My previous post about how brands use hype to skyrocket their brands at the expense of the consumer sparked a lot of conversations, and through those conversations I see that there is one thing that I purposely left out of the original post but was bought up to show how the brands do care, which is "addressing" the botters, as well as implementing ticket/raffle systems. Lets first address how they are directly fighting back against the bots.
Take our favorite brand Supreme for example. Supreme has addressed their bot problem in March 2017 by…. banning IP addresses and implementing CAPTCHA on their site (Supreme has banned IP addresses since at least 2015). You know, because public IP addresses can't be manipulated by proxies or CAPTCHA cannot be beaten by bots. Well Played Supreme, Well Played. The fact that they decided LAST YEAR they would add CAPTCHA to their site after years of excessive botting shows that they give ZERO fucks. Other brands have done essentially done the same thing, with similar results. And by results, I mean that it is not effective at all.
The Ticket/Raffle system is also a fun way that brands will try to limit the amount of overcrowding that happens on release day. Usually, there is an online or an in-person sign-up location where you will be able to get a ticket, which reserves you a spot on the line on release day. Supreme at one time instituted (and still do at times) a ticket system to ensure that people that want to come into the store to buy a specific drop on Thursdays got what they wanted. The Cynic in me thinks that this was done to deal not only with the large crowds but also overenthusiastic haters of the brand during a time when there was not as much security as there is at stores now on drop day. Regardless, this is still a terrible idea. For one, the same scalpers that would pay for people to stand in line for them now just pay for people to get a chance to get a ticket. Raffles for spots are even worse. Lets put this into perspective: you are fighting to get a spot in a raffle, to hope that your name is drawn. This is the gamifying of the whole process. If you think this is a legitimate response to the problem, you are delusional. This serves to make brands even more exclusive than they already were because now If you want a piece (Hypebeast talk for desired items), you have to be in the know enough to know where to go to reserve a ticket or beat bots in the Adidas confirmed app, for example. This is beyond ridiculous and gives more credence to my point that the brands do not care about selling as much as they possibly can. I'll say it again: if the brands cared about getting more people a highly sought after item, they would SIMPLY PRODUCE MORE OF THEM.
I'll conclude this follow up the same way I did my original post: The act of having to fight tooth and nail for a limited release item makes it all the more satisfying when you do luck up and get it. I understand that if they made more, the exclusiveness would disappear and It would be no different from a retro Jordan release. Jordan, however, does not have this problem to an extent since they have re-released the same 13 key sneakers over and over and over again for the past two decades. Your parents probably owned or have owned the OG version of the shoe you may want to get. Regardless, this does not make Jordan's less desirable to a newer generation of sneakerheads. Hypebeasts of this generation is akin to fine art collectors. Art collectors are part of an exclusive club of people that have 1 of 1 items that if resold would go for millions of dollars. Hypebeasts, unlike art collectors, are a sizable group of people who have the same thing as you, which makes the valuation of the item limited as there are still multiple copies (while having the same elitist attitude). I understand the value of limited edition items. They serve as a way to showcase the absolute best that a brand has to offer to the consumer. However, when every release of an item is marketed as such, it makes being a fan of a brand a particularly annoying experience. Supreme's biggest fear, in my opinion, is that they will become a homogenized brand like Stussy if their clothes were more accessible. So to avoid that, profits must be sacrificed in order to keep the Thursday vibes alive.