The Diaries of a Nike RSVP Magician: Will the New Nike RSVP Program Work?

The sneaker community can now rejoice! The Nike RSVP system is now gone! Just kidding. Instead, Nike has since updated their RSVP reservation system by attaching the specific hashtag circled in their attached pictures. Theoretically, this gives consumers a fair chance to reserve the sneakers. One, it would eliminate the threat of resellers abusing the system via software to reserve multiple pairs of the highly sought-after sneakers. Two, the playing field is now even for all that’s partaking in the RSVP. All problems solved, right?

Since the implementation of Nike’s Twitter RSVP reservation policy, we’ve noticed the controversy that surrounds it. Is it fair? Is it rigged? There are people actually PAYING people to develop programs to reserve pairs automatically?! Madness. Where was this 10 years ago when the sneaker community was a niche group of aficionados that withstood the coldest of weathers, lived on McDonald’s three meals a day, and even called in sick a week to work just to cop the newest Jordan (or the same ones that have been retro’d three other times). The whole RSVP reservation method is madness. In order to get the sought-after sneaker, the working class adult has to commit their entire day to sitting in front of their computer in order to even have a chance. Crazy. I don’t know about you, but when I worked retail, I constantly checked my phone and ran to the break room when the RSVP tweet came out. Admit it, we’re all guilty of staring at our Twitter feed for hours on end, even on the brink of starvation, just to be the first to direct message Nike in order to get the sneaker. The sneaker game has definitely changed. Collectors are now enraged that resellers have paid programmers to develop programs that help them reserve sought-after sneakers. Apparently, this problem developed into a critical mass and caught Nike’s attention to change the policy.

As a former Nike RSVP magician, I was able to secure multiple pairs by just committing the time at home and following the guidelines. If you follow the instructions to a T, you will walk away successful. Granted, I made multiple accounts and put them under different names. However this was all within the guidelines. The new RSVP update will not solve the reselling problem. The resellers will find another method in acquiring their stock. These guys paid people to develop a program. You don’t think they can pay people to sit in front of a computer for hours on end to try and reserve the sneakers? Get ready sneaker community – Nike RSVP is the future. We have to come to the realization that the sneaker game has gotten competitive. It’s gotten to a point where sneaker camp outs have sparked chaos at local malls and even death. Nike has taken the initiative and become the pioneers in creating safer methods of sneaker reservation. There are two things the sneaker community can do: we can either do as A$AP Ferg and “Work,” or we “Dust ourselves off and try again” like Aaliyah.