As the saying goes, business is business — but not all business is good business. A Philadelphia-based sneaker resale brand is getting attention for its so-called underhanded tactics after a December TikTok video recently went viral.
Culture Kicks, a sneaker and streetwear resale business known for its social media videos of customers negotiating deals, is under scrutiny after it scammed — or at least pretended to scam — an unwitting older customer out of a rare pair of Travis Scott x Nike sneakers.
In the clip, which has amassed 10.7 million views on Culture Kicks’ TikTok, an older customer attempts to sell a pair of the Travis Scott x Nike SB Dunk Low, a sneaker which released in 2020 and regularly resells for over $1,000.
“My son won these on an app online,” the customer said. “So I wanted to see what they might be worth.”
The Culture Kicks employee then begins talking down the shoe, seemingly trying to sway the customer.
“I mean, these are pretty ugly, right?,” the employee asks. “Too much going on here with the paisley and the patterns. Size 13 is not the best size for the store, I would say like 10.5 is really what we’re looking to buy.”
After confirming the customer wasn’t aware of the shoe’s value, the employee doubles down on the downplaying tactic.
“Something like this, I think the retail is $150,” the employee says, before ultimately offering $100 in cash and stating the store wouldn’t be interested in trades.
With that, a handshake is made and the supposed $100 deal goes down. While the clip is getting backlash from many social media users, others are understandably skeptical of whether or not the whole interaction was staged.
Culture Kicks’ entire platform is based around these kinds of shock value videos, so it’s not hard to believe the store concocted the whole deal for social media attention.
