It is All Marketing and advertising! The Sneaker Wars

For the past 40 years of my life, I've been involved with basketball in 1 way or an additional. Initially as a mighty mite player, as a 10-year-old. And progressing via the ranks, as a player, coach, referee and spectator.

As a youngster, there were only two manufacturers of sneakers that could be worn for basketball. The two producers were PF Flyers and Chuck Taylor Converse. If you had been truly a player, you bought the Chuck Taylor Converse. Or Chucks as we utilized to call them. And there had been only two colors. Black or white. And two styles. High tops or low cut.

If you actually wanted to get fancy,you took the white laces out of your shoes and replaced them with diverse colored laces to match your school colors. So your parents ended up paying $9.99 for sneakers(plus $1 for the laces). In the late 1970's, there weren't any retail shops specializing in sneakers and footwear. We bought our sneakers at the nearby Army Navy Shop.

I'm not suggesting that we go back to those days. But I think it is absolutely outrageous that parents are paying $100 - $200 for the most current sneaker. Sneakers endorsed by the wonderful NBA players like Kobe Bryant, Alan Iverson, Tracy McGrady, and so on.

With foreign suppliers headquarted in Asian countries, the raw price(labor & material) for making those sneakers is most likely not considerably unique today than when they manufactured Converse back in the seventies. So how do sneakers sell for $100 and up? The answer - it is all in the advertising and endorsement fees. Just pure greed.

Now with Stephon Marbury coming out with his new sneakers that has all changed. The star guard for the New York Knicks has designed and is marketing and advertising the Starbury One. Guess what the price for the sneakers are?

$14.98. That's appropriate... 2 cents much less than $15.00. And Stephon will be wearing his own sneakers even though
playing this coming season. I think that is awesome. I know quite a few are applauding Stephon for his efforts. Already the sneaker has been flying off the shelves. The Starbury 1 is an instant good results. And hopefully some of the other players will follow suit. Way to go Stephon. Your sneakers are a slam dunk good results.

Please read our another article:Discover The Amazing Comfort Of Vibram 5 Fingers.