Breaking the Bank: Are Sneaker Prices Too High?

The 2000s

photo by Kin Kwan for Nice Kicks

While the 1990s saw the Nike Air Foamposite One as the most memorable shoe with an eye catching price tag, the $200 Air Jordan 17 serves as the standout for the 2000s. Released in 2002, the model was a landmark for the brand’s luxury positioning. A metallic silver suitcase rather than that of a cardboard box backed the notion of a higher class kick and thus a higher price point. Could luxury pricing work for a line that had the fan following of a mass audience? The shoe’s successor, the Air Jordan 18, released the next year for $175, perhaps proving that too much was in fact too much. The downward price trend would follow with the Air Jordan 19 launching for $165. In 2008, the “Titanium” launch colorway of the Air Jordan XX3 would release in limited for a themed price of $230, but standard colorways would still retail at $185. Inline Air Jordan signatures wouldn’t eclipse the $200 mark again until the Air Jordan 2012 and the models that followed.

In the later 2000s, the biggest catalyst for a push in price point would be the resurgence of Nike’s Air Max cushioning. Featured on the likes of the Nike Air Max 2009 and culture-shifting Nike LeBron 8, standing on full-length Air would eventually set the standard for sitting on at least an $160 price tag. This logic would carry over from the performance sector to that of retro and hybrid releases. Price would subsequently rise on non-Air Max assited models, with the popularity of LeBron, Kobe and KD product bringing basketball back to the forefront.

For Nike Basketball, the most illustrious and thus most expensive sneaker line has been the LeBron James franchise. It makes sense. Not only is LeBron James the top paid endorser on Nike Basketball, he’s also physically the biggest. His shoes typically mirror that of his 6’8, 250-pound build, contrasting that of the more slender silos of Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant. On top of that, the LeBron James line has been the catalyst for Nike to introduce its latest and greatest technology on the market. The product comes with a price premium, ranging from the $130 Nike Zoom Soldier VIII to that of the $275 Nike LeBron 11 Elite. When using an inflation calculator, the 2014 $275 price tag on the LeBron 11 Elite equates to the buying power of $185 in 1997, roughly $5 than the MSRP of the Nike Air Foamposite One at that time.