// Nike warns retailers on cutting supplies of limited edition trainers if they do not stop staff quietly offering them to resellers
// Limited edition trainers sees demand outstrip supply, prompting them to sell for more than double the retail price in the resale market
// Resellers found to “tap up” store staff for additional supply and create bots to avoid queues on Nike websites
Nike has launched a crack down on retailers by threatening cut supplies of limited edition designer trainers if they do not stop staff quietly offering them to resellers.
According to The Sunday Times, the sportswear giant has warned retail partners that it would restrict supplies of its newest products amid concerns many find their way to individual operators who then “flip” or sell them on for profits.
Nike tightly controls the supply of limited edition trainers – such as the Air Jordans and Max Dunks – through product campaigns known as “drops”, which attract huge crowds to stores and drive traffic to the brand’s website.
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Often the limited edition trainers sees demand outstrip supply, prompting the products to often sell for more than double the retail price in the resale market.
The Sunday Times reported that potential profits made through reselling have encouraged resellers to “tap up” store staff for additional supply and create bots to avoid queues on Nike websites.
This subsequently makes it difficult for actual Nike customers to secure the new trainers.
Nike is reportedly set to notify customers on this issue by increasing the supply of limited edition trainers in its drops.
The news comes shortly after found that the son of Nike’s North America general manager, Ann Herbert, was making more than $50,000 a month reselling limited edition trainers online.
Herbert resigned shortly after Bloomberg Businessweek story broke in February.
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