The StockX Experiment

This post has since been updated from its original post day.

For all the sneakerheads out there, it’s no secret that StockX is the new way to get kicks on the low. Akin to eBay, users can sell, buy, and bid on sneakers. That’s no problem, folks buy sneakers off of eBay all the time. Sole Collector periodically gives us a list of Jordans we can get off of eBay for an arm and a leg. What makes it different from eBay, however is the fact that the bidding is live. Sellers make asking prices, buyers place bids, and when a bid and ask meet, the deal is done automatically. There is no robot in between that keeps outbidding you so that you can keep bidding higher. It’s probably just another person that also wants those shoes just as bad as you do, if not more. Another difference from eBay is that StockX is in the middle of your transaction, which means you don’t have to worry about legitimate sellers or buyers. StockX takes care of that. What does that mean for you? If you’re a seller, you know you’re actually going to get your money. If you’re a buyer, you’re going to have an authentic pair of sneakers coming your way. Of course, there’s more detail than that, but you can read all of that here.

Being quite the Complex stan, it was only fitting to try StockX to see if it was really as dope as they and Hypebeast made it out to be. Now, anyone promised a chance to get dope kicks at a fraction of current market value is (more than likely) trying to cop some new sought after joints that just dropped. Clean Your Shoes is no different, and the target was the Air Jordan IV “Motorsport”. So, how did it go? Let’s go through the experience step-by-step.

Signing Up for StockX

Upon registering for StockX and going dabbling around with the settings and preferences, you’re able to put your shoe size in. After you do that, every shoe you want to bid on comes up in your size automatically. The only catch is that sometimes there isn’t a seller that has it, but from the experience so far, most of the shoes have been in the size specified.

Searching for a Shoe

Looking for a specific shoe is also pretty simple. While there isn’t an extensive search bar that has you input every single detail to find that exact shoe, you can easily find whatever shoe you’re looking for all the same. Upon looking at Jordan IVs, the Motorsport colorway was one of the first ones to show up. So, I press it, and the information appears on a new screen: the lowest asking price, highest bid, your desired shoe size, shipping price, etc.

Placing a Bid

So, the lowest ask was initially set at $180, 10 dollars below the retail price when the Motorsport IVs first dropped. I got it lucky: smaller sizes than mine were going for $199+. for the lowest asking price. I wasn’t doing the $180 asking price, I initially set my bid to $150. A cool 7-8 hours later, the seller lowered the asking price twice. 2 notifications show up in my phone, first that the asking price goes down to $175, and then again down to $170. The seller wants to sell, and I want to buy. But I don’t budge. I increase my bid only up to $155, and I wait until the morning. It was then see that he lowered the price once more, this time to $165. My bid was still $155. I let up a bit, and I increase my bid to $160.

Minutes later, I learned my bid was accepted. I have just made my first StockX transaction. With shipping and handling, it comes out to $173.95. You get free shipping for every five purchases you make.

So What Happens Next?

Well, according to StockX, the seller will ship the shoes to them where they will authenticate these sneakers. This is one of the things that sets StockX apart; they make sure the sneakers are legit. So, as I am writing this post, I am waiting on the seller to ship these grails. I reckon I’ll get them in a week, roundabout, which means there will be a part II to this experiment. Stay tuned.

UPDATE 4/13/2017:

As of the morning, I have been notified that the seller has shipped the shoes, and StockX is waiting to receive them for authentication.

UPDATE 4/14/2017:

StockX notified me that they have received the shoes for authentication. A few hours later, I learned they have en route to me.