Good luck getting your hands on any Kobe Bryant gear.
The late NBA All-Star Lakers jerseys, Nike sneakers and other similar paraphernalia have been flying off virtual and real shelves since the fatal helicopter crash that killed Bryant and eight others, including his 13-year-old daughter. years, Gianna, Sunday.
ESPN reported on Monday that Nike NKE,
was removing Bryant-related products from Nike.com to “limit the ability of dealers to stock an inventory of existing products, only to sell them in the aftermarket at high prices.”
But the sportswear giant confirmed to MarketWatch by email on Tuesday that, on the contrary, Nike’s website had completely sold out Kobe Bryant’s sneakers and merchandise.
“I’m not surprised their products are out of stock because Nike wouldn’t have stocked a huge amount,” Matt Powell, NPD Group’s sports analyst, told MarketWatch via email, as sales of Bryant’s sneakers were “well behind” active players like LeBron. James and Kyrie Irving.
But again, he added, “We have never had such a prestigious product endorser pass at such a young age.”
Many grieving sports fans have reported that local and online stores have been emptied of Mamba merchandise, although the The NBA Online Store still has the iconic purple and gold jerseys for $ 300, plus commemorative plaques starting at $ 29.99 and a full size removable wall sticker for $ 99.99.
The Los Angeles Times’ Kobe Bryant special edition dedicated to the hometown star also sold on Monday. It’s available out of stock for $ 15 and will ship within the next two to four weeks.
The search for Bryant’s products on the Nike website now directs potential buyers to a purple and yellow Nike gift card with the Los Angeles Lakers logo, or the company’s statement in response to Bryant’s untimely death:
The couple have had a long and lucrative partnership. Nike signed a four-year, $ 40 million contract with Bryant in 2003, when he was 24 years old. Bryant teamed up with Nike to create the Mamba League kids’ basketball program after retiring from the NBA in 2016. And his line of sneakers with Nike is one of the best-selling in history. basketball, Sports Illustrated rated, with many active NBA players like Lakers forward Anthony Davis and Houston Rockets forward PJ Tucker wearing his designs.
While Nike has dismissed the claim that it has stopped selling Kobe gear to prevent profits, other stores have openly taken action to prevent it. Denver-based sneaker store Vices has removed all of Bryant’s merchandise from its retail space, and Vegas-based sneaker dealer Urban Necessities is also taking action to prevent people from profiting from Bryant’s death. Reported complex.
Indeed, the pairs of Bryant sneakers that were resold for $ 200 on consignment platforms like StockX soared overnight to over $ 1,200 after his death. The Observer reported As of 10 a.m. on Monday, there were 65,147 pieces of Bryant memorabilia listed on eBay EBAY,
or about 14,000 additional articles from 12 hours before. A search at 2 p.m. Tuesday showed more than 63,000 pieces, including a signed 1996 Topps Chrome Kobe Bryant rookie card for $ 1 million.
This Kobe Bryant autographed rookie card is auctioned off on eBay for $ 1 million.
eBay
For example, the owner of Urban Necessities, Jaysse Lopez, sent a letter to his shippers stating that “we will not allow price changes on Kobe items that are returnable. If you have increased the prices of Kobe items, we will reduce the price to the original price.
And in a commentary on a Instagram post, which is owned by Facebook FB,
Lopez wrote that this kind of tragedy price hike is “not how I built my brand or how I need to make a dollar.”
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