Adidas links with StockX on new blind-bid retail model

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Oct 23, 2019

Sneaker resale specialist StockX recently linked up with Adidas on a “new IPO retail model [that] lets customers ‘blind-bid’ for adidas Campus 80s”.

The company said its new model is “set to disrupt the retail industry,” with 'IPO' in this case standing for Initial Product Offering. It involved Adidas releasing a limited-edition drop of 330 pairs of those Campus 80s sneakers – created by three designers from around the world – directly onto the StockX platform. And customers could then blind-bid for them over the course of three days, “allowing the consumer rather than the brand to set the price for a brand new product”.

It’s certainly an interesting idea with StockX CEO Scott Cutler saying it was the first time that such a brand had come direct into the marketplace and allowed the consumer to dictate the price that they’re willing to pay for rare, one-of-a-kind sneakers. “When it came down to it, the average clearing price was a little over $200 across all three, and 90% of the bidders paid less than what they bid on the sneakers,” he added.

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The Adidas link-up was the first international ‘IPO’ from the mainly-resale platform and saw over 10,000 bids, most of them from the US, but 20% from outside of that country.

A previous StockX IPO in collaboration with American jeweller Ben Baller had been for 800 pairs of slider flip-flops, and attracted bids ranging from $50 to $1 million, we're told.