Revisiting a Discussion: Will The adidas NMD Lose Resale Like The Nike Roshe Run? May 2017 | Updated 2019

  Published on May 27, 2017 by Housakicks Tayib of http://www.housakicks.com (YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZPK…) took the

Source: Will The adidas NMD Lose Resale Like The Nike Roshe Run? | Housakicks Livestream

In 2017 I did a video chat with Housakicks.com founder Tayib. At the time we both had experienced a considerable drop off in the sale of the adidas NMD. The shoe had been a constant in shoes that garnered a resale value. As anyone who reads this site knows, Resale is a solid indicator of overall brand heat, particularly when the model is a general release shoe. At one point the NMD Wool, released in 2016-17 resold at $189.99 a pair. You can find these notes in the article below:

adidas ‘Shadow Knit’ Tech is not the Update Needed To Push NMD Forward

The NMD over the last two years could be found sitting in every retail outlet on sale. I was able to buy NMDs at 19.99 in considerable quantities. Which led to third party sales of 50-75 dollars on shoes that retailed at 130-170 dollars. While the discussion around adidas in the media was about growth, the numbers never discussed margins. While my data set is small, it’s a large enough number to recognize trends and one thing was clear from late 2017 through early 2019, adidas had cooled considerably.

My first 7 sales of adidas NMD/EQT in third party 2017:

Note: All of these shoes were purchased with a 20% discount off of retail. The average price paid was right at 110/pair.

It’s extremely difficult for a brand to recapture the fire around a shoe. I wrote in the article above on Shadow Knit, “adidas is at a point where they should take a step back and reevaluate the pricing structure of the NMD and the material options. I think a more classic build of the shoe and releasing the R1 without Primeknit may be a better option in the short term. Dope colorways go a long way and it seems that the brand is forgetting this.” It’s been over a year and a half since I wrote that post. What’s happening today?

adidas’ brand heat is on the rise. Resale data holds the key to seeing trends long before a company providing POS data from previous quarters can provide. Here is a list of my recent sales on adidas. I’m not including Yeezy because that line is an outlier.

My most recent sales on adidas 2019 via third party:

Note: Take a moment to look at the recently dropped adidas (Berlin, Japan 2019) and you can see the resale value on the model. The Core Black Lush Red is also recent, but the shoe has been marked down at certain retailers which leads into a different discussion on merchandising and marketing by stores and I don’t want to travel down that road. adidas has been able to do something that Nike wasn’t able to do with the Roshe Run. The brand has found a way to revive the heart of their Originals by reverting to non Primeknit models with solid colorways and ideas. The Sashiko above shows up again below to give you an indication of how long the model has been sitting at retail.

While the numbers aren’t comparable to the 2016 and 2017 years it’s a nice trend to see in regard to the Three Stripes. A healthy resale market includes a variety of brands, not just Nike. In the article below I predicted that Nike would begin to fight back. This post was written in 2016 and Nike wasn’t hitting resale on hardly any of its drops. I was slightly wrong about how Nike was going to fight back because I wouldn’t be introduced to React and 270 until 2017:

How Nike Is Combatting Adidas NMD/BOOST

It’s difficult to give you a more complete picture without showing you where the NMD landed as it slid from being a coveted release to being over-saturated. I’m going to give you one chart from 2018. adidas had released the Yeezy Zebra and the momentum of Kanye’s kicks were no longer lifting the boat for the Three Stripes. The brand dropped a Primeknit NMD that looked very similar to the Zebra and the shoe fell flat and ended up sitting on shelves until recently. I have still been picking up the model at retail outlets for 49.99. The shoe was named the Sashiko Pack. The price was 180.

As adidas’ brand heat slid, I was buying the model for 34.99. In other words this model shows up on promo for three years, which is amazing and also a problem as older NMDs are hindering sell through on new releases. adidas should have had vendors RTV the shoe, which again leads towards a different discussion.

If you like this article, I’m available to discuss data with you and provide insight into the market with more immediate feedback. Feel free to contact me to schedule time or to request a custom data set: cburns@arch-usa.com