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20141119_blog_pmoney.mp3?orgId=1&d=985&story=365010888&ft=nprml&f=365010888

Nike is a smart multi-billion dollar company, but some sneaker fans have figured out how they can get a better price for Nike sneakers than Nike can. Some pairs trade like stocks — selling for double, quadruple, 12 times their retail price after they leave the store. Even used sneakers.

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Josh Luber, of sneakerhead data company, Campless, estimates that Nike let resellers walk away with 230 million dollars in profits last year — that’s money that did not go to Nike.

Today on the show, why would a multi-billion dollar company give up its profits to some scrappy guys on the street?

To read more and see an animated graph on the rise and fall of high-end sneaker prices, check out FiveThirtyEight.

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