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I used to work as a developer on a large sneaker site based in the UK (Crooked Tongues). Before then I had just thought of sneakers as something you wear. One o

I used to work as a developer on a large sneaker site based in the UK (Crooked Tongues). Before then I had just thought of sneakers as something you wear. One of the guys I worked with was heavily into it and since we would get a (heavy) discount he'd suggest pairs to me I should buy purely as an investment. I think the best return I had was nearly quadrupling my money on a pair of Air Jordan 5s. One of the last projects I worked on at the agency was a book of rare and collectables [1] - I think at one point we had the equivalent of half a million dollars sat behind my desk (the large yellow box in the middle is the Nike "Air Mag" Marty Mc Fly sneaker they mention in the article) [2]. After all this I understood a hell of a lot more that there's money in anything when enough people want it. Sounds obvious, but I didn't fully appreciate it until then. That and the power of marketing to create value out of thin air. [1] http://www.thamesandhudsonusa.com/books/sneakers-the-complete-limited-editions-guide-hardcover http://www.thamesandhudsonusa.com/books/sneakers-the-complet... [2] https://i.imgur.com/bO6nYts.png https://i.imgur.com/bO6nYts.png

patrickbynu 9y ago
> a large sneaker site based in the UK You don't call them sneakers in the UK though do you? I thought you called them 'trainers'.
- _asummers 9y ago
  I've heard "runners" as well.
- bartread 9y ago
  Not in general parlance, but people know what sneakers are, and certainly those into collecting would probably use the term.
- jaymzcampbell 9y ago
  Within the office and industry, it was "sneakers" everywhere. [1]. All the guys in the office and anyone seriously collecting or lurking on the forums pretty much always said "sneakers". Anyone who wasn't into the scene though would say trainers. I'm from Northern Ireland, so until I moved to the "mainland" I actually referred to them as "guddies". [2] [1] https://web.archive.org/web/20131031030318/http://www.crookedtongues.com:80/ https://web.archive.org/web/20131031030318/http://www.crooke... [2] https://www.inyourpocket.com/belfast/How-till-spake-Norn-Iron-A-guide-to-local-phrases_70619f?&page=1 https://www.inyourpocket.com/belfast/How-till-spake-Norn-Iro...
  - sosa2k 9y ago
    What about "creps"?
- dboreham 9y ago
  Gym Shoes. Or if you're my Dad: Plimsolls.
danielrmay 9y ago
Interesting! Over the last few years, as popularity has seemingly increased, I've noticed more and more the use of bots to speed up the checkout process and ensure that fans don't miss out on "drops". Did you see any of this while you were working there, and did you work on anything to try and combat this? Very curious as to whether this is recognised and active measures are put in place to discourage the behaviour.
- jaymzcampbell 9y ago
  Nope. Big drop days where always sold out in minutes if that. The main thing we would do is add additional capacity before launch or for certain releases limit the amount in any one particular basket. Other than that we'd ban IPs that were hammering the site but didn't look out for anything automated. If the money cleared for the transaction then we delivered. We never saw anything particularly weird (like a whole size run shipping to one address) from 2008 - 2013. The site itself ended up sold to ASOS after that and they took it all in-house until they eventually killed it [1]. [1] https://www.drapersonline.com/news/asos-closes-footwear-etailer-crooked-tongues/5071419.article https://www.drapersonline.com/news/asos-closes-footwear-etai...
e12e 9y ago
> I understood a hell of a lot more that there's money in anything when enough people want it. Sounds obvious, but I didn't fully appreciate it until then. That and the power of marketing to create value out of thin air. Reminds me of: "Experience: I mine for 100-year-old jeans" https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/sep/25/experience-i-mine-for-denim https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/sep/25/experie...

patrickbynu 9y ago

> a large sneaker site based in the UK You don't call them sneakers in the UK though do you? I thought you called them 'trainers'.

_asummers 9y ago
I've heard "runners" as well.
bartread 9y ago
Not in general parlance, but people know what sneakers are, and certainly those into collecting would probably use the term.
jaymzcampbell 9y ago
Within the office and industry, it was "sneakers" everywhere. [1]. All the guys in the office and anyone seriously collecting or lurking on the forums pretty much always said "sneakers". Anyone who wasn't into the scene though would say trainers. I'm from Northern Ireland, so until I moved to the "mainland" I actually referred to them as "guddies". [2] [1] https://web.archive.org/web/20131031030318/http://www.crookedtongues.com:80/ https://web.archive.org/web/20131031030318/http://www.crooke... [2] https://www.inyourpocket.com/belfast/How-till-spake-Norn-Iron-A-guide-to-local-phrases_70619f?&page=1 https://www.inyourpocket.com/belfast/How-till-spake-Norn-Iro...
- sosa2k 9y ago
  What about "creps"?
dboreham 9y ago
Gym Shoes. Or if you're my Dad: Plimsolls.

danielrmay 9y ago

Interesting! Over the last few years, as popularity has seemingly increased, I've noticed more and more the use of bots to speed up the checkout process and ensure that fans don't miss out on "drops". Did you see any of this while you were working there, and did you work on anything to try and combat this? Very curious as to whether this is recognised and active measures are put in place to discourage the behaviour.

jaymzcampbell 9y ago
Nope. Big drop days where always sold out in minutes if that. The main thing we would do is add additional capacity before launch or for certain releases limit the amount in any one particular basket. Other than that we'd ban IPs that were hammering the site but didn't look out for anything automated. If the money cleared for the transaction then we delivered. We never saw anything particularly weird (like a whole size run shipping to one address) from 2008 - 2013. The site itself ended up sold to ASOS after that and they took it all in-house until they eventually killed it [1]. [1] https://www.drapersonline.com/news/asos-closes-footwear-etailer-crooked-tongues/5071419.article https://www.drapersonline.com/news/asos-closes-footwear-etai...

e12e 9y ago

> I understood a hell of a lot more that there's money in anything when enough people want it. Sounds obvious, but I didn't fully appreciate it until then. That and the power of marketing to create value out of thin air. Reminds me of: "Experience: I mine for 100-year-old jeans" https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/sep/25/experience-i-mine-for-denim https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/sep/25/experie...