I have shoes worth more than my car. I’ve spent entire paychecks on shoes. When I meet someone for the first time, the first thing I’ll look at is your shoes. Some people are passionate about music, other are passionate about food. For some reason, I’m passionate about things that go on your feet.
It all started in high school in a probably pretty obvious attempt to start fitting in. I started dressing better, wearing the cool kid clothes, like American Eagle, Aeropostale or whatever was cool six years ago. But I noticed that tacky shirts with threadbare eagles on them weren’t the only thing that made an outfit. Soon, I walked into Finish Line for my 14th birthday and picked out a pair of new Nike Air Max’s. All of a sudden, I started getting compliments on my shoes and it felt good.
A few months later, my family visited the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus. The first night we were there, my uncle took me to an antique mall. We looked around at all kinds of things, especially silver platters and the like (he was really into investing in silver at the time.) I looked at vinyl records and old VHS tapes. A few fell out of the way and revealed a beat-up pair of Jordans with a $10 price tag. There was no turning back.
As high school progressed, I had LeBrons and Jordans and all kinds of Nikes and by senior year, I was known as the kid with cool shoes. Friends came to me to ask what shoes they should buy. Rare shoes started popping up around the school, more and more. I loved talking shoes with people, and it created a lot of friendships with other fans of shoes. It was safe to say I’d found my niche.
Today, I buy and sell pairs every few months, or so. After a while, it becomes a sustainable hobby; when I want a new pair, I sell a pair I don’t wear anymore. I know a lot of people see buying shoes over and over as a waste of money, but it is anything but. The world’s first online “Stock Market of Things” was launched this past February, owned by businessman Dan Gilbert. It is focused solely on sneakers. It analyzes trending prices from around the Internet to find how much shoes are worth. A pair of shoes I bought for $218 in February is worth over $800 today. Shoes that I paid $196 for in March are worth nearly $300 today. For a lot of people, this can become an entire career. You really need to analyze market trends, the customer base and manufacturing of the shoes to know which shoes are going to be popular and which ones won’t. It’s a lot like investing in stocks, except I can wear the stocks on my feet.
On the outside looking in, it’s silly that I have shoes that are nearly as much as my rent. It’s silly that I spend a ton of money on something as silly as footwear. But, for years, shoes have been my thing. Shoes were the core of my personality in high school and I’ve met so many good friends through a mutual love of all things footwear. Shoes are my passion.
I don’t have a clever closing line this week -- thanks to finals, but I’ll try.
If this article interested you, and you want to know more about shoes, ask me. Just do it.
(I’m sorry. I tried.)
