Explained: How to easily buy sneakers online on release day?

Copping sneakers online has become difficult these days. This could be the result of limited-edition collaborative releases or the increased number of people in the sneakerhead community. We are now in 2022, and the landscape of buying sneakers has become much more advanced than it was two years ago.

Customers are not only fighting their odds against the ever-growing community of sneakerheads but also the numerous frowned-upon automated methods such as bots. Whether you like it or not, the nature of the sneaker sphere has turned into a mania, where the shoes sell out within minutes of release.

One might feel that they can only buy these limited-edition shoes through bots and automated methods. However, it doesn't have to be that way. With the right preparation, knowledge, and quick hands, you can increase your chances of copping shoes online easily.

On that note, Sportskeeda will outline some basic ways to beat the bot and give yourself the best chance to buy sneakers like Air Jordan 1, Dunk Low, and New Balance collabs, among others, online.

How can one cop limited-edition sneakers without opting for automated bot methods?

One needs to understand why they have difficulty buying shoes online. In 2022, for every single release, there are thousands of sneakerheads worldwide waiting for the drop as you are. In most cases, the supply doesn't meet demand.

Moreover, a few sneakers are dropped in minimal quantities to drive up the hype. For example, the recently launched Reverse Mocha sneakers by Travis Scott x Nike collab was launched in limited stock and had over two million entries in the raffle in under 30 minutes. Considering the possibilities, it leaves the average consumer with the least chance of securing a pair. As such, a few techniques to cop these shoes online are listed below.

1) Use select retailers' shops with less traffic and bot protection

Instead of heading to the main sites such as SNKRS, CONFIRMED, Foot Lockers, and more, one can head directly to the select retailers' official sites. These websites are in partnership with the official brands and launch the pair at the same time.

One advantage is that while most people will head to comparatively famous sites to cop the shoes, you can head to lesser-popular options and buy more time to purchase these sneakers online. However, you also need to ensure these sites provide bot protection for users.

2) Search the sneakers using style code instead of names

Note: In the above embed, the SKU: DV6773-220 is the style code.

Popular brands such as Nike, Adidas, and Reebok, amongst others, all give their sneakers a specific style code or model number. While the shoes' names sometimes aren't visible on the site, the style code leads you directly to the product page as soon as they are added to the site.

This could lead you to buy sneakers online much faster than finding shoes on the site or on the launch calendar.

3) Use autofills and save payment information beforehand

While many sites hold the place of your items, such as Nike, Concepts, and Kith, others, like Foot Locker or Supreme, don't implement this technique. In the case of limited-edition releases, Nike also doesn't hold the place for long and shows errors after a while.

To avoid such circumstances, one needs to race against other buyers to check out and ensure that they don't get cart-checked. In such a case, you can fill in the payment information, address, etc., beforehand or through the built-in autofill feature on Google Chrome. This will allow you to speed through the checkout process efficiently.

Other than the aforementioned methods, one can also follow other techniques to buy their desired sneakers online. Another alternative trick is subscribing to the official Twitter handles of the brands, which provides a direct link to the shoes as soon as they are released. Companies like Nike Store, Foot Locker, and Reebok, among others, follow this trend. These simple steps can further boost your chances of copping sneakers online.