Who is the driving force behind this? Jackets are going crazy, and prices of some outdoor equipment are rising

In recent years, amid the craze for outdoor sports, the prices of some outdoor equipment have been hyped up to several times their original prices due to low shipments and other reasons, and have even become "social currency". Why are the prices of outdoor equipment getting higher and higher? Who is the driving force behind this?

The price of equipment in the secondary market a few years ago has doubled

Searching for "how to choose a jacket brand" on social platforms, users can see a lot of related articles, some talking about experience, and some comparing and evaluating. He Yuchen, an outdoor sports enthusiast, was initially attracted by these articles, but found that the items he liked were not available, so he could only go to the secondary market to buy them at a higher price.

He Yuchen said that when he first started outdoor sports, he bought some so-called "Internet celebrity" equipment based on advertisements and recommendations. "It turned out that some equipment was not suitable for actual needs and the prices were not cheap. Later, when he really wanted to upgrade his equipment, he found that the popular models were either out of stock or the prices were ridiculously high."

Mr. Dai, a trail running enthusiast, said that when he was selling his equipment, he discovered that second-hand outdoor items could be sold at the original price or even higher. "Some jackets and down coats we bought two or three years ago were sold at two or three times the price we paid for them."

The "China Outdoor Sports Industry Development Report" shows that in 2022, the market size of China's outdoor products industry was 197.1 billion yuan, and it is expected to grow to 240 billion yuan in 2025.

The reporter visited and investigated and found that in the past year, the sales momentum of outdoor equipment has been very strong, and outdoor equipment brands of different price ranges have no shortage of customers. The high popularity of outdoor equipment has also caused some brands of some products to even have several times the premium in the secondary market. For example, at the beginning of this year, a professional outdoor brand launched a limited edition jacket for the Year of the Dragon, which once required a premium of several thousand yuan on top of the original price in the secondary market.

So, what is the reason for the high prices of these outdoor equipment?

Mr. Zhao, who works for a high-end outdoor sports brand, said that due to consumers' pursuit of products, the brand will use this opportunity to control the quantity and create rare and popular styles.

Mr. Zhao said that from last winter to this year, the overall sales volume has been on an upward trend. Winter is the peak season and summer is the off-season, but now summer sales are also good. "Scarcity makes things valuable. In fact, the demand is not very high. If too many are released, people will have them and will not buy them again. The replenishment of popular models will be relatively small, and each store salesperson can only get one."

Mr. Zhou, the person in charge of a second-hand trading platform, believes that the hype of hot items is usually caused by the brand controlling production and creating public opinion through topics, thereby enhancing the brand's value recognition. "For example, the production capacity of this piece of clothing is 10,000 pieces, but only 1,000 pieces are produced, resulting in an imbalance in the market supply and demand. The shortage of goods and the overwhelming number of posts from various bloggers will increase the demand, but you can't buy it."

Many consumers have encountered scalpers and purchasing agents when queuing up offline to buy some popular outdoor products.

Mr. Zhao said that some products become targets of purchasing agents and scalpers because of the price difference in the secondary market. "They hype up shoes that cost one or two thousand yuan, for example, and they will buy sizes 40 to 44. Sometimes they don't go to the site to buy goods, but usually add the shopping guide on WeChat first, then go to buy goods later and give the address."

Mr. Zhou said that once a product becomes popular, scalpers and purchasing agents will flock to it when they see the profit. "The speculation of outdoor equipment now is the same as the speculation of sneakers in the past. Scalpers buy up the goods, raise the price and slowly release the goods, creating a false imbalance between supply and demand, but in fact there is goods, but scalpers deliberately do not release the goods in the middle, and then raise the price to sell them."

Mr. Zhou said that another possibility for the high price and the unavailability of the product is that the brand did not expect the product to become a hit. "There was a large supply of goods, and no scalpers were involved, but it became popular because of a certain explosion. The brand's production plan is usually two quarters or even a year in advance. The production of this clothing is large, but because the market demand suddenly increased, the price went up."

Social media platforms, which are a battleground for brands, have also secretly played a role in fueling the trend.

Mr. Yang, who has been engaged in outdoor brand marketing services for many years, said that brands now pay more attention to the use of experts in the field to increase traffic. "If a brand wants to promote a certain model this season, it will frantically invest in the relevant traffic of that model. At the same time, some brands are for 'hunger marketing'. The dealers do not order that much at the beginning, but they frantically promote this model in order to create momentum, using the 'information cocoon' to make you see what they want you to see."

Mr. Yang advises consumers that different outdoor equipment has different functions. When you are considering buying a product, ask yourself, "Can I not buy it?" "The real people in the circle don't wear jackets when they go hiking, because it's stuffy and uncomfortable. People buy outdoor equipment out of practical outdoor needs, so these scalpers and brands have room to hype it up."