Adidas tries to make buying Yeezys fair but misses the mark

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Adidas tries to make buying Yeezys fair but misses the mark
Buying Yeezy Boost sneakers online is tough. It comes down to this: Supply cannot meet demand. The shortage is so acute that if you don't buy them at launch for retail price -- between $200 and $350, depending on the model -- you'll have to pay upwards of $2,000 on eBay or another site to get your hands on a pair. Reselling Yeezys has become a business, and both Adidas and Nike (with its retro Jordans) are turning to tech to make the shopping experience fair and safe for everyone.buy Yeezy 700 Static discount with best price

Unfortunately, leveling the playing field for customers is easier said than done. Right now, Adidas releases the highly coveted Kanye West-designed shoes on its website and through its Confirmed app, which lets iOS and Android users in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City reserve a pair for pickup at a nearby retail store. The problem with these methods is that once Adidas takes to Twitter to announce the sneakers are up for grabs, the company struggles to keep up with the heavy online traffic that follows. Seriously, you probably have a better chance of winning the lottery than getting to the purchase or reservation page.
To keep it fair and, most importantly, stop resellers from hoarding all the stock, Adidas limits Yeezy Boost purchases to one per customer. At least that's what the company's website claims. But as Adidas searches for the right formula to contain people looking to make a profit, the sportswear juggernaut appears to be hurting honest buyers. Judging from personal experience, Adidas is going beyond the one-per-customer restriction on the site. Its checkout system blocks the use of duplicate credit cards as well as email, billing, shipping and, interestingly enough, IP addresses on any Yeezy order.

Sure, you can argue that's a reasonable way to give everyone a fair chance to buy the shoes. However, that becomes a problem if you have other people living under the same roof. For example, during the latest Yeezy Boost 350 "Pirate Black" release, on Feb. 19th, I had been waiting for almost two hours for Adidas to flip the switch on the launch. After it did, it took another hour to pick my size, enter personal info and, last, check out. (By the way, by no means was that a smooth experience, as the site kept crashing, leading to what seemed like a never-ending loop of page refreshes.) Until then, I had never been able to buy a pair of Yeezys from the Adidas site.