Snake America 69
Snake is a bi-weekly email newsletter covering after-market salable goods. This week: A Benetton hard-case suitcase and orange metallic Jordan 1s. Reading the webpage? Subscribe.
eBay: United Colors of Benetton hard-shell suitcase, $87: Didn't know they made these until a couple of weeks ago when I ran into one in a store. Real sharp--bonafides are by Rimowa and to a lesser extent Zero Halliburton but UCB's counterpoints the silver. I ran into this for the first time, a similar model, darker with a smaller logo, at the junk store on Driggs and North 7th. The store takes up an entire city block and can't have more than $10,000 worth of merchandise in the whole thing. There are some old army footlockers stacked on a table by the door which are next to big tubs of old toys without names. Besides the suitcase, the best item there was an Ohio State champions coffee mug, Archie Griffin era, with a ring on the bottom. They had knockoff jadeite next to that, a darker green you can see through, and grandma dishes and furniture, which make up most of the inventory. Rugs were hanging from all walls, a couple of them nice, including a large Danish hook. The vintage clothing is on racks in the back and is mostly women's, holding to the two-decade rule--produced earlier than that and it's not vintage--though other distinguishing characteristics are void. The selection of men's vintage was similar to most places around here. There is no English word for being disappointed by a situation to which you entered with very low expectations, but that's how it is in New York. The store can't be singled out for that. And spending a couple hours inside, you can find something.
I found the suitcase right away and I wanted it. It had a $50 tag. Was that high? It seemed high. I did some intel but no one I texted gave me anything to go on. This was the first trip down the rabbit hole ... A quick perusal of sold auctions on eBay revealed a single and a set of three, both what must have been older models--bigger and more prominent logos, primary colors. The set went for over $200 and the single for $20. Others were for sale with no buyers. Google and other auction sites yielded nothing. What I was looking at was a more recent model. So it had no real price. Why $50? That's not much money for a suitcase that won't fall apart, sure, but on principle, more than two 20s to a store that sells junk ... There is a way to get deals, even in New York ... A friend of mine once said if your first offer doesn't make you red in the face with shame it's too high. I agree and have used that tact to varying degrees of success since. It doesn't work anywhere there's plumbing: you can be that brazen in flea markets and roadside stands. Sometimes it clicks online. It never does on Craig's List or auctioneer websites. It works on eBay often and when I'm a seller there, if an auction or a lot of auctions of mine passes without someone insulting my understanding of the market, then no one's seen my listings. But not everyone is so enlightened. In stores like the above-mentioned it almost never works. I understand the math: The store pays for 10,000 square foot of space, salary with dental, pension, car fees for the team of people who criss-cross the country to find old army trunks from Grenada-U.S. and dented toys, marketing fees, overhead ... I went to the desk and asked the young man minding the computer if they had any offers on the suitcase.
"Did anyone have offers on your suitcase?" he said. "No," I said, "the colored Benetton, would you take $20?" which is a fair price (for me), and cheap, but not shameful, and not outside reality for a store that sells actual garbage, lots of it used, and whose clerks should theoretically smell bullshit and go belly-to-belly with anyone selling.
"We don't take offers," he said. He turned away. I stared ... I left the store. It's a top-down thing: the universe of possibilities did not extend to two parties reaching an agreement. Would I ever buy one? I thought about the suitcase for a long time over a coffee. Was I making a mistake? The colorful suitcase really worked. None of the other luggage produced by Benetton is any good--mostly makeup and gym bags. One might argue nothing Benetton made was any good, rugby shirts included. And yet ... a cheap Peter Max plastic Rimowa ... The junk store's model was newer than the good Benetton suitcases, like in the auction above. Did I need something that wasn't the best? I drank my coffee and came to a conclusion. I would rather die in a fire than cross the street and pay them for a suitcase at their price. It is easy to find a better version anywhere else at either a better or worse price. It only takes time and money. I may never go back into that store. Well, I may, but it's only things that they're selling.
eBay: orange metallic Air Jordan 1s, $560: These Jordans are crazy. I wonder how much they'll go for. There was a photo online shared on NikeTalk, the message board, about 10 years ago, of a pair of these, with spray-painted graffiti on the toes. But those were metallic blue Jordan 1s, which are much less rare. These complements to Knicks colors show up much less frequently. Once a year? If that? You can get on a plane to k-skit and ask them for these and they'll bring them out from the back. This could be the year where a worn pair of 30-year-old Air Jordan sneakers goes for $1,000. The best Jordan collection belongs to someone who lives in France ... the best thing about sneakers becoming a bigger and bigger thing is how it is getting more curious by the month.
Thanks for reading.
Snake
Last Snake: Prince Buster check, button-up Champion crewneck (For sale, for sale)
Snake Before That: WW2 Deck Shoes, Hudson Bay paddle (For sale, sold)