Sneaker retail prices 2020 to 2026: how much more a model costs

The finding in short

The Barcodes.gg catalogue holds the retail price, release date and barcodes of 534,902 products of 16 footwear brands. This study uses that public catalogue data only, with no resale price.

• A steady climb: Nike Pegasus +27 % and adidas Adizero +19 % from 2020 to 2026 releases.
• Steps, then a plateau: Jordan 1 +20 %, Air Force 1 +14 %, adidas Samba +10 %.
• Almost flat: ASICS Gel-Kayano +6 %, Nike Air Max +4 %.
• 31 % of the sneakers released in the last 30 days have their barcodes on file; for the last 12 months the figure is 68 %.

Median retail price by model and release year

Each cell is the median US retail price of the styles of one model family released in that year; "n/a" means fewer than 15 styles with a usable price.

The Pegasus held at $130 until 2022, then rose every year to $165. Its ASICS rival, the Gel-Kayano, went only from $160 to $170. The classics move in steps and then stop. The Air Force 1 went to $120 in 2022 and $125 in 2023, and has not moved since. The Jordan 1 median dipped to $90 in 2021 and reached $120 in 2026. The Samba, the shoe of 2024, stayed at $100 through its peak. Three classics jump in 2026: the Converse Chuck 70 to $125, the adidas Gazelle to $130 and the Superstar to $120. The Chuck 70 and Gazelle cells rest on 20 and 18 styles so far, so wait for the full year before you call it a new price.

Why some models climb every year and others move in steps

A retail price is a decision that a brand makes per model, and the table shows three kinds of decision. Our reading of each follows; the data shows the prices, not the reasons.

A climb with every version. A running shoe gets a new version and a new number almost every year, and the brand prices each version as a new product. The Pegasus used that to move up $130, $140, $150, $155, $165. The Gel-Kayano also gets a yearly version but stayed near $160: a version cycle allows a rise, it does not force one.

Steps for the classics. The Air Force 1, the Jordan 1 and the Samba are the same shoe year after year, and buyers know their price. Brands move it rarely and for the whole line, which gives the steps in the table. When demand for the Samba rose in 2024, its median stayed at $100: adidas met the demand with more pairs, not a higher price. That may also explain why so many classics now ask below retail on resale (see our resale premium index).

Why we compare models, not brands

A brand median moves with the mix of models. In 2021, the catalogue took in many low-priced New Balance and PUMA styles, and the brand medians fell, although no shoe got cheaper. A model family keeps the mix more stable, although it still mixes Low, Mid and High cuts. The full table, with 30 model families from 2015 and the number of styles in each cell, is in a5b_model_median_retail_usd_by_year.csv.

New styles per release year

The table counts the distinct style codes per release year that reached the Barcodes.gg catalogue; it shows what we collected, not every release.

The count peaked with 26,867 styles for 2023, double the 13,426 of 2020. ASICS grew fastest, from 550 styles for 2020 to 2,927 for 2023, in line with its rise in resale. From 2020 to 2025, Nike stayed between 4,951 and 6,511 styles a year. The 2026 column holds the year to 27 October only.

Barcodes per product

The table gives the barcodes per style code for eight model families: one barcode per size, and more when a style code covers several size systems.

Of the 534,902 footwear products, 191,729 have at least one barcode, with a median of 11 and a 90th percentile of 29. The adidas terrace models have the most barcodes per style, because adidas labels sizes in thirds. A clog or a slipper has fewer sizes: the Crocs Classic Clog has 8.

Barcodes for new releases

The table counts releases in the 16 footwear brands with a release day, one row per style code, and the share with at least one barcode on file.

Barcodes arrive after the drop: 31 % for the last 30 days, 68 % for the last 12 months. A shop that lists on a marketplace needs the GTIN of each size, so for a new release it often waits or types the codes by hand. By brand, over the last 12 months (100 releases or more): On 78 %, Converse 77 %, adidas 76 %, ASICS 74 %, Saucony 73 %, Salomon 73 %, Jordan 73 %, UGG 72 %, PUMA 69 %, Nike 65 %, Vans 65 %, New Balance 61 %, Crocs 61 %, HOKA 48 %, Yeezy 29 %. The sneaker release calendar shows the barcodes on file for each upcoming release.

What this means for you

If you buy: check the release year before you compare prices. A 2020 Pegasus at $130 is not a discount on the $165 model; it was the full price then. For lifestyle classics, the retail price is stable, so a resale ask above it is a premium you choose to pay.

If you sell or run a shop: keep the retail price per style code, not per model name, and refresh it with each release. For a new release, expect to wait for barcodes; the style code lookup shows how many size barcodes we hold for a code.

Caveats in plain words

• The catalogue shows what Barcodes.gg collected, not every release.
• A retail price can be wrong, old or for another market, and a re-release can keep an old price.
• The prices are not adjusted for inflation, and 2026 is a partial year.

Method

Catalogue. A full scan of the Barcodes.gg product and barcode catalogue on 27 October 2026. Brands and model families follow the catalogue rules of the site: a product belongs to the first model phrase that matches its name. "Footwear" means the 16 brands of the barcode database by brand. The release year is the first four digits of the release date; a year-only date counts for its year.

Retail price currency rule. The retail price field is free text. We read it as US dollars only when it is a plain number or a dollar form ($N, US$N or N USD) from 10 to 2,000. All other text is left out. A plain number counts as dollars, and nobody has checked the currency of each row by hand. With this rule, 51.8 % of the footwear products have a usable retail price. A median per model and year needs 15 styles or more.

Downloads

Each file holds counts, shares or medians only. No file holds a barcode or a single product. Free for editorial use with a link to Barcodes.GG.

• a5b_model_median_retail_usd_by_year.csv: Median US retail price by model family and release year
• a4_styles_per_release_year.csv: New style codes in the catalogue per release year and brand
• a3_barcodes_per_product.csv: Barcodes per product, by brand
• g1_barcodes_per_style_by_model.csv: Barcodes per style code, by model family
• f1_calendar_coverage.csv: Releases with barcodes on file, by window and brand
• a1_field_coverage.csv: Catalogue field coverage
• method_facts.csv: Method facts: retail price rule and windows
• chart-retail-by-model.png: chart, median US retail price by release year for six model families (1200 × 630 PNG)

How to cite

Barcodes.GG (Reactive Systems SL). Sneaker retail prices 2020 to 2026. Data as of 27 October 2026. https://barcodes.gg/research/sneaker-retail-prices-2020-2026

Free for editorial use with a link to Barcodes.GG. Please link this page, not a tool page, so readers can find the method and the files.