• The rush before a drop.
• The frustration of site issues, crashes, lag, etc.
• The hope of a successful checkout.
• The devastation of getting the L.
• Hope renewed during a restock.
• Devastated one or two more times or perhaps, salvation.
• The disappointment when the price of that W starts tanking.
• The confusion when this is an in-demand item. Really? No, really?
• The abysmal dismay when seeing the success of others.
• The pangs when you keep seeing TS1 appearing on social media channels.
• The promise of doing this yet again.

I missed out on most hyped releases, but again, just gotta keep things in perspective. Although they are just shoes, I wouldn’t have minded a pair or two (hint, hint Travis Scott).

From a security standpoint, this is probably better, but when you’re in a time crunch trying to cop kicks, this delay is deadly. Seemingly I can’t quickly log into PayPal OneTouch without having to authorize this access. To make this worse, PayPal and Safari has failed authentication many times today showing a white screen and not actually finishing the transaction.

A bug or a ploy to further the adoption and use of Apple Pay??

Thank you for your order. We are currently out-of-stock, however…

The accompanying text is below:

PLEASE WAIT…
You are probably seeing this because something HOT is going on right now — a new release, a restock, or something like that.
In the meantime, let us explain…
Shoe Palace has the fairest and most-advanced system in the marketplace. We offer great chances of copping a pair of hot kicks. Our release process is built around two principles:Our system meters out the products over a couple hours. We do this so that you don’t have to have to be there the second it launches and compete against the bots.
Our advanced software monitors each user. If you are a bot, constantly refreshing your browser, being impatient or obnoxious enough, the system will automatically reduce your chances or ban you from the site. Patience and persistence will be rewarded. Play nice.
HINT: For the best chances, try no more than every two minutes. Use the handy timer above to help you know when your next chance may be up.

So every two minutes, you have to manually click on Try Again button and go through the shoe sizing picking process again. Then you hope you don’t get the timer again (which you will, time after time after time). It’s maddening although I have heard that if you persist, you have a legitimate shot of a successful check out. Too painful for me…

After a long time, I eventually got through the queue, added my shoe, and checked out. But then I was hit with yet another queue, and after I cleared this delay, my order was invalid due stock issues.

Then just to irk me some more, I later get an email from Finish Line suggesting we complete my order.

Hmmm, maybe a chance at redemption? Clicking on the Complete Checkout button, I get this.

Aw, boo times two.

Doing the #rossfinds however, there are usually little to no expectations. Sure, you hope to find something good, but you know that for every store you enter, you expect to leave emptyhanded. I guess that’s why finding a gem is that much sweeter.

I can’t quite tell which is worse though – tracking the success stories of those #coppingkicks or doing the #rossfinds. I guess monitoring either one sets unrealistically high expectations for yourself. Sure, it can be fun to indulge and imagine similar success, but in both cases, set realistic expectations.

So here it goes. When doing the #rossfinds thing, you’re hoping to score men’s shoes sized 9-12. These are the most common men’s sizes, so therefore, you have the largest audience of potential customers. Check out this size run of the recent Yeezy Zebra release that illustrates the size breakdown.

Although not 100% accurate (that 85 size 8.5 was an admitted typo), you get the idea of the size distribution with size 9-12 dominating the size run. Here’s a graphical view showing the bell-shaped results.

Now let’s flip it around for #coppingkicks. This strategy targets the extremes. Success with #coppingkicks means copping kicks as small or as big as possible. You want the size 6 or 16. In this market, you avoid the common sizes. You target the small supply to drive the high demand and accordingly, the high cost. Reselling the common sizes aka bricks won’t lead to profit and in fact, could lead to losses. The lower sizes aka “bae sizes” are for the women, youngsters, and small footers. The larger sizes are more of a gamble since the population of size 16-ers isn’t common, but they need fresh kicks too.

The basic idea is to own one of the 256 size 4 shoes and have more bargaining power than one of the 1316 in a size 9.5. It’s the basic principle of supply and demand at work.

Need a full blown Windows Data Center server? Head to Google’s Cloud Platform and spin one up in seconds. Now you have a remote server to launch your bot assault. Oh wait, you need proxies to differentiate your origin? Scripts are available to create proxies by the masses. Delete when done (or banned) and go again. It’s unreal.

But all of this comes with a cost that should make you think twice about wanting to cop kicks at the high end. All of that mentioned above will cost you. Software bots can range from a few hundred to a thousand dollars and most have periodic renewal subscriptions to keep them active. But a good bot works even better when it knows when to get to work, so you’ll need to pay for a monitor. While you can create your own proxy servers using established tech like Squid, you can also rent them as needed. All set? Not quite. With all this infrastructure, some shoe sites like Nike require valid user accounts to make purchases. After signing up all eligible family members, you have like what, 3 or 4 verified Nike accounts? People can buy verified accounts by the dozen. Configure your bot to send tasks to various proxies using different accounts, and now you’re ready to buy the trendiest out there. Except that there are many, many more with this same exact setup and even better. So after this investment, there’s still no guarantee of #coppingkicks.

Just on a personal sidetrack, it seems like slot providers are the most economical route for personal pairs of shoes. Someone with all the tech sells a “slot” for a shoe release. If the bot for that slot successfully makes a purchase then the shoe is yours after paying a fee to the slot provider for this success. Pay After Success (PAS) fees vary depending on the shoe but can be $75-$200. But if you compare the cost of the bot software, proxies, and accounts, and doing it yourself, that PAS fee is reasonable. You won’t make any personal profit, but you probably have a better chance of landing that shoe you coveted.

So my takeaway from #coppingkicks is to stay away unless you’re willing to spend the time and money to educate and digitally arm yourself.

You see, I didn’t realize what ATC links were while #coppingkicks. And in a frenzy trying to purchase profitable Off-White Air Force Ones, caution is greatly diminished due to time constraints. You remember that I told you online buys are measured in seconds. Think too long, and the item is gone. So you just gotta go!

That’s where ATC links come in. These links are Add To Cart, and they do just that. Click on an ATC link, and the associated item is added to a store’s cart and is ready for purchase. Much faster, of course, but you should be cognizant of what you’re adding to cart. In my case, the black Off-White AF1 had released (aka dropped), and restocks were happening. In a string of many notifications for the restocking black OW AF1, I managed to click on an ATC link that led me to a shoe ready for checkout. I successfully completed the order only to discover that I hadn’t purchased an Off-White but instead, I got the Adidas 98 x Crazy BYW Never Made. What’s that you ask? It’s a modernizatin\on of the old Kobe Crazy 8 shoe.

You see during the black OW AF1 restock, the black Crazy 8 shoe was released, mixing the notifications of the two shoes into a fast stream of information. And since you just gotta go, I didn’t notice that the black low-top shoe I added to cart was not an AF1.

Anyone interested in buying this pair of kicks? Actually things could have been worse. Since they are in my size, they are salvagable, and I do have a penchat for old school kicks with modern day tech like the Boost infused in these.

Perhaps I found my badminton shoe for 2019…

With #rossfinds, you’re looking at discounted items, so costs of items are accordingly discounted. The risk of buying these items are much lower. While bombing on an $80 shoe that doesn’t sell is tough, absorbing that hit is more tolerable. If nothing at all, a #rossfinds purchase can be returned within 30 days of purchase, and past 30 days, you’ll get a store credit. Granted a store credit is funds destined to that store, but you can ideally find another #rossfinds to flip. Rewards with #rossfinds are moderate. Sure, you can find gems once in awhile but don’t expect a homerun each time you visit a Ross. There’s nothing wrong with $20-30 profit per item sold and a steady stream of $20 profits does add up over time.

On the other end, #coppingkicks goes for the homerun each time and even more. It’s all about scooping up the limited items and maximizing resale value. Typically costing$100-200, pairs of kicks are often sold with no returns. Nike and Adidas offer solid return experiences, but they are the exceptions. Most stores sell high end kicks as all sales final. If you land desired items, profits can easily exceed $100 per item. But if your risks turn into bricks, you just lots of money with nary a recourse for recovery. Hopefully, you can sell the items at retail price or even take a partial lost which is better than a full loss.

So you need to figure out your risk-reward comfort level. While it’s fun when you see those high expense sales, it could be intermittent, scattered with pricely mistakes. Or are you willing to trudge along gradually building up revenue?

Shopping for deals or for exclusives still takes time, either in-store or online. There’s just no way around it. However purchasing time online is measured in seconds (or even faster). A few seconds late and the exclusives are gone. Sold out – bought by bots or those with faster fingers (or better luck).

There’s also prepping for online launches. Creating accounts on various shopping sites and ensuring autofill is ready to go for each browser user all rob you of time. And if you want, you need to spend time reading up and learning about releases. Of course, none of this preparation guarantees success when buying exclusives, but without this preparation, you essentially have no chance.

Time for #rossfinds is in the realm of hours, days, and perhaps even months. Sourcing is primarily done in-person, going through the racks of Ross and other discount stores. Then listing and eventually selling an item can go for days to months.

So the obvious takeaway is that reselling takes time (and commitment). If you’re not willing to invest the time, then you need to look elsewhere.