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Raffle
In recent years, the raffle form of release has become quite common amongst both boutiques and even some big box retailers. Customers come by the shop during the week leading up to the release to register for a chance to purchase the pair of sought after sneakers in their size. Prior to the day of release, the store calls the winning customers, giving them a window to come in and purchase the release date sneaker on its official launch day. The main selling point of this release method is that it’s considered the safest form of distributing launch product.
“First come, first serve was my favorite until bums started getting paid to camp out and fights started happening at 4 AM in front of the stores,” says Derek Curry of Sneaker Politics. “We currently use the raffle system due to the way the market has changed. I think the raffle system is the safest way to release shoes these days. I do hate it since I didn’t come up like this, but I do agree that it is the safest way for everyone.”
As alluded to by Derek, though safe, the raffle form is considered somewhat unpopular because it leaves purchasing a desired sneaker completely up to chance.
“As far as raffles, we hate holding them as much as our clientele hates coming in and getting a ticket,” states Matt Tomamichel of Corporate, who as mentioned before still uses the first come, first serve release method. “It takes the focus away from us being able to sell the product that’s available now.”
“We currently use the raffle system due to the way the market has changed. I think the raffle system is the safest way to release shoes these days.” – Derek Curry, Sneaker Politics
While that may be true, many boutiques have still made the move to raffle releases. The calling card for such changes has primarily been safety.
“In my opinion raffling works the best,” states Greg Grovey of the Nice Kicks Shop in Austin, TX. “Raffling keeps the confusion down and it keeps the big and sometimes angry crowds from forming at your store. First come, first serve didn’t really work for us because it keeps a lot people at a disadvantage. For example, some people have jobs and can’t camp out for shoes for days. Something we also noticed was older people sometimes tried to intimidate the younger kids in line and bully them for their spots, and that’s not cool. Safety is always our number one priority so we currently use the raffling system.”
While raffle releases may make securing a release date product a risk to obtain, it does rank very high in regard to safety. Also, in some ways it allows a shopper to hedge their bets by ‘playing the lottery’ with the raffle while still having the same chance to score a pair through other outlets or avenues.
