Sorry to hear. Most of those (i hope) who asked for help received, regardless of whether i had history with them or not. To hold info and not drop links definitely inhibits beasting and if you PM you control who you have given info to. At the end of the day, I don't care if 100 pairs are available, I care if 1 pair is available. To take the chance before RD to drop the link u intend on dealing with on a widely known forum increases ur chance of not getting the shoe. It only takes 1 person (or more depending on availability) who is not a NTer to use the info u dropped (who just happens to be a size 13) on this site as their source that can result in you getting shut out of a pair. Im not a betting man but why increase the risk if you really want a particular pair?
But, I think the point that me and others are making is that as long as information is free, it is its nature to get out more widely. I'm not convinced that if NT completely ceased to exist, copping anything would be appreciably easier. Information flow is fluid, if it hits a barrier in one direction, it just flows somewhere else.
Part of the reason why stuff is harder to acquire today is the growing number of "sneakerheads." But, another reason is simply that so many more venues exist where information can be posted. It's easier than ever to get the info you need to be a "sneakerhead." So, it's not totally one-sided in terms of increase on the demand side, there's also an increase in info on the supply side. And, then, of course, the easier it is to get all the info, the more people there are who are willing to do it. There's just no barrier to entry to the sneaker hobby. Contrast that, for example, with the vintage gear market, which has protected itself much better against lurkers and noobs - the barrier to acquire knowledge in that field remains quite high.
Part of this is just the internet doing what it does by its very nature. NT is only a part in a giant ecosystem of sneaker info. You can plug one hole, the leak will just spring up somewhere else. It's no
sure thing that any of these measures would make an iota of difference. We used to be a big fish in a small pond. Now, we're still a big fish, but in an ocean with lots of other pretty big fish.
. Gonna sit and think for a bit.
