Saturday, May 28, 2022

"A large sneaker reseller in [Oregon] has collapsed owing millions of dollars to customers"

Oregon Live:

Zadeh Kicks’ founder ... called the Eugene Police Department asking for police protection. [He] was apparently afraid for the safety of his family after a number of furious customers showed up at the Zadeh Kicks warehouse in an industrial section of West Eugene demanding their money back.

...

the FBI has launched a criminal investigation, trying to figure out what happened to the enormous sum of customers’ money that has gone missing.

Complex:

Zadeh Kicks was established in 2013 as a sneaker resale company. Over the years, it became known for offering preorders for hyped sneakers far in advance of their official release date. The price points for the sneakers were often considerably lower than their expected market values, creating an enticing model for both resellers looking to stock up on product for lower-than-normal and average customers who wanted to avoid paying the high-end value.

When reports and rumors of new sneaker releases would leak, Zadeh Kicks would offer them for preorder almost instantaneously. This meant that there were sometimes cases where the shoes would never materialize as a retail release (e.g. Futura x Off-White x Nike Dunk Lows) or would be exclusively offered from one source (e.g. Fragment Design x Travis Scott x Air Jordan 1 Highs on SNKRS). In these cases, Zadeh Kicks would be unable to provide the sneakers and would instead offer buyers store credit or heavily taxed refunds, terms that were clearly stated on the website.

...

One of the elements that made Zadeh Kicks so appealing to flippers and wearers alike was that despite their “low” ticket price, all signs pointed to the shoes being real.