Sneakers are big business. New or used, in today’s times sneakers are becoming an investment tool.

In 2021, Sotheby’s auction house sold Kanye West’s Nike Air Yeezy 1 “Prototype” for $1.8 million, making them the most expensive sneakers ever sold at auctions so far. West wore them at the 2008 Grammys. The sneakers were acquired by Rares, a company owned by former NFL player Gerome Sapp.

Sapp’s company lets the average person invest in high-end sneakers as an investment asset. Users of his Rares app can have a piece of the Air Yeezy 1s, for example, for as little as $25.

The Rare platform lets users invest in fractional shares of valuable sneakers.

In the case of the Yeezy sneakers, “We split that sneaker into 72,000 shares and we offer that for $25 a share,” said Sapp. “So, for $25 you have a chance to own a piece of history.”

According to Sapp, Rares can make it easier for people to get into investing for lower amounts of money.

“You don’t have to be an accredited investor to use our platform,” Sapp told Insider. “You don’t have to be a millionaire.” The average income of Rares users is closer to $82,000, he said.

“That’s a great thing, because it means a different socioeconomic class is utilizing our platform.” 

Rares, said Sapp, is also an avenue for young Black investors. It’s also a way for them to take advantage of a culture they helped create: the sneaker culture.

“The cultures and communities that made the sneaker industry what it is today — that made it popular and valuable — at some point were left out of the secondary appreciation of these sneakers,” he explained.

“We’ve created a simple, easy-to-use marketplace that you can go on from a mobile app or the website and literally take advantage of the secondary appreciation of these sneakers.

Learn more about how investors can make money investing in sneakers with the full story at Finurah here.