New Sneaker Stock Market Is The Hot Startup That Mark Walhberg, Eminem And Wale Love

nike jordans 5

Shutterstock


Sneakerheads are leaving eBay to shop and sell on a hot new startup that has attracted investments from celebrities that include Mark Wahlberg, Eminem, and Wale. StockX is an e-commerce site that works much like a stock market, but it is where the buyers and sellers bid on sneakers, streetwear, watches, and handbags.

“StockX is the world’s first stock market for things – a live ‘bid/ask’ marketplace,” StockX says. “Buyers place bids, sellers place asks and when a bid and ask meet, the transaction happens automatically. Retro Jordans, Nikes, Yeezys and more – now 100% authentic guaranteed.” StockX sells authentic sneakers from Adidas, Air Jordan, Nike, Asics, Diadora, Li Ning, Louis Vuitton, New Balance, Puma, Reebok, Saucony, and Under Armour.

But what might be the most interesting part of StockX is all of the celebrity and entrepreneurial fanfare that it has received in the form of being investors. In 2015, Quicken Loans founder and Cleveland Cavaliers’ owner Dan Gilbert bought the sneaker-pricing startup Campless. Gilbert brought Campless founder and former IBM consultant Josh Luber to Detroit to start StockX. They launched StockX in February of 2016 with just sneakers. Luber is a sneakerhead since he was 8-years-old and saw the potential of the resale market for sneakers which is worth an estimated $6 billion.

Since launching, Nike released LeBron’s first retro sneaker directly onto StockX and closed a $6M round with high profile investors including Mark Wahlberg, Eminem, and Wale. Other notable investors include AOL chief Tim Armstrong, fashion designer Jon Buscemi, Cleveland Browns cornerback Joe Haden, and TV host/radio personality DJ Skee.

There are two different ways to buy sneakers on StockX. You can click the “Buy” button, which purchases the shoes at the lowest “Ask” listing price from the seller. The other purchase option is to bid on the item, which allows the seller to decide to sell at a lower asking price than the listing. Like the stock market, buyers and sellers can adjust their prices and bids based on supply and demand. They have a “Jordan Index,” a “Nike Index,” and an “Adidas Index.”

StockX does take a 10% commission on the sale, but the thing that makes StockX worthwhile is that they authenticate the sneakers, so you’re not buying a fugazi. As to the future of StoxkX, Luber plans to expand. “We started with sneakers and we will move into other verticals that look like sneakers next,” Luber said. “The idea is to expand into whatever you can buy or sell using a stock market.”

[Fortune]