From sneakers and handbags, high demand and limited stock is winning combo for luxury brands

May 2—How much are you willing to pay for a pair of sneakers? $200? $400? $600?

For sneaker enthusiasts, known as sneakerheads, there doesn't seem to be a limit. Although the market in Toledo is small, there are a few people who will pay any price for a pair of highly sought after shoes.

"Somebody actually paid $2,000 for these," sneaker reseller Domo Davis, of Toledo, said while holding up a pair of the Off-White X Nike Air Force 1's. Mr. Davis himself only paid $163 for the shoes, but was able to sell them at such a high price because the designer of the shoe, Virgil Abloh, is having a "big moment" in streetwear culture.

"His shoes are still hard to get, so it made the situation a little bit crazier because everyone wants a pair," Mr. Davis said. "I had to fly to New York to get that shoe. I won the raffle. Flew to New York for a day and a half. I was like 'I'm not missing my opportunity.' I won the raffle, and I actually won one of the Chicago raffles as well."

Raffles, which people enter for a chance at winning a pair of shoes on apps like SNKRS, are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to luxury brands. Mr. Davis and others are enmeshed in a culture surrounding high price, high demand, limited stock items like sneakers, handbags, and clothing. The limited stock model is purposely done because most brands thrive on exclusivity, said Mariana Mitova, a professor in the fashion merchandising and product development program at Bowling Green State University.

"Designers have always capitalized on exclusivity for all these years," she said. "A lot of people are waiting for things to drop. Historically pieces were created one of a kind or maybe two, three at a time. Designers have always had interest in that kind of production."

Ms. Mitova said the difference between the limited stock model of the past and today's model is that brands are actually creating a little more stock to serve a wider audience. She said this can be attributed to streetwear culture.

"Streetwear culture has almost this underground vibe in terms of only a few people can get a hold of product," she said. "People are looking for that. They want the exclusive pieces and are willing to pay for it."

Mr. Davis has been reselling shoes for years now. A self-described "pop culture fanatic," he began collecting sneakers once he was able to buy them on his own. Soon he went from collector to reseller, a person who buys the shoes with the intention of selling them for a higher price to make profit.

"The first pairs of shoes that I ever got with my own money I was in seventh grade," he remembered. "I bought a pair of royal blue retro ones. I got them on sale. I couldn't believe it. It had the metal Jordan emblem on them. I was super excited, I wore them until I couldn't wear them no more. I had Jordans before, but it was more of a valuable shoe for me because it was what I bought with my own money."

Mr. Davis said his love of sneakers stems from his love of hip hop music and culture. Since childhood he would come home from school and watch BET countdown music video shows like 106 & Park and Rap City to get his style inspiration. To him, fashion wasn't a background character. It made a statement all on its own.

"I drew, sketched, and painted. So, when you put all of those things together you get me into the sneakerhead community," he said.

Mr. Davis started reselling shoes while working at a shoe store. He said it was pretty much impossible to not resell when tons of people are asking for help to acquire a pair.

"People are asking you 'Can I get this? Where can I get that?' and 'Can you hold this for me? Can you hold that?' So it was pretty obvious that if I didn't want the shoe for myself I can just buy it and resell it later on," he said.

Athletic shoes date back to the early 19th century, but back then they were mostly worn for sports like tennis. Adidas has been around since the 1920s, but it wasn't until Michael Jordan signed with Nike and released the Air Jordans in 1984 that basketball shoes became a worldwide sensation. This coupled with the rise of hip hop music gave way to a love for sneakers. Serious collectors buy online and in stores and attend conventions and other notable events.

After attending his first convention in New York City, Mr. Davis felt right at home.

"We drove down there, and I was seeing kids, adults, women, men, all under one building," he remembered. "White, Black, Chinese, African, everybody was all in one spot in love with sneakers. They was either selling them, buying them, or trading them. I just couldn't believe it. It was crazy."

That convention inspired Mr. Davis to start his own in Toledo. The venture didn't last long. Mr. Davis said he's only held about three of them, because according to him the reseller community wasn't and still isn't big enough.

"It was hard to get people to come in from Columbus and Cleveland. Toledo is like a lost island," he said. "Toledo is very small, and people just skip over us. If somebody in Cleveland or Columbus are coming this way they're literally going through us to go to Michigan. When you try to bring somebody from Cleveland or Columbus to a sneaker convention, they look at you like, 'Nobody's there. I don't even want to get a table there because I don't think nobody's gonna be there.'"

Sneakers aren't the only high-demand, limited-stock item selling like hotcakes. Beyonce's clothing collaboration with Adias, Ivy Park, and luxury bag of the moment, Telfar, have become big-ticket items everyone wants to get their hands on. With scheduled limited releases, meaning there isn't enough stock for everyone to get an item at one time, it's up to consumers to create a solid plan to get their hands on what they want. That sometimes looks like having multiple screens open on the website ready to hit the purchase button. Prices for the Telfar bags are priced up to $250, but can be resold for hundreds, while a piece of Ivy Park can go for hundreds of dollars at retail.

Toledoan Tene Jackson has been able to get both Ivy Park and a Telfar bag.

"Of course I've always known about Louis Vuitton and Gucci, but it was never financially attainable, and I wasn't sure if I really wanted it," she said. "So, then more as an adult it was kind of like, 'OK, let me get this Ivy Park.'"

Ivy Park has released four different collections since January of 2020. Ms. Jackson has been able to buy something each time, though she's had to send everything back every time, until the latest collection, because things didn't fit correctly. For Telfar, she got her bag through the brand's "Bag Security Program" where for 24 hours patrons could order as many bags as they wanted to ship a couple of months later. Ms. Jackson's philosophy when it comes to shopping for big brands is "if it's meant to be it'll be."

"I've always been aware and known about luxury brands, but I don't think it was anything that I like to have. It just wasn't something that would make or break me, and some people really do care about it and that's OK. You got to find what makes you happy in this crazy world."