Die exklusive Collab von Hikmet Sugoer und eBay
Source: SONRA
Sonra (a brand owned by Hikmet Sugoer) doesn’t make enough shoes to counter the losses eBay has encountered due to the growth of StockX, GOAT and Grailed. However, eBay has the customer base to begin recapturing revenue via a private label strategy. Last year in a consultation with eBay I introduced the concept of private label and explained that in the U.S. eBay could utilize domestic manufacturing to create premium sneakers in limited quantities. This collaboration between eBay and Sonra is essentially the program in action in Germany. Here is the pitchdeck page I sent to eBay:
In this pitchdeck I laid out several programs including a media strategy which I think showed up in work with influencers and on the Nice Kicks website. While any person inside of eBay could develop these ideas, I’d like to think my consult was solid enough to deliver actionable concepts which led to the creation of what I think is an interesting collaborative effort for eBay and a path to finding connection to the sneaker community eBay has hoped to bring back to the e-commerce platform.
Sonra drops about 200 pair of kicks in each release. This eBay Sonra Proto is limited to 150 pair. Hikmet is adamant about his creations being worn, but it’s reasonable to think this is a drop where he loosens the restrictions to enable eBay to see just how in demand a product like this will be. If this drop works eBay will benefit from the initial drop and like an artist creating an NFT, where the artist can write into the agreement how much they will be paid on successive sales, eBay will continue to benefit as the model is sold and resold on its platform.
The description of this sneaker and the design elements make this the perfect collab to move eBay towards a private label strategy. This could only work with a smaller company like Hikmet’s Sonra. Why is this? When I created the pitchdeck for eBay it was built on the research I’d done on StockX’s IPOs and DropX concepts:
DropX x University of Oregon Air Jordan 8 PE: NIL, IPO, DropX and the Evolution of Retail
As I continued to dive into a short white paper for the consult with eBay, I also began looking at eBay’s Year over Year sales by using keywords. At the same time, I’d been documenting my own sales via third party platforms and the trends showed the reality of resale. It’s not a prediction to say that this drop of the Proto eBay is extremely important in charting a new path for eBay Sneakers. Hikmet’s sneaker will undoubtedly sell through, and the irony is that if it ends up outside of the eBay ecosystem in resale, on GOAT and StockX, those companies will by default be advertising for their competitor which is hilarious, but very important in the battleground that is resale. Check out pics of the Sonra Proto x eBay which will release exclusively through Hikmet’s eBay page.