Release date is Nov. 19, 2016 at a retail price of $190.
A long time ago Kobe did something really stupid in Colorado. He was dropped from his contract with adidas and as a sneaker free agent he began wearing a series of Jordan Brand kicks before becoming the Black Mamba and getting his first sig from Nike. Those Jordan releases are now legendary and have long been looked at as grails for a lot of sneaker lovers. But is the time over for Kobe? Does anyone care about the shoes he wore prior to the Kobe line? We get our first shot at seeing if the resale market will take on these kicks and run with it or if this should have been left in the past. Let’s get into the numbers:
Since I do 3 checks before my decision I will weight them on a scale of 1-9. The max points on a scale = +3
*** New addition to the rating system: 0-25% = +1 26-55% = +2 56% and up is +3
First check: As with every release these are already available on Flight Club. If you aren’t familiar with my rating system for FC then this is how it usually goes. If FC is selling the shoe for 300 I automatically adjust their pricing down 50-100 dollars depending on the shoe. There isn’t a real system behind this. I just know that when I was reselling “hyped” releases I could never garner FC money. I always found my price to be at a minimum 50 dollars cheaper. I automatically began pricing my shoes this way and called it my FC Check. If there are a full size run of the Kobe 9’s at a price range of 300-350.00 this means that I can definitely get 250 – 300.00 for this shoe, if I had it early. Most of us don’t have those connects which means that I’m looking at a post release resale value. More pairs will be available, but that is not what I’m looking at. I’m looking at the fact that NMD’s, Doom Foams, Top 3s and Ultra Boosts are dropping this month. I don’t see this full size run moving very fast at 300-350 for FC and I don’t see resale moving at more than 250.00. Which means this shoe falls into the 0-25% ROI window and a +1 rating. I still think it is worth a +1 based on the 350 price of FC so the shoe earns a +2 FC Check score.
Rating = +2
Second check: My second check is always on eBay. When I hit ebay I get a real time valuation of the Lakers 9. Here are the last four pair sold: 225 + 225 + 200 + 250.00 = 900.00/4 = 225.00 per pair. When I look at my FC Check, I realize that I said the shoe wouldn’t sell for more than 250. I immediately know that I’m right when I go to my eBay Check. If team early can’t roll this joint at max money and the average pair is 225.00 this means that this shoe actually drops below the 0-25% ROI because if you pay retail the shoe costs 190 plus tax. Let’s say that’s 200.00. Now take 225 x .13 and you get 29.25 in eBay and PayPal fees. If you give the customer free shipping you’re losing over 20 dollars a pair. My eBay Check is
Rating = +0
Third check: My third check is always looking for the hype on a shoe. I’m shifting that this time and using StockX as a meter. While I think StockX is not maximizing their marketplace potential, I do know for a fact that if I wanted to sell high end kicks there, I could. Right now there is almost a full size run up for team early. https://stockx.com/air-jordan-9-retro-kobe-bryant-pe Every asking price is 285.00. Every offer is at 230.00. I don’t see a meeting of the minds above 250 and I actually see the price dropping as buyers see the shoes selling on eBay at a lower price. Now I will also include the FTL/FTA Check here just to be sure. A quick glance at the Footlocker Launch Locator and you can immediately see that this is a GR. The shoe doesn’t have the Kobe #8, it doesn’t have a limited release, and my final checks are not very good. Since it does have a 285 ask on StockX I’m giving the shoe a +1, but that’s a real limp 1.
Rating = +1
Should You Buy To Flip? The total rating for this shoe is a +3. Like the Cyber Monday 3 this will not be a shoe that will be hard to pick up. If you are trying to make a come up, you would be better off going to Wendy’s and grabbing a 4 for 4 because that’s the best deal that’s coming your way.
