air-jordan-1-retro-production-cost-breakdown

You payed how much?! Really, how much did you pay for your last pair of Air Jordan 1 retros? As you think about that, we’ve come across some pretty interesting data that hints at the actual numbers that go into producing one of today’s hottest retros.

As pictured in the image above, an Air Jordan 1 retro costs $16.25 to produce with materials costing around $10.75, $2.43 for labor, overhead at $2.10, and a factory profit which rings in at $0.97. Of course there are other factors that may influence the final cost, however, these numbers aren’t too far from the truth! Now just think, you probably pay between $125 and $140 for each AJ1 – that’s an $108.75-$123.75 profit margin in the pockets of Nike, Jordan Brand, and MJ.

Does that change your perspective on things, or are you unaffected by the realities of it all? Sound off in the comments below and keep it here at Sneaker Files for more.

via hk-kicks

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260 Comments

  4. But you don’t understand that they have to make enough to pay jordan, their designers, transport to the u.s., there’s other factors its not straight profit of 100 $.

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  6. Fk shoe companies and there inflated prices they could at least make them with better long lasting material

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  18. If u got it spend it and if u like buy it people act like they don’t spend more money on other stupid shit…smh

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  19. Also retailers pay cost for them. Usually half price. So on a $125 pair of shoes nike probably makes $30 after production costs, etc. Still a healthy profit.

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  20. Yall r wack.. shit my jz r off the hook.. i have several pairs of jz n not one pair have ever tore up

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  22. Miguel Geraldo Galvan I told your mom the same thing after I paid her to lick my asshole bitch

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  26. I make Jordans in my own sweatshop basement using my little brothers and sisters as workers. Selling for $50 each, hit me up.

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  28. Personally, I could care less because the mark up on my weed is just about as high. Pun intended.

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  33. I wanna see the production cost for those ugly ass yeebies or yeezies and why fools paying 5 gs for ugly ass kicks.

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  44. These numbers aren’t real. They leave out shipping advertising design work and the retailers profit. So basically this is just bogus

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  49. About time you show these idiots who allow nike to bend them over and resellers to put it in them!

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  54. I was all up bout giving nikes products up bt its everywhere too so i started my kick addiction again

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  66. U should see the real prices no more than $35 dollars a pair ppl paid up2 $200 per pair lol

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  68. This isn’t a surprise to me its been like this varies of years ! People to foolish to realize,their spending 180 or more on a shoe that does have any value. It’s the name that making the profit.

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  76. Only problem is if you make them cheap everyone would have them then they wouldn’t be exclusive.

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  79. Let’s all bend over for nike so they can fuck us with their prices, I know I’ve paid top dollar for their kickz but no ones forcing us to buy them, just thank Tinker Hatfield that they usually look dope I prefer Jordan 4s & 5s over most other Js

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  92. this happens for any shoe in the world… advertisment, distribution and design is not for free.

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  95. unless you buy them from a nike outlet all that profit aint nikes because i doubt footlocker or what ever other shop is making no profit id say they buy them wholesale at 30+ dollars and for some reason i doubt the material for 1 shoe costs 10 dollars id say its a lot less

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  98. Don’t buy them if u don’t want to. I’m buying them cause I can. It’s like that for everything. People
    Gotta make profit.

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  99. This is deceiving they are made in third world countries to keep the prices down if they were made in America they’d cost 5 times as much. Making them in places like Mexico and Vietnam benefits there local economies. However the profits made by Nike etc are outrageous.

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  108. It’s like that with everything we buy or consume. Are we going to walk around naked and hungry? Supply and demand.

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  110. You guys just mess up with production cost while not realize how much they pay for branding, advertising, promoting, designing and so much fucking stuff to force us to buy them. that’s called marketing cost!

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  111. @ken chan, nike:100, MJ:5. If it was 100/20, that would be a 20% cut. You let me down mr chan

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  112. @Aaron Whosoever Carthigasu Last time I have seen advertising for J’s was more than 15 years a go. They don’t need to advertise or market, all pairs will be copped in hours, that is the hype we created as consumers.

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  114. What it didn’t say is the price to ship them to the shipping docks in the country they were made in.. the price to send them here whether it be plane or boat.. and the import fee that the government has on them… the price to transport them to the stores. And most importantly to pay the sales associates at the stores… if youre going to try and throw these conpanies under the fucking bus… do the god damn shit right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  123. No one has come to my house with a gun making me buy them. I buy them because I want and because I can.

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  126. @sneakerfiles get your shit right before you post stiff like this? What point are you trying to make? And yes…. When you caculate stuff like that please make sure it’s complete. Where are the in and export duties that the governments take, the taxes that the same governments take, the shipping costs, insurances, storage costs, transportation costst to get then to your fav shop, then add the rent and other costs a shop owner is paying and go on…. Lame ass post

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  132. If you were born in the 90’s you can fall back… & if you’re privileged enough to to see the gawd play in em & grab some pairs… Salute. Enough of the fuckery.

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  133. If you don’t like em dont buy emm simple as that. If u gotta ask the price that means u probably can’t afford em player. I like rocking Cadillacs on my feet so if u like riding in the hoopdy then that’s on you bruh . Step yo game up

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  134. So whats your point? I guess all your fans / followers are still happy to get a pair and rock them with pride? Why are you trying to spoil our fun? :-)

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  135. Its like U want a fine bitch wearing gucci?? Or wait u probably want the fattty sittin in McDonalds right?

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  136. Ah ha haaa listen to derrick petersen ….. Player , i wouldn’t wear these for a fuckin bet !!!!

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  137. And this means what? Look at the cost of have the items you wear, whether shoes, clothing, etc. Mostly all of it is manufactured in 3rd world countries. It’s business! If you don’t like, make your own shoes or just don’t buy Jordan shoes. It’s as simple as that……..there are much bigger issues in the world than worrying about sneaker manufacturers………..

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  138. Thats cus u already lost the bet… u must like the fat bitch I take.. im not mad at u bro if u can’t affkrd then u cant afford maybe u should dislike the page this is on player

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  141. People need to stop crying. Don’t buy them. Easy as that. It’s business 101 out source factory/bulk production = low production cost. Trying making 1 pair of shoes in the US with the same material bought would cost you more than $40-50… That’s why no one does production in the US anymore

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  142. Mofuckers line or die for a pairs of jordans I understand what u saying , these white mofo who dont know our struggle always wanna be down y’all whites people never understand.

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  144. Thats f- up!!!! But f- it, there is no other shoe like Jordan’s…they are the best to surface the face of this planet… I kno the game cold but thats how it is.!!!!

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  145. A simple Air Jordan 1 without any Nike Logo or anything that has “Nike” in the shoe will only cost that much. The reason why it costs expensive is due to copyright and distribution.

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  153. are you really supprised!? and its not a profit margin of $115. You have your retailer who pays about half of the price between $125-140. So for nike thats about $40-50 if you didnt buy it from nike.com then it really is a a high margin

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  157. If everyone bitched over cost v price…nobldy would wear anything expensive…how you much you think that gucci belt cost to make or then true religion jeans?im sure youd be pissed about that too…

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  167. Damn, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about those sweat shops though. The people slaving all day for cents on the dollar to make shoes we spend hundreds on.

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  169. Jordan already got paid, he signed a contract for his name, he wont get paid again untill another contract is signed, just like Lebron, they gave him 100m b4 he stepped on the court to use his name!!! They dont get paid by each shoe that is sold!!!!

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  170. Its the middle man who is doin the taxin!!!! Foot locker, champs, Finnish line, ect.!!!! The stores make at least 100.00$ a shoe!!!! But every middle man can get cut out!!!!lol

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  184. Musicians get royalties dummy bcuz they actually produce and come up with product!!!!! Atheletes get paid for their name!!!!! MARKETTINg!!!!!

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  186. I dont pay dat price bcuz my old AAU coach is a nike sponsor!!!! To bad yall was bad athletes!!!!!

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  187. The sneakerblogs do the advertising, protoming and hyping.. Nike just has to release 1 damn picture and the internet goes crazy..

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  189. Yall payin for fake jordans anyways, bcuz none are original, they are not made the same!!!!! Bcuz if u got the first space jams in 2000 and then got them when they came back out you’ll kno that it was a totally different shoe!!!!! ROOKIES!!!!!

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  190. if you can buy a $150-$200 sneaker no problem this prolly aint a big deal to you. if you one of the ones that save up and bust your ass just to buy a $150-$200 sneaker you prolly mad as hell when you seen this lol.

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  192. Yes, it is. but it’s not easy to get the brand to the top and that’s how they make up the price expensive. As an overall image (not only for one model of shoes), it pays a lot for sponsoring, brand building, developing etc. it takes time to be world famous brand. not easy

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  193. This Alex dude is retarded. How the fuck ar we buying fake shoes? If we bought the OGs and bought the same shoes after they retro them, they’re called “RETROS”

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  206. Basic Supply and Demand… Make only a few… So people line up to purchase them… Charge what you want at retail…. Why cause we gone buy’em anyway… It’s the “American Way”….

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  207. So people wait for hours and possibly get killed over shoes worth $16.25? I’ll never  understand you guys.

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  217. Doesn’t include the millions spent on advertising, paying MJ, corporate employees cost , etc etc

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  218. Athletes don’t get paid for every shoe that’s sold, they sign a contract before making the shoe and of course it’s a big amount of money but nothing compared to the revenue that the company gets out of the sales.

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  219. Certainly there are other finances left out but what’s really annoying to any seasoned sneaker person- the quality of each shoe is declining yet the price of the shoe is (without real reason) getting jacked up. They don’t care. WE should.

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  225. What most people are missing in this whole post is astonishing. Lol You can tell how most of you are inside by your comments and what I’m seeing is sad. You call yourselves human and you didn’t even pay attention to the fact that the materials cost more than the labor (people). This is a one of the worst things I’ve seen from Nike besides the quality of Jordans today. How in the fuck do you pay more for materials than you do the people who make your product? I’ve been in management for years and my most costly expense has always been payroll. How can you support a brand that just gave you proof of sweatshop labor with this breakdown of how much it cost to make a pair of shoes. Nike is full of racist white people that care nothing about people and everything about money. This shit is fucked up! Jordan Brand will leave Nike I see that coming. It’s a new day and Black people are waking up to the bullshit Nike is full of bullshit. 2.50 really? Fuck out of here! Everyone that has a job should be offended because what’s stopping this shit from happening to you? Oh wait…

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  244. That’s why you cut the middleman buy bulk on wholesale from the right manufacturer and triple the price because people will pay the cost for popular brand names its what society is based on who has the most expensive cars clothes shoes its what the media projects to the people for high dollar markets its call getting pimped by a buisness. Its what NIKE does and has been doing for years using famous athletes to advertise and consume the youth as well as adults for generations.

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  245. Something is worth what someone will pay you for it. Don’t hate Nike because they charge so much stop buying their shoes. Lol real likely

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  246. And add warehousing, shipping, distribution, advertising, design, profits (Brand & seller) and more. It doesn’t tell the whole story. Jordan V’s all day.

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  249. Correct me if im wrong but I bet if people were not to buy Jordan’s Nikes for one whole year they would drop prices asap
    On who!!!!!!

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  251. Love Jordans but this is reason I don’t buy. This world needs to get away from the greed. Its sad, main reasons economy is in the shape it is in.

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  252. lol That’s the gimmick, we oay so much for them although they cost so little to make.. So in the end when you buy a pair of Nikes your getting fucked.. I mean they are the best so you still get them, but yeah it’s messed up..

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  256. That’s business for you. It costs less than 15% of the retail price to make the shoe. That’s how business works. But the cost of Labor is just ridiculous. Business is business, but a human is a human and they make so much money that paying these workers at least $10 wouldn’t hurt them at all. I mean I love shoes but social awareness is important.

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  257. The last pair of Jays I bought from retailers were my Bred 4s and before those were my Old Royal 10s, I just try my luck on FB groups and eBay I’m staying away from supporting JB. I mean it doesn’t make a difference but at least you’re not contributing directly to their financial gain.

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  259. I’m an economics major and as much as you want to believe that foreign workers are underpaid, they aren’t. granted from a proportion of their wages to profits earned, yeah they get the shaft. but large companies moving production facilities overseas actually helps increase median incomes and standard of living for host underdeveloped and developing nations. Much of America screams for “Made in the USA” tags, but if that were the case, we would be spending much more on everything. International trade is a two way beneficial exchange. Nike/Jordan only charges those prices because they can. If demand was less for retros, then well prices would be too.

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