We’re nearing the end of camp, and the uncomfortable chatter around shoe reselling is starting to bubble up. I get the frustration. Professional scalpers run highly tuned armies of bots to snap up stock — then jack the price on fans. None of that extra cash flows back to the artist or the community. It just fuels better bots. Yeah, nah. Stuff that.
You could take the authoritarian route — launch a witch hunt, shame the resellers, try to gatekeep the “worthy.” But that’s not very egalitarian. It’s a free country. “They’re my shoes. I can do what I want with them.” Fair.
So the studio created a system where the algorithmic free lunch is no longer available. No bot can fake weeks of effort, creativity, and ritual. To even have the choice between keeping or reselling, you had to prove your humanity.
Will people still flip their pairs? Most likely - it will be their shoes after all, but nearly 100% of them will have put in the work and earned the right to make that choice.
Previously: TGIM 57 - ISRU Summer Camp and the Return of the Weird Internet
Comments:
You can join the conversation on Twitter or Instagram
Become a Patreon to get early and behind-the-scenes access along with email notifications for each new post.
Hi! Subconsciously you already know this, but let's make it obvious. Hopefully this article was helpful. You might also find yourself following a link to Amazon to learn more about parts or equipment. If you end up placing an order, I make a couple of dollarydoos. We aren't talking a rapper lifestyle of supercars and yachts, but it does help pay for the stuff you see here. So to everyone that supports this place - thank you.