The problem of resellers gobbling up sneakers before they go on sale isn't unique to Nike - you see it happen frequently with Adidas' Yeezy line - but because the Swoosh is the clear leader in hype, its shoes are the most commonly amassed. Still, some of the accumulated sneakers are indeed authentic - and we have to ask how Nike is still allowing this to happen?

Numerous Instagram accounts have posted their stashes of the glittery sneaker, and a nontrivial number of them are bound to be fake (which presents a whole other problem). Here we go again - We're seeing this familiar phenomenon play out once more with the upcoming Trophy Room Air Jordan 1s. You may also wonder how the hell it is they accumulated so many of the sneakers that most people can't even land a single pair of. You wish just one pair could be yours, and you know that you're looking at thousands of dollars in profits. A young man, probably younger than you, poses with his spoils or showcases a brick wall of sneaker boxes that rivals a fraternity's supply of 30 racks. If you're active in sneakers social media, you know the image. Knowing that a good portion of your competitors is only in it for a quick profit spoils a lot of the fun and steals away all hope - a feeling that's only amplified when you see the braggarts on social media posting stockpiles of a single sneaker that rivals entire collections in quantity.

Making matters worse is the prevalence of buyers who have no interest in owning the shoes, whose sole goal is to sell them at an upcharge to someone who was unfortunate enough to miss out on any given sneaker's original drop. Supply is always scant compared to demand, and the whole game is essentially harder to win than the Powerball lottery. Even when the Nike SNKRS app is fully operational, which is far from a given, anyone attempting to buy a coveted pair of sneakers knows the odds are stacked against them.

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