nnnThe New Balance 650 x No Vacancy Inn StockX IPO is in the books with nearly 14,000 Bids. Read how it went down in our official recap.
Source: New Balance 650 x No Vacancy Inn IPO Recap – StockX News
Last year I discussed the absence of discussion around the adidas Campus 80s x StockX IPO. Instead of posting about that here I will share the cover of my upcoming book to get you ready for a detailed conversation about the opportunities in the sneaker industry available in a post Coronavirus world dealing with the ramifications of DTC by brands in one of the most complex moments in retail history. In the book I once again utilize data from StockX to analyze how the platform has shaped and will continue to shape retail. In this new book I explain how a third party site that makes up a small fraction of the sneaker business, moved from a fragile unicorn to a site that if they continue to utilize their IPO system will continue to change how the industry does business.
I began working on my new book prior to the quarantine. As the crisis and shut down of the sneaker industry continued forward, I changed the book’s direction. Initially I was writing a book on the grey area and how a one man business could generate a million dollars in 18 months on a third party platform. That book was going to be a lighthearted look at how and why StockX could be disrupted. I was also working on a white paper as I wrote sections of this new book. The white paper was research on how to launch a new business or reemerge from bankruptcy for an entrepreneur, startup or corporation. I combined both topics and the outcome is a book on opportunities in the sneaker industry. What does all of this have to do with the New Balance and StockX IPO? The book has several chapters on the adidas Campus 80s IPO with StockX. In those chapters I explain how no one in the sneaker industry is looking at the long-term prospects of these IPOs, especially in a post COVID-19 world and businesses leaning more and more towards DTC. The adidas IPO was in October. I edited the book to include info from the New Balance IPO because the results this time were more impressive.
Once, again, while different discussions have raged about StockX operating and placing employees at risk during the Coronavirus crisis, there hasn’t been any discussion on a topic that isn’t as important as life and death in their facilities. While no deaths have been reported, the idea that the company remained open is troubling.
However, StockX is a middleman. They can’t sell what’s not being sold. When the industry began attacking StockX, I left it alone and didn’t discuss it because for me to have any thoughts I would have needed inside information on what was happening and I stopped using the platform on March 15th. I sold a few pair last week to help out a peer, but I hadn’t utilized StockX since March 15th. Without that information I would have to had looked at the facts:
Sellers were continuing to list products on the platform
Buyers were still buying on the platform.
Every party is at fault from StockX to the buyers and sellers. Could they have shut down their website? Yes. Would that have stopped the selling occurring? No. People would have continued to list on eBay, Amazon and other platforms. Singling out StockX for operating an online retail business without asking all online sneaker retail outlets to shut down doesn’t quite seem right.
Let’s get back to the New Balance IPO. There were 14,000 bids on a New Balance product with the highest clearing price of any IPO StockX has had. In the book I explain in detail why this is both brilliant and dangerous. If you’re interested in buying the new book, it will release on June 1st, but I’m making 50 signed copies available by pre-order. Click Here to grab your pre-order. Use the link at the lead of this post to read more on the StockX and New Balance IPO.