DUNK Target Market: Sneaker Resale Market
From 2013 to 2014, the global sneakers resale market was $1 Billion. Now, the size of the sneaker resale market in the US is $2 billion in 2019 which is doubled from its global market, and the global sneaker resale market is estimated to reach $6 billion in 2025. This is because as consumers’ interest in the sneaker resale market increased, the number of consumers and trading volume has increased, and the added value is reflected in each product for the properties of limited edition like an art piece.
For example, Nike’s collaboration with G-Dragon, Nike Air Force 1 Para-Noise, brought a huge wave of “sneakerheads”(sneaker collectors) willing to purchase at a high price with premium. Para-Noise had an original selling price of $184 and it trades from $2,500 to $17,000 depending on the color. Young shoppers are enthusiastic about collecting limited sneakers that others cannot. The future of the sneaker resale market will expand more than expected due to the MZ generation’s social network service(SNS) selfie culture and street fashion.
Investment in limited-edition sneakers
Since resale premium can bring great profitability to sellers, sneakers are recognized as a new alternative investment asset. Recently, some companies use this characteristic of the sneaker resale market to collect investors and manage streetwear hedge funds. Tyler Wu, CEO of The Hype Advisor, said, “Our ability to create a diversified and balanced portfolio paid off in our first batch, our investors in that round from October 2019 to April 2020: our investors netted returns of 7.13%, in comparison to- 9.64% returns of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.”. He emphasized profitability and opportunities in investment in the resale market.
Sneaker Resale Market in Korea
There is another market that we should pay attention to, Korea. The market size of the sneaker resale market in Korea is now $400 million and is estimated to reach over $1.5 billion in 2025, making it one of the hottest and largest sneaker resale markets in the world. Large corporations that have seen the potential of this market, jump into the sneaker resale platform.
