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Recently, Flight Club and AFFIRM made news over their partnership that would allow sneakerheads to finance purchases. The feedback was mixed as obviously sneakerheads would like assistance/other avenues to buy high-priced kicks, but is financing a pair of shoes actually a good idea, simply put, financially?
The good folks at Sole Collector put together a guide examining the original retail price of a sneaker versus Campless calculated value versus total money paid using a variety of Flight Club financing plans. It sheds good light on how much a sneaker will cost in total over the course of the plan using the rates of 10%, 20% and 30%. (Note: A 30% rate is astronomically high.)
For those new to the concept of financing, it basically allows you to purchase and possess an expensive asset by making many periodic payments as opposed to one large payment.
As a general rule, financing is best for big, NECESSARY purchases that are set to get a lot of use (example: car) and ideally have appreciating value (example: house). It’s a bit of a catch-22 when it comes to sneakers. A grail status sneaker may have appreciating value like a house, but that’s only if you don’t wear it. Even if that’s the case, it’s still a gamble. For the buyer, an attribute of financing a purchase is the ability to build a good credit score so that you have the ability to have a longer line of credit on future purchases. At this moment, it’s uncertain if the system introduced to finance sneakers will actually influence a buyer’s credit score.
Basically, financing a pair of sneakers may be an option, but in most cases it’s not worthwhile. Sneakers are not a necessity like, say shelter, or in some cities, transportation, so they’re really not a purchase that deems financing. With the current aftermarket, there’s plenty of buy/sell/trade opportunities (and if you do meet up to buy sneakers, always do it in a public, safe place).
Lead image via State Impact Florida
