Sneakers produced at low cost in Asia and sold at a high price in Switzerland: not only the Swiss company On, but also other brands such as Adidas, Nike and Puma show notable gaps between manufacturing costs and final revenues, with the latter possibly arriving even to be the first ten times, reports K-Tipp. However, the differences relating to Dosenbach and Decathlon are much smaller.
The consumer periodical, which at the beginning of the year had ridiculed the Zurich company On (which has the former tennis champion Roger Federer among its co-owners) in particular for one of its models, Roger Advantage, manufactured in Vietnam for 19 francs and sold at 190 francs, he is now back in charge by extending his research to other large operators in the sector.
The newspaper got its hands on confidential customs documents covering 2021 and the period from March to December 2023. “Buying cheap shoes and then selling them at a significantly higher price: also other manufacturers of sports and leisure shoes they earn a lot with this business model,” the journalists write.
Concretely, based on customs declarations, the Puma Suede Classic model is manufactured in Indonesia for 7 francs, while in stores in the Confederation it is sold for 15 times as much, i.e. 110 francs. The production – in Vietnam – of Adidas Stan Smith Primegreen FX5502 appears even cheaper, which is less than 6 francs, while the final price is 130 francs. Nike Air Force 1 ’07 costs 14 francs in the factory, 140 francs in the Swiss store, while for Reebook Classic Leather the figures are 14 and 110 francs respectively.
Dechatlon, on the other hand, pays the manufacturers significantly more, at least for some models, and then has sales prices that are significantly lower than those of the big brands: for example, the Kiprun Long 2 Damen model is produced for 28 francs and sold for 60 francs, Kiprun KS 500 2 Herren costs 22 and collects 85 francs, Newfeel Walk Protect Mesh goes to 12 francs at customs and reaches 40 francs in the shop.
Converse All Star OX also has a relatively low gap between production cost (25 francs) and final price (85 francs). However, the absolute smallest difference is shown by Victory (Dosenbach’s brand) which manufactures for 8 francs and sells for 30 francs.
Contacted by K-Tipp, Adidas justifies its prices with the fact that production costs constitute only a part of the final price: research and development, design, transport, sales and marketing costs are added. For its part, however, Decathlon claims to control the entire value chain, which is why it does not have to deal with intermediate margins, while Dosenbach explains the price of its Victory sneakers with high cost discipline.
As I know, price is one thing, quality is another. In the same issue K-Tipp presents a robustness test that took into account 14 sneaker models: in most of the products the heel covering broke or the soles wore out quickly. “This is bad for customers, but also for the environment, as the footwear ends up in the garbage,” the newspaper notes.
Only two shoes achieved an excellent score: the Suede Classic models from Puma and the Stan Smith from Adidas, which survived all tests without suffering any significant damage. They showed little sign of wear even after being scratched and bent thousands of times on multiple test benches. However, Dosenbach’s affordable Victory model appeared significantly more robust than On’s The Roger Advantage, which was also surpassed – but in this case more sized – by Decathlon’s Newfeel Walk Protect Mesh.
