Hypenomics: The Best Sneaker and Streetwear Investments to Make Right Now

Making dollars and sense out of the wild and crazy secondary market.

These days, rare menswear pieces aren't just covetable for their style—they're bonafide investments. But with so many drops constantly flooding the Internet, it's tough to know what pieces are going to have serious aftermarket value, and which, like a new car, will depreciate the moment you take them out of the box. To help you navigate the wild world of reselling, we've created Hypenomics, where we'll be compiling the most sought-after releases of the month and tracking their aftermarket value, which'll help make you a savvier—and potentially wealthier—owner of grails.

**Indicates data sourced from StockX

Balenciaga Triple S Sneakers

Release Date: 9/21/2017
Retail Price: $850
Aftermarket Price: $1058**
Added Value: +24%
Risk: High
Bottom Line: The Balenciaga Triple S sneakers are king of the ugly sneaker crowd, and they're seemingly impossible to keep in stock. But if you're looking for a quick flip, these aren't the answer. You're staring down the barrel of a $900+ investment after tax, and with average re-sell prices only going for $1,058, there's a fair chance you'll break even on these. Then again, these might be the kind of sneakers that a few years from now people look back on as grails, and with a microscopic number of unworn pairs on the market, the price will only go up.

Adidas Calabasas Track Pants

Release Date: 10/8/2017
Retail Price: $120
Aftermarket Price: $170 (Approximate)
Added Value: +42%
Risk: Medium
Bottom Line: After their initial release on Kanye's own Yeezy Supply website a few months ago, these Kanye West-designed track pants were selling on sites like Grailed for as much as $800. But after their most recent release, which saw the track pants land at third-party retailers across the United States, their value plummeted. Now, they're not worth much more than the retail price. So unless you purchased a lot of them on release day, flipping them probably isn't worth the hassle.

Supreme Brooklyn Box Logo T-Shirt

Release Date: 10/5/2017
Retail Price: $52
Aftermarket Price: $717-$887**
Added Value: +1280%-1600%
Risk: Low
Bottom Line: If you were able to scoop one of these T-shirts up at retail—whether by camping out at the Brooklyn store or buying one online—you've basically won the T-shirt lotto: this is now, somehow, a $700-plus T-shirt. Then again, that's also why they were impossible to come by. If you find one and manage to negotiate down to, say, $700, it could prove a worthy investment down the line—but expect to have to sit on it for a few years. Like we've learned with the Yeezy resale market, the long tail of true grails always trends upward.

Raf Simons "New York" Intarsia Sweater

Release Date: August 2017
Retail Price: $875
Aftermarket Price: $875 (on Grailed)
Added Value: 0%
Risk: High
Bottom Line: If you want this sweater—which has been sported by the likes of A$AP Rocky and other celebs already this season—go for it. It's a really cool piece from one of the best designers in menswear today. But for investment purposes, there isn't any payoff here. Maybe in a few years it'll have some added value—easily identifiable Raf Simons pieces can hit stratospheric resale heights—but that's a high-risk bet.

Fear Of God Fifth Collection Track Pants (Black/Red)

Release Date: August 2017
Retail Price: $995
Aftermarket Price: $1,300 (Approximate)
Added Value: +30%
Risk: High
Bottom Line: Though these track pants are hard to come by in stores, finding a brand-new pair on sites like Grailed is easy enough—they'll just run you anywhere from $1,100 to $1,600. But there's an important lesson to learn here. Those prices are just what buyers are asking for. It doesn't mean that's what people are actually willing to pay. For an $1,000 investment on a pair of pants, we're not sure these are a great investment, especially considering that Fear Of God, unlike Raf Simons, has yet to establish itself as a brand with longterm hype power. In other words, are these track pants going to be worth $2,000+ in five years? We doubt it.

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