The Most Valuable Sneakers of 2019 Q1
31 May 2019, 23:22
StockX, the world's biggest sneaker and streetwear marketplace, has treated us to another quarterly round-up of the most valuable sneakers on the market so far in 2019. This excludes the month of March and May.
Due to StockX's insane amount of data, with graphics and other stockmarket type features, the site is able to tell us which sneakers were most valuable by price tag, highest resell mark-up, and even a sneaker's market share.
Let's get into it! 
It’s no great surprise that the most valuable sneaker by average resell price in the first three months of 2019 was one that was never available to the public.
Nike Air Jordan 4 'Michigan PE'
Nike’s range of March Madness 2019 Air Jordan 4s included player exclusives for Georgetown, Marquette, Oklahoma, Florida, University of North Carolina, and Michigan, and it was Michigan’s navy blue with yellow details that sold for an average $5,851 (about R86,523) in Q1. College players can reportedly be seriously reprimanded for selling on these exclusives, but with this kind of payoff, the aspiring pros are clearly willing to take their chances, especially when they don’t get paid by the NCAA.
Girls Don't Cry x Nike SB Low F&F
In second place is Japanese label Girls Don’t Cry with its friends and family Nike SB Dunk Low, which resold for an average $3,004 (about R44,422). While the for-sale version featured a predominantly red upper, the friends and family version inverted the colour scheme, with a light silver upper and subtle hits of red throughout. Founded by a designer known as Verdy, Girls Don’t Cry has quickly built a cult following through collaborations with the likes of UNDERCOVER and Union LA.
Nike Air Jordan 1 Retro Mid Brooklyn Nets City Edition
Third on the podium, at $3,000 (about R44,363), is a limited edition Air Jordan 1 custom produced by DeJesus Custom Footwear as a homage to Brooklyn. Featuring COOGI-inspired 'Brooklyn camo' that nods to a similar pattern used on the Brooklyn Nets City Edition jersey from late 2018, the Air Jordan 1 customs also referenced Notorious B.I.G. (a notoriously big fan of COOGI sweaters) and his birth year, with 'BIG' and '1972' on the heels in white. These customs were a perfect dose of New York nostalgia, and with only five pairs made, they are extremely collectable.
Louis Vuitton Trainer Sneaker Boot High
In fifth, we find Virgil Abloh’s basketball-style Louis Vuitton LV 408 Trainer ($1,937/R28,645), which had a more than passing resemblance to the 1988 Avia 880, only reimagined as an Italian-made luxury statement sneaker. It was joined by two more Louis Vuitton kicks at eight and nine.
Tom Sachs x Nikecraft Mars Yard Overshoe
Bringing up the rear is the opinion-splitting Tom Sachs x NikeCraft Mars Yard Overshoe, which finally gets its full release tomorrow. Its $1,306 (about R19,312) average resell price here reflects the hype for a shoe that until now had only seen a limited release at Dover Street Market in October 2018.
Below are the sneakers with the highest market share, basically meaning the most sold sneakers on StockX in quarter 1 of the year. Nike definitely wins this quarter with the Patent Leather 'UNC' 1s, Turbo Green 1s and Jordan 6s taking the top 3 spots. Yeezy gets some love in the 4th and 7th spot with the 'TRFRM' 350s 'Inertia' 700s respectively. Another interesting addition is the self-lacing Hyperadapt with the average resell price of $450 (about R6,644)
As an added bonus, here are the sneakers with the highest price premium. This means the biggest difference between the retail price and the 'resell' price. Basically, how much money can be made on each pair if you got them for retail.
Standouts are the limited edition Nike SB Dunk Low 'Panda Pigeon', which came in an engraved wooden box, which secured the second-biggest price premium at 682%, reselling for an average $782 (about R11 564), up from $100 at retail. Other notable mentions are the two pairs of Sacai Waffles which sadly never landed on our shores, as well as the Doernbecher 6 and Slam Jam Blazer Mids, which all saw crazy increases in price premium percentage.
