The Wheat Retro 4 costs 400.00 retail, the shoe drops at the end of this month. Whenever that PRM tag is dropped, you can be certain that it won’t be a general release and available in a lot of places which means it will be in demand, but will it? This past year the Retro 1 Pinnacle ended up RTV back to Nike and was in the employee store and at outlets for half off. Pinnacle and PRM no longer mean that a shoe will attain that level of resale everyone looks for. Another thing is that right now every brand is playing with a mid/boot cut on their sneakers and people are favoring lightweight over traditional 6″ Timbs. Timbs cost 180.00, Nike Duckboots cost 165.00. There are a multitude of kicks being dropped that have a nubuck wheat influence that are less costly. However, last season the Air Force 1 Flax dropped and although it retailed at around 140.00, it resold easily at 250.00. What will this premium version of the Retro 4 do? Let’s get to it.
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: I hit Flight Club first. Today is 10/20/2016. FC only has one size in stock, a sz 16. I didn’t check so I’m not sure if there were other sizes that sold out, but that pricepoint of 850.00 bucks for that size 16 is a reach. I don’t think it will sell at that price. As a matter of fact I see a quick adjustment in price by Saturday. I guess for the third party market it’s good to see such a high starting point. As always when I look at FC it sets the standard and I usually drop the price by 50-100 for every other third party seller. This time I’m dropping this one by 300.00 to 550.00. I’m basing this on the other PRM drops. The Pinnacle Snake is 750.00. The Obsidian Pinnacle is 550.00. The black Pinnacle is 550.00. This shoe I would place along the lines of the Obsidian which drops that price from 850 down to 550.00. I am also looking ahead at next month and with the ridiculous amount of drops coming, people aren’t going to jump at paying too much above retail because they will be able to settle for something dope. Let’s look at pricing. 400 plus tax at 7% is 428.00. If the shoe sold for 850.00 that would be a +3 resale value. Top of the line. However, I don’t think the shoe will sell for that price. I think it’s closer to 550-600.00 which means that on the high end the profit before fees would be 172.00 would be a 28% profit. What about the fees? If it’s sold on consignment you lose 20% of the profit, on eBay you lose 13% plus shipping. A 13% fee removes 78.00 dollars from the profit. 428 + 78= 506.00. Free Shipping is about 20 due to Signature shipping and double boxing so the total with fees is 526.00. That means you net 74.00 which is a 14% return on this shoe. I place this on the low end of resale value. I will give my FC rating for the potential for resale is a +1.
Rating = +1
Second check: My eBay check shows 6 sold listings of the PRM Wheat. The sales have taken place from Sept. 23rd to Oct. 18th. The average price of resale on eBay is: 549.99 + 549.99+ 599.99 + 549.99 = 562.49 There are other sales but I’m only using the first 4 sold. In my FC rating I said the shoe would adjust down and according to eBay that adjustment is right. I’ve already done the math on the shoe at this price and if you are buying to flip without a discount or without an account, you’re screwed at 562.00. I give the shoe a +1 because the shoe will remain under 25% profit.
Rating = +1
Third check: My third check is either hitting up the local stores to ask if they have the shoe in stock, or doing a Twitter check. I’ve added another option which is utilizing Footlocker’s launch calendar to check and see if a lot of stores are getting the release. Footlocker Launch isn’t showing yet, but Twitter has some feedback, but the prices are actually below 562.00. Also I’ve added another check and that’s StockX’s live feed which doesn’t have the shoe listed yet. That Twitter feed is glaring to me and keeps me at a low end resale for my third check rating of +1.
Rating = +1
Should you buy to flip?
My total on a scale of 9 is a +3. Nike has literally removed the ability to flip the PRM and Pinnacle line. If you get the kicks early at a discount, by all means go for it. If you are standing on line and looking at FC, don’t play yourself.
