King Sneaker earned 44 billion yen, the fall

Collapse with a rare limited-life resale, an unattainable order

Many entrepreneurial children and adults are making a lot of money by raising the prices of limited items sold on the Internet by people who claim to be sneakers crazy.

　Michael Marekzade （39 ） has become a US sneaker celebrity in nine years. Earned more than $300 million （ about 44 billion yen ） in the sneaker resale market, where prices soar due to its rare value and coolness.

　He is known as one of the largest buyers and sellers of sneakers that are unusual, such as sneakers before they line up at retail stores and sneakers that offer cheaper prices than retail stores. He is the rarest Nike 「 Air Jordan 」、AdidasWrapper and entrepreneur Kanye West （ may get a surge in resale prices due to the termination of the alliance with Ye ） now 「 Easy 」.

　Marekzade was successful and had a lively lifestyle that resembled luxury sneakers and was discreet and captivating. Show off Ferrari on Instagram, put a Girard-Perregaux watch next to a hamburger for hundreds of thousands of dollars, or $29,000 in a $1 million mansion in Eugene, OregonLouis VuittonI’m posting a shot riding a bicycle.

Real-world businesses were collapsing under heavy pressure such as undigested orders, late payments, and customer claims. According to several people familiar with the situation, Bethany Mockerman, the fiance of Marekzade and the finance officer of his company Zade Kix, (39), together in May, told the truth. I urged you to tell.

A few months later, the US federal prosecution charged two people with bank fraud, wire transfer fraud and money laundering （ cash laundering ）. Customers claim to have paid millions of dollars for shoes they didn’t receive. The court-appointed trustee organizes the inventory remaining in his company.

　Earlier last year, Marekzade received about 600,000 pairs of orders a few months before 「 Air Jordan 11 Cool Gray 」 was in store, benefiting more than $70 million. He sold sneakers for $115 ～ 200 a pair, setting them cheaper than around $225 of the suggested retail price.

Only 6000 pairs were available to Marekzade.

　The prosecution claims he has raised pre-ordering funds from customers, knowing that he cannot meet all orders. At least 2020, more than $10 million of the reserved money has been used for luxury items such as watch, fur handbags.

According to the Zade Kix website, which is now deleted, the company has received prepayments from customers who book 「 Air Jordan 」 for many years. As demand increased, so did the waiting time and cancellation fees for customers to receive their shoes. According to the terms posted on the website, customers were charged a 20% fee to cancel a pre-order. Then it became 50.

　The rules for refunds have also changed. In 2018, the company told its customers that it would have to wait 10 months from the order date to cancel without a penalty. Instead of refunding, Marekzade provided the same amount of gold vouchers and gift cards available at the company.

　He also did not allow customers to post company swearing due to unpaid orders or delays, and hinted at a ban on purchases from the company.

Miss shot

　As luxury sneakers become more popular, limited releases such as Nike-like brands and collaboration shoes with renowned fashion designer late Virgil Abloh and rapper Travis Scott will benefit from expensive resale. The possibility has come out.

　However, in some cases, it may not be worth the publicity and may be damaged by investors. In addition, the manufacturer may decide to make additional sales and lose the scarce value, which may reduce the value of sneakers.

　Arnab Kamra, a major in finance at Indiana University, learned about the ups and downs of the market. He started reselling sneakers in 2020 when he was a 15-year-old in a second year high school in Cary, NC.

　As the school moved to remote classes due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection, the resale of sneakers became the center of life. Funded by my parents, I set up an online shop for sneakers.

　By last year, we had built $40,000 worth of assets, including sneakers and other collectibles, Kamla said.A deal drew particular interest from Mr. Kamra. Zade Kicks sold 「 Air Jordan 1」 for $590, which Nike launched in collaboration with rapper Scott. The white leather and brown suede high tops were priced at about $2000 in the resale market.

　「ROI（ Return on investment ） was completely out of orbit. Kamla says he told him he had to buy more 」. Eventually, I ordered this from Zade Kix and paid nearly $18,000.

　Kamura received an email from Zade Kix two days before his 18th birthday in May. The company broke up and said it would not accept any more orders, including his orders.