One of the biggest stories in 2022 regarding sneakers was how Zadeh Kicks downfall led to thousands of sneakerheads being scammed for millions of dollars. While some customers were able to recover their funds, there are still many who pre-ordered kicks with the once-well renowned reselling giant that have yet to receive anything. Ever since Zadeh Kicks' file for dissolution, the Court Appointed Receiver, David P. Stapleton, has been struggling to decide the best means to offload the 60,000 plus pairs of sneakers left in Michael Malekzadeh’s warehouse. Now, according to Nice Kicks, this inventory is up for purchase on the eBay platform.
Earlier in the year, debate raged in court as to what exactly the proceedings would be in regards to recovering the missing millions of dollars that were owed to customers. Plans included selling to bulk buyers, dumping inventory on secondary marketplaces like StockX or GOAT, and even holding an auction for pairs that were left. After investigation into a relatively new eBay account that had listed a boat load of products, including the Air Jordan 11 “Cool Grey,” Nice Kicks was able to confirm with eBay itself that “pacific_kickz” is indeed tied to the inventory leftover from Zadeh Kicks after the company was dissolved in May of this year.
In total, there are nearly 500 individual SKUs up for sale totaling 3,691 size variants with around 185 items sold so far. Court documents reveal that eBay was preferred over other marketplaces due to their 8% selling fee and favorable terms. For those who were looking to secure sneakers for dirt cheap prices, think again, as the inventory listed is currently priced just around the market value in order to receive the most money possible to help pay back the victims in the sneaker world's biggest Ponzi scheme to date.
Although there are a significant amount of pairs for sale on eBay, the receiver’s liquidation plans proposed in its motion for liquidation show that they were in favor of utilizing a three-pronged approach - including “(1) Direct to consumer sales via marketplace (eBay); (2) Wholesale sales; and (3) Sales to consignment outlets and independent retailers. The first of these three intended points of sale is currently underway with the aforementioned pacific_kickz eBay account, so its safe to assume that only a portion (37% according to forecasts) of the 60,000 pairs of Zadeh’s remaining sneaker inventory will be sold on eBay. Stapleton estimates that it will take 8-12 months to sell the remaining inventory and that the sneakers could net between $6.6 - $8 millon for the nearly 1,000 people named in the special notice list.
If you’re in the market for some new sneakers and would like your money to go towards a good cause, check out the pacific_kickz eBay account here and keep it locked to our Twitter and the Sole Retriever mobile app to stay updated on the latest news, releases, raffles, and more in the sneaker and streetwear world.
Sneakerhead from South Florida who turned his passion into a career. Concerts, music, trying new restaurants, and catching the latest movies are some of the things I enjoy when not writing for Sole Retriever. Email: nick@soleretriever.com
