Too often we find ourselves on Stockx or GOAT about 15 minutes after the results of the Draw come in because the sneaker gods have ignored our prayers once again and we are left out in the cold with nothing but a big fat L on another SNKRS draw.

The problem with this is 9 times out of 10 my impulses kick in and I need to feel like those that actually received the beloved Got' EM earlier to have this sense of winning.

Fed up with the b#llsh!t, I told myself to be patient and selective. Is there no way to get a better deal?

There's gotta be another way for us to get kicks and not overpay.

This time I decided to take a different approach. When the Sacai Blazers dropped on June 10^th I already told myself I'm probably not gonna hit on SNKRS.

As usual, I received the message that said Your Entry Wasn't Selected.

Fast forward to July 3^rd……I decided why continue to go through the traditional sites like Stockx or GOAT or eBay for shoes?

Why not branch out and try another platform that also allows users access to the same shoes at a better price with no taxes and fees……Reddit!

Reddit is a platform that not many people are familiar with when it comes to buying, selling or trading shoes. Similar to Facebook groups, there are admins that monitor the activity and vet the members in order to establish a safer environment to execute transactions.

So I decide to scroll through the Sub-Reddit group r/sneakermarket which I am a member to see what was for sale and if I could find any good deals.

Admittedly, I was not on there looking for the Sacai Blazers HOWEVER, to my surprise as I continued to look I saw someone selling them in my size for retail and shipping!

My first move though was to look at the sellers profile and Reddit presence to get a sense of security about who I was about to potentially do business with. Being as this was my first time using Reddit as an option to purchase anything I wanted to make sure I did my homework.

After determining the seller seemed to be legit I immediately reached out. The response back from them was almost instantaneous.

We discussed the price for the shoes as well as the cost of shipping, since they were located in California.

To keep it 100, I went to Stockx to do a price comparison including their fees. Buying from Stockx would have cost me an extra $8.00 AND delivery time anywhere from 7-14 days depending on where they were shipping from. Based upon that and the seller's reputation on Reddit I quickly struck a deal.

Fast forward to July 6^th to my surprise when I had a package on my door step.

According to the shipping I wasn't supposed to receive the shoes until July 7^th but it seems Christmas came early.

I couldn't wait to open the box to see if a) the seller shipped me the actual pair we agreed upon and b) to throw them on feet.

The moment I opened up that package and saw the orange box I KNEW that my Blazers were inside! Knowing that I was able to secure this pair for retail had me feeling like I won the lottery.....

Personally I LOVE Blazers and knowing I was able to cop these for retail made me a believer in Reddit!

Why continue to give the big boys like GOAT and Stockx my money when there are other options out there with better prices!

Plus knowing the seller is a sneaker community member and getting all their $ feels good.

In the end, being patient paid off and put some extra cash in my pocket to put towards the next big release..... maybe those Lightning 4's dropping on August 8th!

Plus knowing the seller is a sneaker community member and getting all their $ feels good, this definitely goes down as a W.