I know I have mentioned it before that when the plug asks you to take pairs, you should take them, but sometimes you have to ration and weigh the pros and cons based of what you think the price will go in terms of value in the short/long run to determine whether or not you should take pairs with the offer in play. We can’t always take pairs if the price isn’t justifiable. Yes, I know this is an Off white and our minds are geared to think these WILL go up in price. No doubt I agree these will go up in price in the long long term, but in terms of short to long term I decided it’s not best for me.
This is the first Off White collab on the Jordan 5 silhouette and yes a lot of us don’t know what to expect in terms of future price movements because it being the first. But when it comes to buying pairs we have to gauge the release day prices because that’s approximately what we are paying. So in order for us to buy pairs, we better expect prices to go up (faster the better) or else even though this is considered a hype release it could quickly become a brick for us. The release day prices were around $1,100 USD (based off size 9 US) and gut feeling was telling me it was a bit high. Keep in mind not every Off White collab shoots up in value like a rocket. Just look at the 2nd gen blazers, zoom fly, air max 90s, 2nd gen prestos – If we dropped heavy money on any of these we would have been in trouble because it would have been wasted opportunity cost. You might ask…well if you think it would go up in value, why not buy it anyways? Well yes and no. Yes would be if I had infinite extra cash lying around- I would because over the long term the price increase will beat out inflation. No would be because I think the price increase will go much slower than other available options on the market and because I don’t have infinite cash available I have to put my money in shoes that would earn me the largest amount of money in the least amount of time.
If we look at prices now for a size 9, we’re sitting at around $900 and HAD I did take in the pairs, I think we would actually be losing money right now – assuming $900-8% seller fee, 3% transaction fee and shipping cost. Though I am writing in hindsight right now as it does look like a good call to not take in the 5s, there were a few reasons why I decided it wasn’t a good purchase. Historically, there aren’t too many 5s released out there that sells for more than $1,000. Obviously we can’t count the PEs because those never made it to the public via an actual release, but really the only pair that really fetches top dollar is the T23s Tokyo 5s – but even then these are only going for so much because of the limited supply on the market. You can argue the DB5s came close as they once went up to as high as $1,800 in 2015, but they too have become bricks selling for as low as $800 in 2019. So really most 5s tend to be bricks and pretty much just flat lines on the pricing chart and usually never goes up or down too much.
All in all, I still think it’s a great shoe to rock. In my opinion, even though this is the first colourway on the 5s, I have a good feeling that other colourways would drop eventually – they usually don’t just settle on 1 colourway based on past release patterns. Usually the 2nd release are more favourable for us because prices are usually more reasonable as they tend to be more predictable and we have a better case when negotiating prices. Again I’m not saying prices won’t be going up for these because I think they eventually will, but the fact I can’t earn 20-30% in the next year, it’s an easy pass for me. I don’t care if it’s an OFF White that is highly in demand because to me money talks. I much rather go with a sure bet at buying shoes that would earn my target rate than buy what’s hype just because every seller needs to have it. Ie. The Jordan 3 SE, they are selling at an average price of $170 right now below retail of $200. I’m expecting them to go to atleast back to $225 at the very least by the end of the year. That’s a $55 spread which translates to about 32% margin. If I dropped money on off white 5s, that means prices must go to $1,190 by the end of the year to make it comparable. In my opinion, the Jordan 3s is a lower risk bet, easy to cop with ZERO competition – I can get as many pairs as I want and don’t need to beg no one for them and earn my targeted return. Hence, Jordan 5 Off Whites was an easy pass for me.
**picture source from: Hypebeast** – normally I would take my own photos, but because I bought ZERO pairs, I had to source it 🙂
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