We’re excited to announce great news for Sellers on StockX. For a limited time, StockX is removing the 3% Payment Processing Fee for Sellers. This new 0% rate is in effect now and will be automatically applied to any Asks you place in the future, as well as any existing Asks you currently have listed.
Source: 0% Payment Processing Fees for Sellers. Limited Time Only. – StockX News
Documenting the growth of StockX delivers information on a platform which surpassed the website traffic of ecommerce platforms of retailers with brand accounts. Simply stated, StockX currently gets more website traffic than all of the major wholesale partners of Nike and adidas:
For a company still privately held, growth is a measurement which inspires confidence for an eventual IPO. StockX isn’t quite at this point, but recent updates and adjustments show the platform is looking to shore up revenue after data showed in many instances StockX possibly lost money on sneakers and items sold in the low-mid tier price range.
Does eBay Really Have the Best Fees in the Game? How Shipping Shapes Sneaker Resale
In the above post, fees were broken down and StockX was found to lose money on smaller transactions. Over the last year the platform began to make minute changes:
- Xpress Ship implemented – On popular sneakers StockX is holding pairs in their warehouses, pre-authenticated and capable of reaching the consumer in 3-5 days vs the extended window it takes for a transaction to be completed, 7-14 days.
- Bulk Shipping and Single Shipped Adjustments – Seller’s shipping one pair of shoes have an added $4.00 charge. Sellers using bulk shipping have adjusted shipping charges based on the number of sneakers in the box.
- 0% Payment Processing – At the end of February 24, StockX rolled out the removal of the payment processing fee. That fee was a 3% difference in the price of a sold product. The best way to explain the benefit here is with this example: Product sells for $100, the seller used to earn $87. The seller now earns $90.
The 0% processing fee is a smarter play than eBay’s strategy of No Fees. The No Fees from eBay should have been considered a red herring. In eBay’s zero fees program only items sold above 100 qualified. The majority of sneakers sold on eBay are typically arbitrage and under 100. The zero fees strategy was an attempt to bring back mid to premium sneaker sellers, the sneakerhead community.
StockX’s growth placed considerable distance between eBay and itself in this area. eBay eventually ended their program. StockX does not have a timeline for the end of their 0% Payment Processing Fees and when asked about the timeline, the answer was, “For the no transaction fee, it might be around a while, it might not be :). We want to have it long term and are testing how it goes.”
The rest of the questions went unanswered, but this last play by StockX arrives at a critical time. Nike and Jordan Brand dominate resale on the StockX platform, but sales are down. StockX is offering a jolt for their sellers. Picking up 3% is a considerable return on sold products. Now that resale has slowed, StockX is seeing more small trades as evidenced by their recent Power Sellers Sneakers Report:
When fees are factored in on the top 20 sneakers sold on StockX, outside of the two Kobe Protros, Yeezy Slides and Travis Scott, there aren’t really any margins if sneakers are being purchased at retail. Unfortunately, StockX built its platform on premium sales. With resale prices below, at or just above retail in most instances, the same sneakers capable of being sold on StockX can be picked up at retail or on retail websites.
A quick scroll back to the website traffic above, Hibbett and JD Sports are winning the most important data points: pages per visit, time duration and bounce rate. The difference isn’t big, but when you consider the wholesale partners of Nike are where many of the products sold on StockX are acquired, it becomes clear how Nike has shaped resale. The slowdown in resale is even more evident when Nike is added to the website traffic engagement data:
Nike has raised prices which chipped into low-medium tiered resale. There isn’t any long-term FOMO involved in hyped sneaker releases which hinders premium resale. Nike completely dominates all categories except Bounce Rate which means the Swoosh is keeping consumers inside of their digital ecosystem. While Nike does need wholesale accounts the brands shortcomings are considerable. They have more cracks in the foundation leaving resale closer to where it always was, items hard to find and truly coveted pairs. The middle is being squeezed… but isn’t that always the case? The fees are a balm for a difficult market, but StockX’s ultimate fix will be in becoming more accessible to all consumers.
