Anyone who’s been in the sneaker game for a while will tell you that it's a lot harder to get shoes these days than it used to be. As the scene has expanded over the past few years, demand for high-heat kicks has skyrocketed, both because of the huge amounts of money to be made by reselling sneakers, and because of the increased demand for the product as a whole.
As brands struggle to cater to fans’ asks for fairer release methods, reports suggest that Nike had recently issued new guidance to stockists across the US. According to Complex , the document sets out new regulations that retailers must follow, or else they are at risk of having their orders cancelled, allocation reduced, or even having their accounts closed altogether.
As far as these regulations go, there’s nothing too surprising on the list. The document does appear to solidify the Swoosh’s stance on resellers though, stating that retailers are prohibited from selling to commercial resellers, and are only to sell high-heat products for personal use. As expected though, the document doesn’t supply any info about how to identify said resellers, so it's not exactly clear how effective this is likely to be. In a similar vein, the guidance also states that any online retailers must have commercially reasonable bot deterrence measures in place, stating that: “Bot deterrence services should be activated to block suspicious drawing entries and purchases from individual accounts or user profiles,” the policy reads, “as well as individual or multiple accounts/user profiles that are associated with suspicious delivery addresses, IP addresses, or suspect or fraudulent forms of payment.”
Alongside these rules, other sections outline raffles to be Nike’s preferred launch method, with FCFS launches to only be carried out if they can be done in ‘an orderly manner’. When it comes to raffling products, raffles must be limited to one entry per person, and winners must be selected by a random process that is disclosed to customers. Stores cannot charge for raffle entries.
Other rules dictate the time stores are allowed to launch the shoes, set out launch embargos and provide guidance for avoiding fraud. The document also gives clear guidelines on how stores should store launch products safely, suggesting that storage spaces should only be accessible by employees, and must be protected by an alarm or video surveillance system.
What do you think about the regulations? Are they pretty clear-cut, or would you like to see more detail? Should other brands be following suit? Let us know, and in the meantime, rumours of a new Lobster Dunk have surfaced.
