How expensive can sneakers really get? A couple of grands TOPS! Right? Well, the most expensive sneakers in the world go for a little bit more than that.
But, to be completely honest, it’s a lot more than a ‘little bit’! We’re talking about resale reaching all the way to OVER a MILLION dollars! Therefore, we’ve got a list of the most expensive sneakers sold at auctions in the world. Stacking up the biggest wads of cash in the world! It’s actually insane. You’ll see what we mean!
The Most Expensive Sneakers in the WORLD!
So, we’re not here to talk about the most expensive sneakers this year. Not even from the past 5 years, 10 years, or even 20 years! We’re here to talk about the most expensive sneakers in the entire sneaker industry to date!
These are the kicks that really tipped the scales for the resale market as a whole. Feeding the giant beast’s insatiable appetite for hyped sneakers! Are you burning with curiosity yet? We know we are!
#1 Nike Air Yeezy I Prototype
1.8 MILLION Dollars
Before Kanye joined the Three Stripes, he worked alongside the Swoosh! Together they created one of the most expensive sneakers in the world! The Nike Air Yeezy I “Prototype”! It currently holds the title for MOST expensive sneaker ever with a whopping price tag of 1.8 MILLION dollars!
In April 2021, auction house Sotheby’s sold Kanye West’s sneaker for 1.8 MILLION U.S. dollars. It is one of the rarest sneakers ever released and was first spotted during Ye’s Grammy performance in 2008.
#2 Game-Worn Air Jordan 1 Shattered Backboard
615 THOUSAND Dollars
Next! The second of the most expensive sneakers in the world is the game-worn 1985 Nike Air Jordan 1 Chicago. This is the Jordan that MJ wore during the pre-season game in Italy where he famously shattered a backboard! The backboard was obviously not ready to take one of his signature high-flying DUNKS!
The pair auctioned off with a piece of glass stuck in the soles of the left shoe! It sold for 615 THOUSAND U.S. dollars!
#3 Game-Worn Air Jordan 1
560 THOUSAND Dollars
Moving on! In third place for the most expensive sneakers in the world is the Air Jordan 1 Chicago – game-worn and signed! It is a 1985 autographed Jordan that Sotheby auctioned for 560 THOUSAND dollars in May of 2020!
The Jordan was a Player Sample and custom-made for MJ’s Jordan size in 13 and 13.5. These are some of the most valuable kicks in Jordan history.
#4 Nike Moon Shoe
437.5 THOUSAND Dollar
So, Nike doesn’t seem to wanna give up the title of having the most expensive sneakers in the world! Fourth up on this list is none other than a Swoosh too: the Nike Moon Shoe of 1972! Back in 2019, Sotheby’s auctioned off these musty kicks for 437.5 THOUSAND dollars to sneaker collector Miles Nadal.
Nike co-founder, Bill Bowerman, designed these waffle-soled kicks for the 1972 Olympic Trials – they’re one of 12 pairs in existence!
#5 Nike Mag 2016 Back to the Future
200 THOUSAND Dollars
At this point, we can’t even feign the surprise that this is another Nike. they’ve got the list of most expensive sneakers in the bag! But, this one happens to be a much more recent sneaker! The Nike Mag Auto-Lace of 2016 sold off for 200 THOUSAND dollars in the same year. The Michael J.Fox Gala held the auction to sell the final pair of Nike Mags!
It was the live auction of the last three self-lacing mags in existence. The first live auction in Shanghai sold for $105,000, and the second in London for 56,000. The last Mag, worn by Marty McFly in Back to the Future II, sold for $200,000!
#6 Game-Worn Converse Fastbreak
190.4 THOUSAND Dollars
Seeing that we’ve had nothing but Swoosh action for the 5 listings, it’s time to shake it up a bit! Well, not really.
The 6th one of the most expensive sneakers on this list happens to be the Converse Fastbreak – a subsidiary of Nike. MJ wore these sneakers to win the 1984 Olympic Gold medal against Spain. It is the game that marked his career as a pro basketball player and sold for 190.37 THOUSAND dollars. They were sold at SCP Auctions – autographed, of course! These were the last shoes that Jordan wore as an ‘amateur’.
# 7 Game-Worn Air Jordan 7 Olympic
112.5 THOUSAND Dollars
Moving on! More on the most expensive sneaker in the world, we’ve got yet another Jordan! It’s pretty obvious who put these kicks on the list – the GOAT MJ himself! The game-worn Air Jordan 7 Olympic was the star of the 1992 U.S. men’s Olympics. Michael Jordan wore these kicks while playing with the Dream Team and scored an Olympic gold medal!
Jordan reportedly gifted this pair to a receptionist at the hotel he stayed at in Barcelona. It was later auctioned off for 112.5 THOUSAND dollars at the Original Air auction in 2020.
#8 Game-Worn Air Jordan 12 Flu Game
104.76 THOUSAND Dollars
Next up! We’re looking at the sneaker that MJ wore during one of the most monumental moments in basketball history. The AJ12 Flu Game is one of the most expensive sneakers with a resale of 104.765 THOUSAND dollars!
MJ wore it to Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals against Utah Jazz in a complete flu-frenzy! He had bad pizza the night before and probably had food poisoning. But, even on his bad days, Jordan still managed to win the game with 38 points! Former ball boy, Preston Truman, sold these kicks via an online auction in 2013!
#9 Air Jordan 11 Jeter
40 THOUSAND Dollars
Finally, the last but definitely not the least of the most expensive sneakers – the Air Jordan 11 Jeter! Jeter is one of the greatest New York Yankees of ALL TIME! So, it wasn’t much of a surprise that he got his own Jordan collaboration – one of the rarest to date.
And so, to commemorate his retirement in 2017, Jordan came out with only five pairs of sneakers. They sold in a special pop-up auction near Yankee Stadium through a scratch-off lottery system. Sneaker consignment store, Stadium Goods has a pair listed at an outrageous price of 40 THOUSAND dollars!
In conclusion, the odds are we won’t ever get our hands on these most expensive sneakers anytime soon. But, we’ll still settle for sneakers reselling for like $20 bucks over retail! We can live with that! Granted, we might not make 10 GRANDS per release. BUT, copping in bulk might help get closer! So, click on the button below to find out how!
