The sneaker industry is a fickle fickle thing. No, but, for real now, it takes one event for a pair of sneakers to lose their value or vice versa! And in today’s case, it’s a huge loss, especially for those who paid $1.8 million to buy the Nike Air Yeezy Grammy Sample. After being THE most expensive sneaker to go at an auction, these kicks certainly fell from grace. Here’s everything that went down and how much the pair lost of its value! But before you do, make sure you take a look at the history of the Nike Air Yeezys. That’s like the ABC for sneakerheads, so there’s that!
Sotheby’s Cashed in BIG TIME in 2021
Two years ago, Sotheby’s shook the industry with one of the rarest Nike Air Yeezys. That was the sample pair that Kanye West himself wore at the 2008 Grammys. These babies resurfaced in 2021 at the Sotheby’s website and were available for private sale. And if you were anywhere near the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre between April 16 and 21, you could’ve caught a glimpse of the kicks there. Anyway, the kicks ended up selling for a hefty $1.8 million and became the most expensive kicks EVER! You can read more about that here.
A Legendary Loss for a Legendary Shoe
A Legendary Loss for a Legendary ShoeTwo years after the Sotheby’s sale, the Grammy Nike Air Yeezy resurfaced on Goldin. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s another collectible marketplace where you can bid for items. The platform listed the Grammy Air Yeezy Sample for a starting price of $50,000. Of course, they probably expected the kicks’ value to shoot up. Unfortunately, the story didn’t end as happily as it did back in 2021.
You see, the kicks eventually sold for $180,106. It’s a pretty impressive number if only it wasn’t for the value of the 2021 sale. In fact, the kicks lost about 90% of their value, $1,619,894 to be specific. (We’re pretty sure someone fainted somewhere after this went down).
What Happened?
Well, a lot went down between 2021 and 2023, mainly the Adidas Kanye breakup. And well, it seems like the value of these kicks tanked, just like Ye’s net worth! Don’t feel too bad about either just yet though. Both Kanye and his kicks are still worth a lot more money than you think. The man is still worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and the Air Yeezy Grammy Sample is worth more than some people make in a year! This kinda makes you wanna invest in sneakers, doesn’t it? If you wanna do that, make sure you know how to cop sneakers for retail by clicking the button below!
