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By Benjamin Lynch
US Politics and National Affairs Reporter
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Donald Trump's golden sneakers are selling at hugely marked-up prices after their launch earlier this month, with one pair on the online auction site eBay listed for more than $450,000 having been sold.
The original retail price of the now sold-out shoes on the GetTrumpSneakers.com website was $399, but one eBay seller flipped them on February 18 with an asking price of over 1,000 times that.
Newsweek reached out to the seller and is attempting to verify the sale.
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eBay's sold items include those sold via the "buyer offer" tool, even if the offer accepted was less than the displayed price.
Trump revealed the "Never Surrender High-Tops" a day after a New York judge ordered he must pay $355 million in penalties after being found liable for business fraud.
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An independent seller who listed a pair on eBay wanted over $33,799 for them at the time of publication.
Of the sold sneaker pairs, only one of them went for less than $1,300 according to a review of the sold listings on eBay. At the time of publication, the lowest-priced listing on the website was a bid of $600, with a "buy it now" option of $2,000.
Newsweek saw over 40 already sold items listed on the website. None of the pairs currently selling on eBay are one of the 10 randomly signed by Trump.
Newsweek reached out to eBay and a spokesperson for Trump for comment via email.
Trump was met with some boos as he promoted the shoes and the accompanying website at Sneaker Con. "Wow, lot of emotion. There's a lot of emotion in this room," Trump said of the reaction, according to clips posted on social media.
Later, Trump shared a screenshot of his sneakers on his Truth Social media platform. He also showed an article headline saying that all 1,000 pairs had sold out.
Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung told Newsweek that Trump "wasn't booed." In fact, Trump "had a hero's welcome because everybody knows crooked Joe Biden is done," Cheung said.
Michael Tyler, a campaign spokesperson for President Joe Biden, said in a statement according to CNN that Trump's sneaker promotions were "the closest he'll get to any Air Force Ones ever again for the rest of his life," referring also to the name of a Nike sneaker.
The GetTrumpSneakers website says it is "not political and has nothing to do with any political campaign."
Also listed on eBay are red and white Trump sneakers. Several pairs of these shoes also appear to have been sold for significant profit after the original price on the Trump website put them at $199. Two listings sold for $547.47 each.
The Trump website is also selling some more moderately priced "Victory 47" perfume and cologne for $99 in honor of a potential Trump presidential win. He would be the 47th president if he were to win the next presidential election.
Previous calculations by Newsweek show around 889,725 pairs of the gold high tops would have to be sold for Trump to pay off the $355 million penalty handed down by Judge Arthur Engoron in New York.
New York Fraud Penalty
In the fraud case verdict, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, the former president's two adult sons, were ordered to pay $4 million each and were barred from doing business in New York for two years. Donald Trump is also banned from taking out bank loans in New York and serving as a company director for three years.
A suit by New York Attorney General Letitia James said all three, The Trump Organization and two firm executives, Allen Weisselberg and Jeff McConney, fraudulently overstated the value of assets to deceive lenders.
The Trump Organization was also prevented from applying for loans in New York for three years. The defendants have always denied wrongdoing and the Trump legal team has indicated the judge's ruling will be appealed.
Update 2/21/24, 10:08 a.m. ET: This article was updated to note that Newsweek reached out to eBay for comment.
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