WEBVTT 00:01.933 --> 00:05.533 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: Now to a surprising way to make money: the sneaker resale market, where 00:07.466 --> 00:10.700 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% used Nikes and Adidas can sell for hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars. 00:12.166 --> 00:14.766 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% Our economics correspondent, Paul Solman, has the story. 00:14.766 --> 00:18.633 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% It's part of our series Making Sense, which airs every Thursday. 00:18.633 --> 00:23.633 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% PAUL SOLMAN: In the back of New York's Javits Convention Center, buyers and sellers, teenage 00:26.733 --> 00:30.433 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% boys mostly, haggled in the trading pit. 00:30.433 --> 00:35.133 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Here's one of the hottest markets in America I knew almost nothing about, sneakers. 00:35.133 --> 00:38.600 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% YU-MING WU, Founder, Sneaker Con: This weekend, we're going to have 20,000 people. 00:38.600 --> 00:43.600 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% PAUL SOLMAN: When Yu-Ming Wu founded Sneaker Con nine years ago, just 800 people showed 00:44.100 --> 00:46.200 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% up. 00:46.200 --> 00:49.133 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% This year, eight conventions of so-called sneakerheads are planned around the country. 00:49.133 --> 00:51.200 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% New York's is the biggest. 00:51.200 --> 00:55.233 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% YU-MING WU: We created this space for anyone to come in to buy a pair of sneakers, to sell 00:56.766 --> 00:58.966 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% a pair of sneakers, or trade a pair of sneakers. 00:58.966 --> 01:01.566 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% PAUL SOLMAN: So, in a sense, this is a physical eBay? 01:01.566 --> 01:05.466 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% YU-MING WU: It is a physical eBay, yes, correct, for sneakers. 01:05.466 --> 01:10.466 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% PAUL SOLMAN: Much-hyped limited releases of Nike Air Jordans, as in Michael, and Adidas 01:12.300 --> 01:16.266 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Yeezys, the brand of Kanye West, have spurred a billion-dollar resale market. 01:18.200 --> 01:21.733 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% When they appear, they bring chaos, sometimes even violence, to the few stores that have 01:23.566 --> 01:26.800 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% them, and then bring premium prices on the secondary market, like here. 01:28.466 --> 01:29.966 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% Sneaker-monger Matt Bogy. 01:29.966 --> 01:31.500 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% MATT BOGY, Sneaker Reseller: So these are the Red Octobers. 01:31.500 --> 01:34.666 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% They're worth about five to $6,000 on average per pair. 01:34.666 --> 01:36.633 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% PAUL SOLMAN: That's what you're selling him for or... 01:36.633 --> 01:37.866 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% MATT BOGY: Yes. 01:37.866 --> 01:39.866 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% That's what I'm selling them for. 01:39.866 --> 01:41.400 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And I also have a pair signed by Kim Kardashian, which is Kanye West's wife. 01:41.400 --> 01:43.366 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% Those are -- I price those at about $7,000, $8,000. 01:43.366 --> 01:47.900 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% PAUL SOLMAN: Wait a minute, thousands of dollars for a pair of sneakers? 01:48.733 --> 01:49.800 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% As a mom here put it: 01:49.800 --> 01:51.933 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% WOMAN: It is insane. 01:51.933 --> 01:55.866 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And we're having a ton of fun, but it's incredible to see how much sneakers cost. 01:57.066 --> 01:59.366 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% PAUL SOLMAN: But there were some bargains. 01:59.366 --> 02:03.866 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Sneakerhead Tyre Coles was hocking used kicks from his own ever-burgeoning collection. 02:03.866 --> 02:06.666 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% TYRE COLES, Sneaker Reseller: I love Nikes to the bottom of my heart. 02:06.666 --> 02:08.766 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% I buy any pair. 02:08.766 --> 02:12.700 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% PAUL SOLMAN: Nickson Descas was selling a pair of Nike Air Max trophies he'd bought 02:12.700 --> 02:14.333 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% for $300. 02:14.333 --> 02:15.133 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% NICKSON DESCAS, Sneaker Reseller: I have been wearing them a lot. 02:15.133 --> 02:16.600 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% They're a little beat. 02:16.600 --> 02:17.766 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% So, I will try to sell them around $150, maybe $200. 02:17.766 --> 02:19.933 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% PAUL SOLMAN: For used sneakers? 02:19.933 --> 02:21.333 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% What's going on here? 02:21.333 --> 02:23.166 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Well, one thing, says, Nickson Descas: 02:23.166 --> 02:24.566 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% NICKSON DESCAS: We just love the hustle. 02:24.566 --> 02:26.066 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% We just love the game. 02:26.066 --> 02:28.466 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% PAUL SOLMAN: Ah, the hustle and bustle of the marketplace. 02:28.466 --> 02:31.433 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% GIOVANNI TORQUATO, Sneakerhead: I like buying the shoes, selling the shoes, trading the 02:31.433 --> 02:33.466 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% shoes. 02:33.466 --> 02:36.000 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% CINDY SHORE, Sneakerhead Mom: It's a great way for young kids to learn about business 02:36.000 --> 02:39.966 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% and how to make money and sometimes lose money, and based upon the decisions that they make. 02:41.300 --> 02:42.533 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% Why not learn early? 02:42.533 --> 02:44.100 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% PAUL SOLMAN: And not just sneakers. 02:44.100 --> 02:45.400 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% Brandon Shore dealt in leather. 02:45.400 --> 02:47.166 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% BRANDON SHORE, Sneakerhead: I bought this. 02:47.166 --> 02:49.566 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% And then I was able to sell it for more, and then buy a second one. 02:49.566 --> 02:52.700 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% PAUL SOLMAN: But sneakerhead culture drives the market. 02:52.700 --> 02:57.700 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And it is, above all, about identity, by proxy, for example, through the Michael Jordans and 02:58.766 --> 03:00.366 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% Kanye Wests. 03:00.366 --> 03:03.033 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% Vlogger: Wow. 03:03.033 --> 03:05.066 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Smells like a brand-new pair of denim. 03:05.066 --> 03:09.366 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% PAUL SOLMAN: Or a new breed of celebs, like Kice Omar (ph), who vlog, video blog, that 03:10.233 --> 03:12.300 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% is, about sneakers on YouTube. 03:12.300 --> 03:16.800 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% Mainly, though, through peer-to-peer connection and competition. 03:16.800 --> 03:21.666 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% GIOVANNI TORQUATO: There's a term, it's called a hypebeast, where someone just gets an item 03:21.666 --> 03:26.033 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% just to like brag about everyone that they have the newest, coolest item, even if they 03:26.033 --> 03:27.400 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% don't like it. 03:27.400 --> 03:29.100 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% PAUL SOLMAN: Again, convention founder Yu-Ming Wu: 03:29.100 --> 03:32.966 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% YU-MING WU: I always say they want to look fresher than the next. 03:32.966 --> 03:37.966 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% They want to look cooler than their peers, their friends, their classmates, and also 03:38.833 --> 03:39.800 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% have some level of status. 03:39.800 --> 03:41.533 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% I have something cooler. 03:41.533 --> 03:43.533 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% I have this rarer pair. 03:43.533 --> 03:47.166 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% I have something that you weren't -- not that you couldn't afford, but that you couldn't 03:47.166 --> 03:49.633 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% get. 03:49.633 --> 03:51.666 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% STEVEN QUARTZ, California Institute of Technology: Cool began in the 1950s as rebel cool. 03:51.666 --> 03:54.533 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% PAUL SOLMAN: Steven Quartz has studied cool as a Caltech neuro-economist. 03:54.533 --> 03:56.633 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% His theory: 03:56.633 --> 04:00.733 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% STEVEN QUARTZ: What happened in the 1950s was that, as we began to increase our standard 04:03.100 --> 04:06.566 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% of living, in a hierarchical society, it really created what we can think of as a status dilemma. 04:07.700 --> 04:10.066 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% There just wasn't enough status to go around. 04:10.066 --> 04:14.500 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And what people began to do, especially kids began to do, was create alternative status 04:14.500 --> 04:16.966 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% systems. 04:16.966 --> 04:20.500 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% PAUL SOLMAN: At his Nashville showroom, sneaker reseller Yuanrun "Z" Zheng also drew a connection 04:21.800 --> 04:24.466 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% to the increased inequality of recent decades. 04:24.466 --> 04:29.466 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Sure, the sneaker market is status-driven, he says, but it's affordable status. 04:31.966 --> 04:33.800 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% YUANRUN "Z" ZHENG, Sneaker Reseller: The retail of any sneakers, I will say, have never eclipsed 04:33.800 --> 04:37.733 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% over $350, until that Nike came with the crazy self-lacing shoe that cost $800. 04:39.200 --> 04:41.266 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% But that's an outlier in itself. 04:41.266 --> 04:46.066 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% So people with no money or some people with no financial means can also get the limited 04:48.500 --> 04:51.100 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% edition sneaker, just like a person with a lot of money. 04:51.100 --> 04:55.600 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% PAUL SOLMAN: Back at Sneaker Con, it was clear that sneaker culture has taken on a commercial 04:55.600 --> 05:00.600 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% life of its own, with prize pairs so sought-after, counterfeits now abound, hence the long lines 05:02.566 --> 05:07.566 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% at the convention's legit check table, where Bryan Mora, among others, ferreted out fakes. 05:09.533 --> 05:12.666 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% BRYAN MORA, Legit Checker: It'll be the glue smell . It will be the way the shoe is shaped. 05:12.666 --> 05:14.233 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% PAUL SOLMAN: How many fakes have you guys caught today? 05:14.233 --> 05:15.466 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% How many fakes? 05:15.466 --> 05:17.500 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% BRYAN MORA: We caught about like 30 pairs. 05:17.500 --> 05:21.833 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% PAUL SOLMAN: There's even a lone ranger of kicks, who calls himself Yeezy Busta, and 05:23.200 --> 05:25.166 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% he's built a brand around busting knock-offs. 05:25.166 --> 05:28.800 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% YEEZY BUSTA, Yeezy Shoe Expert: The reason why I wear my mask is because what I do is, 05:28.800 --> 05:30.866 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% I call out celebrities who wear fake Yeezys. 05:30.866 --> 05:35.866 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And some of them wanted to come after me and sue me, so I decided I wouldn't reveal my 05:36.333 --> 05:38.333 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% face. 05:38.333 --> 05:42.066 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% PAUL SOLMAN: Now, fans or family members of the Busta fam can get their own branded masks 05:42.666 --> 05:44.133 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% for only $20. 05:44.133 --> 05:46.266 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% I would imagine this is also fairly healthy, right? 05:46.266 --> 05:51.133 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% YEEZY BUSTA: Yes, I mean, if anybody's sick and somebody tries to cough on you, you don't 05:51.133 --> 05:52.400 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% get it in your mouth. 05:52.400 --> 05:53.400 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% You know? 05:53.400 --> 05:55.500 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% (LAUGHTER) 05:55.500 --> 05:58.600 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% PAUL SOLMAN: OK, so sneakers are fun and instructive to trade, a mark of status, comfortable of 05:58.600 --> 06:03.100 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% course, and finally, argues, Yu-Ming Wu, works of art. 06:03.100 --> 06:07.833 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% YU-MING WU: I believe that sneakers are mass-produced sculptures. 06:07.833 --> 06:12.833 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% We have incredible artists, incredible designers who design and create these incredible shoes 06:15.100 --> 06:19.800 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% PAUL SOLMAN: Most famously, Tinker Hatfield, the Nike designer behind the most iconic Air 06:20.333 --> 06:22.333 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% Jordans. 06:22.333 --> 06:24.900 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% TINKER HATFIELD, Nike Designer: It's not just scribbling on a piece of paper and coming 06:24.900 --> 06:26.400 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% up with a design. 06:26.400 --> 06:30.066 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% It's a lot of effort that goes into trying to be meaningful 06:30.066 --> 06:35.066 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% PAUL SOLMAN: A legend in the sneaker world, he got mainstream attention via a Netflix 06:35.666 --> 06:37.700 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% documentary. 06:37.700 --> 06:41.200 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% YU-MING WU: He saw architecture as inspiration for sneakers, and I believe he is a Leonardo 06:45.066 --> 06:47.700 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% da Vinci of the sneaker world. 06:47.700 --> 06:52.600 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% PAUL SOLMAN: So when you say Tinker Hatfield is the Leonardo of sneakers, are you equating 06:52.600 --> 06:55.100 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% the achievements of Leonardo, say? 06:55.100 --> 07:00.166 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% YU-MING WU: Centuries from today, we will look back at Tinker Hatfield and consider 07:01.300 --> 07:03.566 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% him to be one of the most incredible artists. 07:03.566 --> 07:08.566 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% PAUL SOLMAN: And centuries from now, maybe a pair of Air Jordans will sell for $450 million, 07:10.033 --> 07:13.700 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% as da Vinci's Salvator Mundi recently did. 07:13.700 --> 07:16.400 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% Who knows? 07:16.400 --> 07:18.666 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% As concert promoter Darryll Brooks put it: 07:18.666 --> 07:19.666 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% DARRYLL BROOKS, Concert Promoter: Value is in the eye of the beholder. 07:19.666 --> 07:20.866 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% Some people collect things. 07:20.866 --> 07:22.933 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% I'm a collector, but not of sneakers. 07:22.933 --> 07:23.966 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% When you were a kid, when they were collecting G.I. 07:23.966 --> 07:25.466 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% Joes, you had a set of G.I. 07:25.466 --> 07:26.466 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% Joes. 07:26.466 --> 07:27.566 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% Don't tell me you didn't. 07:27.566 --> 07:29.200 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% PAUL SOLMAN: I didn't. 07:29.200 --> 07:30.733 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% I never had a G.I. 07:30.733 --> 07:32.633 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% Joe in my life. 07:32.633 --> 07:36.733 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% But I did collect a variety of things, minerals, baseball cards. 07:38.266 --> 07:40.100 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% DARRYLL BROOKS: Same thing, different generation. 07:40.100 --> 07:41.400 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% I got old cars. 07:41.400 --> 07:44.500 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% But these kids wouldn't look at my cars. 07:44.500 --> 07:46.033 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% They would say, ah. 07:46.033 --> 07:47.500 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% What would they do with a 1976 Eldorado convertible? 07:47.500 --> 07:48.733 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% They probably wouldn't know what the heck that was. 07:48.733 --> 07:50.066 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% It would look like a big boat to them. 07:50.066 --> 07:51.500 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% But it isn't a big boat to me. 07:51.500 --> 07:52.500 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% I love it. 07:52.500 --> 07:54.566 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% (LAUGHTER) 07:54.566 --> 07:57.233 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% PAUL SOLMAN: As the 20,000 people in New York for the convention, and millions more around 07:57.233 --> 08:01.700 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% the country, love their sneakers, so long as they're the real thing. 08:01.700 --> 08:06.533 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% For the "PBS NewsHour," this is economics correspondent Paul Solman,, the real Paul 08:06.533 --> 08:11.533 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% Solman.