The Pricing System of Adidas' Laceless Predator Boots is Ridiculous

Adidas this week launched the all-new Adidas Predator 18 soccer cleat, including the first-ever laceless Adidas Predator in history. However, when the laceless Adidas Predator 18 soccer shoes landed in full in the Adidas online store, many of you certainly quite astonished about the prices of the different versions of the laceless Adidas Predator available.

The Pricing of the Laceless Adidas Predator 18 Boots is 'Optimized'

With Adidas' website featuring a well-structured design, the facts are easy to see. The laceless Adidas Predator 18+ FG / SG soccer cleats retails at a price of 250 GBP, whereas the indoor / turf versions for small-sided football are available for just 170 GBP (The difference in the United States is even more extreme - 330 USD vs 180 USD). What is the reason for this price gap?

In fact, tech-wise, the small-sided and 11-a-side versions of the laceless Adidas Predator 18+ football boots are almost identical, with the only major difference the sole plate (the upper of the indoor version is optimized for indoor surfaces). In terms of production costs, there should be no huge price gap between making a FG outsole and an indoor sole plate. So why is the one boot so expensive and the other boot rather cheap?

The reason for this is both marketing and consumer behavior. First, Adidas prices their laceless boots at that high price to show off that the are the most cutting-edge boots (Nike's best boots cost 275 USD, the laces Adidas Predator 18.1 just 225 USD). Second, the high price possibly makes them even more desirable for players. Yet another, more obvious reason is that players are not willing to spend 330 USD for a small-sided football boot (durability of the sole plate etc).

However, this pricing system is nothing that Adidas introduced with the Predator 18+ but something that was the same for the laceless Adidas Ace 17+ (e.g. Adidas Ace 17+ Purecontrol 330 USD, Adidas Ace 17+ UltraBoost - 200 USD).

In fact, the same also applies for Nike and their high-cut / low-cut / indoor boots. The Adidas Predator 18.1 football boots and trainers available (225 USD vs 150 USD) are priced very differently as well.

What do you think about this? Do you think it is fair / reasonable that Adidas makes the high-end laceless soccer cleats so expensive? Share your thoughts in the comments below.