike is just trying to live off their previous glory, all while charging us crazy prices. Lol

Agreed. But on the Nike side of the house, I will say the GT Cut 1 does fairly good numbers in most colorways. I will also say, kids nowadays have more options as well. I haven't seen this much parity since the 80s and early 90s, when you saw everything from Nike to Adidas to Etonic, Avia, and even L.A. Gear on court. And outside of the Worthy Express from New Balance, there was only one player that wore New Balances during on the court before Kawhi led a resurgence......Spurs legend Matt Bonner lol.

I'm happy there are more options available now. Hell you can go into any outlet or factory store now and catch a lot of returns at a discount or even on the hash wall. Nike and JB did this to themselves. Let it burn.

 

[justed381]

There’s still stories… yall see da green screen space jams?!


…and resell is basically dead for the most part. Look at the union x fragment 1s, basically retail. Pink Travis lows, and Nigel 4s, not much more than retail. But there are still few instances here and there where stuff ends up going for more, which I don’t see any rhyme or reason to why those specific pairs resell for more.

If that’s the best story JB can put out, they don’t deserve to be in business.

One thing JB could do is blend their past designs with new tech of today. This would get squishy given they have modern day shoes they pump out each year. But use the Kobe proto idea and update old tech to today’s tech or better. The trick would be the shoe aesthetic would need to stay identical but the underlying cushion would be state of the art. The storytelling on that would be next level.

 

[ill4eva]

Let’s address the elephant in the room too, many bought the shoes as status symbols. They don’t hold that weight anymore. As adults, most realize there are other ways to fulfill that need or simply don’t care. For the asking price, that “worth” is gone. The kids today don’t see them in that light and/or never have.

Like many have said, just different times and people in different stages in life

Also, kids pay way too much attention to resale prices as a stamp of a shoe being a status symbol. It’s no longer enough to own a pair of Jordans. Nowadays, those Jordans gotta be selling for 2-3X more than retail price.

Agreed. But on the Nike side of the house, I will say the GT Cut 1 does fairly good numbers in most colorways. I will also say, kids nowadays have more options as well. I haven't seen this much parity since the 80s and early 90s, when you saw everything from Nike to Adidas to Etonic, Avia, and even L.A. Gear on court. And outside of the Worthy Express from New Balance, there was only one player that wore New Balances during on the court before Kawhi led a resurgence......Spurs legend Matt Bonner lol.

I'm happy there are more options available now. Hell you can go into any outlet or factory store now and catch a lot of returns at a discount or even on the hash wall. Nike and JB did this to themselves. Let it burn.

Nike/JB are very lucky that Li-Nings don’t have a very heavy presence at brick and mortar stores in North America. The Way of Wade brand consistently put out very good shoes. Many people in the volleyball world gravitate towards that brand, and I suspect it’s because Nike doesn’t really make great shoes designed for volleyball, and their basketball lineup is consistently outclassed by the WoW lineup in terms of comfort and cushioning.

With Curry now on board, I expect more of their product to be readily available on this side of the pond.

 

[Mr Dink]

Retro Jordans have never really been accessible for teenagers as far as pricing goes. There’s a reason why some of us had to beg our parents or save up our lunch money to buy some of our shoes when we were younger.

 

[rbk93]

Gotta be resourceful.