There comes a time when every sneakerhead will realize that they have too many sneakers. This may happen only than once, or it may happen multiple times throughout their life, but it will happen. And it’s completely okay. It doesn’t mean you’re any less of a sneakerhead just because you have too many.
Hello, my name is Jordan, and I have had my realization just before this summer.
It should absolutely be noted and made clear that there is no magic number that is generally considered to be too many sneakers. That number will be different for everyone. Personally, that number happened to be 140. One hundred and forty (plus) sneakers stacked up across the back wall of my bedroom. “Are you running a Foot Locker?“, my mom once joked on a visit. At the time of said visit, I didn’t know my exact sneaker count, but I took great pride in having so many sneakers. I wanted more, in fact. Chances are I even had a few entries in the latest End. or SNS raffle. Months after that however (and where the realization started to creep up on me), my raffle entries were declining. My interest in drops and colorways started to wane. My interest in sneakers hadn’t disappeared, but with each new drop and release, I found myself contemplating on a number of things before I decided to enter a raffle or make a purchase:
“Do I really like these sneakers? Or do they just look cool and I can afford them?”
“Do I really even need them? I have plenty of sneakers as it is.”
The list goes on.
It wasn’t until I was working on a few side projects did I learn that I had over 140 sneakers in the rotation. This newfound knowledge, now coupled with the aforementioned reflections and contemplations, I had suddenly found myself completely refraining from buying sneakers altogether. SNKRS and Confirmed stopped sending me notifications. I stopped browsing StockX and Goat. To be completely honest, I was saving a lot of money, so I wasn’t terribly upset at my drop in my consumerism, which could’ve used a little discipline in the first place. I simply had too many sneakers (which is a pain to clean in bulk) and in my opinion, a lot of these newer colorways coming out simply weren’t doing it for me. They still aren’t.
One hundred and forty (plus) sneakers stacked up across the back wall of my bedroom. Many of which haven’t even been worn, and probably a good half of them still with the StockX or Goat certification of authenticity on them. One hundred and forty (plus) ideas I can do with some of that unworn cash stacked up across the back wall of my mind. So I started selling them. A pair of Yeezys turned into new headphones. A handful of Aime Leon Dore collabs financed flights and photography prints for I Like Ya Outfit. Anything not deadstock but still worth something in great condition were sold to friends who are always more than willing to take my heat off my hands. The rest are donated or given away. The way I saw it, I was cashing in on some of my investments. The more I felt like I could sell a pair of sneakers, the more the money started talking to me. The more the money started talking to me, the more I became unattached to the sneakers. And the easier it was to feel like I had too many sneakers.
If you asked me a year ago if I would whittle down my collection, I would’ve told you that I would only in the event that I needed the money. But if you also asked me a year ago if I was going to wear all my sneakers, I would’ve told you no. So I wasn’t going to sell them, but I also wasn’t going to wear them. I’m just going to have them lined up against the back wall of my bedroom. Waking up to a PayPal deposit and one less shoebox sounds much nicer than that.
I’m still actively selling and donating sneakers at the time of this writing, and as it ages, I am sure I will have gone through plenty more cycles of reducing my collection. I found a number of benefits to this period of having too many sneakers. As mentioned earlier, I’ve turned many sneakers into things I’ve always wanted (and actually use), I have a new (albeit seasonal, off-and-on) stream of income, I’m making room for those obscure, and/or largely forgotten sneakers that I actually do want and will wear, and then some.
The number was 140 (plus) today, tomorrow it may be 1,000.
I say all this to say that, yes, you can have too many sneakers. When or why you might come to realize that might be different than mine. But when it comes, don’t fear it or question it. Just embrace it. It doesn’t make you a lesser sneakerhead. It makes you a growing and changing one. And as is with life, things change, so should you.
P.S. Change isn’t overnight, so don’t expect to sell and/or wear all your sneakers all of a sudden. There will always be that one sneaker you’ll hold off on wearing until the time is right. The time will never be right, but we’re gonna wait anyway.
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