Source: This Summer, the Nike Pegasus 41 Gives Runners More Energy Return — NIKE, Inc.
The resale market is typically reserved for limited edition sneakers, collabs and trendy social media fueled kicks. This is especially true on sites like StockX, GOAT and other platforms which gained rocket fuel during the PPP and stimulus days post Covid. With a return to sea level, sites like StockX are facing the reality of patient consumers with an abundance of options for purchasing.
The lull of summer is contributing to a downward trend on third party platforms. Markets have returned to the traditional cycle of release at SRP, discount and arbitrage. Where does this leave third party when discussing Nike? When the majority of the market is dominated by the Swoosh and Jumpman every brand has to deal with the fallout of what appears to be a toxic marketplace for resale.
StockX has implemented so many new options to drive engagement it’s difficult to keep up. From Flex:
Not Quite Fulfillment by Amazon but StockX Pro FLEX Expedites the Buying Process
To 0% processing fees and attempting to recapture shipping costs, StockX has been a study in adjusting to a transition from hype to competing with mainstream sneaker retail. The site has never really moved the everyday consumer. The e-commerce site did attempt to grow the market with Super Bowl ads and NBA partnerships, but StockX isn’t really a place where a runner is looking to visit and buy a pair of trainers.
This could be about to change. The Nike Pegasus 41 has always held the title of “The People’s Running Shoe”. The SRP was originally $120.00 making it a right priced, serious, entry level option for new runners and those already participating in fitness routines.
Nike’s price increases haven’t been discussed enough as why things have changed in retail and resale. The 41 is $140 dollars. This has moved the model from right priced to a more premium product, but the price is in-line or lower than many of the new running shoes from peers.
Last week a local store made a mistake and put out the Pegasus 41 in the Blueprint Pack colorway. A few sellers took a flyer and bought the style. It’s one of the first Pegasus styles ever to have a bid waiting at $30+ over SRP. Sellers assumed the sneaker would be in stock. Overnight sellers sold a host of the Blueprint model only to find the sneaker didn’t release until July.
This small sample size can’t be considered informative, but Nike running may have found a better toehold with the Pegasus 41 than the brand is having with the highly publicized Air Max DN. The Pegasus is a shoe that traditionally isn’t even considered a model people shop for on StockX and pay above SRP. The trainer isn’t a model a reseller looks at. It’s typically an arbitrage sneaker which follows the sales cycle and is discounted making it available to sell on eBay or Amazon.
While the various colors of the 41 released already are functioning like the Pegasus always has in resale, the Volt colorway pictured here is sold out on the Nike website and for the first time since I’ve tracked sneakers a Pegasus is trading above retail, which never happens on StockX. The Volt color is at 45 pairs sold with an average price of $158.
With so few pairs sold how could the Pegasus be a toehold? In 2017/18 when Nike released the Nike Epic React running shoe a similar pattern revealed itself.
Nike Epic Flyknit React Is Upon US | Performing Well On 3rd Party Marketplaces
I don’t see the Pegasus 41 doing what the Epic React did when it dropped, but the Blueprint mistake looks a lot like the Epic React moment from 2018. This is something to pay very close attention to heading into an Olympic summer.
Note: When the Epic React released Nike made a stellar campaign titled Choose Go. The team is different at Nike now. They have resorted to TikTok and gifting influencers product vs building a stronger strategy around their kicks. While the Pegasus mistake feels familiar, Nike’s seeding and marketing doesn’t feel the same and if I’m not writing this post, I wouldn’t hesitate to think the brand would even know about their glitch in the matrix.