(5/8) 2023: SneakerCon day 1
As is with most things, I think I saw the ad on IG: 'Sneakercon headed to the Bay Area'...and this time, instead of ignoring it, I knew I had to figure out a way to make it happen. Why? I think I just wanted some validation. Or I was bored. Or...I dunno...tired of being left out. I figured...at worst...I'd lose a few bucks. At most...I'd learn more about my 'target demographic'. And maybe I'd be able to get a few eyes on my product that wouldn't have landed there anyway. Maybe a few new IG followers, etc. Lots of upside, with money being the only downside. Why not? So I booked a table.
Thing was, tho, I was afraid.
I was afraid of doing it alone. I was afraid of showing up...not knowing anyone in the convention world...and...ultimately...being judged. I was deathly afraid of ending up on someones shitty engagement farming tiktoks with something like 'check out this old guy selling sneaker cards at a sneaker convention lol wut'...so...I put my feelers out there to see if anyone was interested in splitting a table with me...
And another thing is, though, at this age, I just don't have many *actual* friends in the sneaker business...most of them have their own lives doing their own things and if they asked me to join them at their hobby-related conventions, I'd probably be like 'wut?' I asked a handful of people I thought might find some value in it, and no one was really able to do it. And then I remembered my friend from China was going to be in town (the first time in 4+ years)...my friend from China who sells and resells streetwear. So I asked him and he agreed to join me.
Fast forward a couple of weeks we're on our way. After a slow start to the morning, we make it to the events center a short time before the doors are set to open and I'm visibly shaken (this is what happens to me when I'm anxious and scared and unsure of what to expect). We pack the wagon and walk up to the vendors entrance and they usher us to a table close to where we just were...I immediately start setting up thinking 'WE ARE THE LAST PEOPLE HERE AND I AM NOT GOING TO HAVE ENOUGH TIME BEFORE THESE CREATURES START WALKING THROUGH HERE JUDGING AND FILMING ME I HAVE TO GET THIS DONE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE SO THAT I DON'T MAKE A FOOL OF MYSELF AND...' so I just focused on the task at hand. I just set it up as quick as possible. And I finished with several minutes to spare. And everything was fine. Because...I was just being totally irrational.
As we are sitting there waiting for the action to kick off, I notice a couple of other vendors coming by to check out the booth. A few guys come by and tell me that my booth is full of the most original stuff they've seen in years (the guys from @sole_loco tell me this), and a few others are walking around with cameras and guides...it's jarring. A couple of other guys that I recognize - Mike from RedwoodSF and the dude from KardsandKicks come by to say hello...and then this dude I went to college with swings by - him and his kid run the @letskickitsf booth and we start choppin it up heavy...these are all good signs, but I still feel super nervous. It's great that these guys that I know personally care, but what about the general public? Are they going to care?
I make note of the tables around us. To our left - a group of high school kids with their used (hype) shoes. To our right - a guy selling plushies. Behind us - a cute chick selling her kaws x supreme x nike art on canvases. My buddy from China recognizes the guy across from us as being a famous dancer - he's selling some hype shoes. But overall, the competition looks weak, IMO, compared to what I've managed to create...
Before the show starts, some dude keeps bringing the guy with the plushies random hype shoes. I gather that he is walking around the convention hand-picking steals and is gonna try to turn around and have Mr. Plushie flip them over the course of the day. He puts 3 pairs of AJ 4 x SB's and a pair of Orange Lobster Dunks on the edge of the table next to my side and keeps the prime real estate for his plushies.
And then the door opens. And folks start walking in and walking by. A few times, I get excited when I see someones eyes light up and make a beeline for my table...only to see their hand extend and grab Mr. Plushies SB4's or Lobsters near the edge of my table. The first hour or so is a bit disheartening.
But then...I dunno what happens...maybe people have walked through and already got what they wanted so now is their time to see what else exists...and people start stopping by and asking for certain shoes on cards and before I know it, I'm starting to sell things. Not a lot...but enough. Every 4 seconds someones eyes light up for the SB4's, but no one is buying them. He was trying to charge $500 for the shoe when StockX was significantly lower, which makes me think it was ALL a marketing tactic: find the MOST POPULAR SHOE ON STOCKX and even if you don't intend on selling it it will still bring customers to your table. I watched him upsell a few plushies this way. Noted.
Throughout the day, I remember seeing some of my students (from East Oakland) and a couple of people I knew from online. I met a few more people, a few more startup folks and ended up making a few hundred dollars in sales, all off of cards. If I were to pinpoint the crowd - I would say it were more hypebeasts and high school kids than it was anything. Kind of disappointing. One of my top 10 dead or alive rappers - @e40 - was Saturdays special guest and...I dunno...I love e40 but really felt he had no reason being there. I don't know if I've ever seen him wear anything we'd consider 'sneakerheads sneakers' and when they interviewed him it was obvious that he had no clue as to what was going on...I didn't even bother trying to see him:
Interviewer: '40, what's your favorite shoe?'
40: 'um, I like the Air Maxes'
Interviewer: 'which ones?'
40: 'um, ALL OF UM'
Huh? I hope stacked some loot for his guest appearance, but I don't care about his opinion on shoes so didn't even bother looking for him.
At the end of the day, my buddy and I discussed whether or not it'd be worth it to come on Sunday, and, being that I already dropped ~$1k just to be there (fees, hotel, food, gas, etc.), I said I wanted to go for at least half the day on Sunday just for the hell of it. He agreed and I went back to the telly to get a good nights sleep.