Meet the sneaker pimp

Would you pay $90,000 for a pair of shoes? Earlier this month, some very rich fool did, reportedly plunking down the ridiculous sum on eBay for a pair of Nike Air Yeezy II’s, a hightop sneaker designed by Kanye West.

For that kind of mark-up on shoes retailing for $245, you should get Kanye himself to deliver them, scrub your feet, and perform for 900 of your closest friends. But that’s just how it goes in the world of limited-edition and collectible shoes, populated by rabid sneakerheads who will go to extravagant lengths — and prices — to nab the hottest new releases.

Zandy Mangold

Eddie Paolo Barillas spent 12 days camping out to buy these Nike Air Yeezy II’s for $245. Sneakerheads are now bidding as much as $5K for them on eBay.

Eddie Paolo Barillas, 20, of Brooklyn has been collecting and reselling shoes for years, and his biggest sale, so far, is $5,000 for a pair of Air Jordan Undefeateds. He lives and breathes footwear and can rattle off tongue-twisting shoe names (Foamposite One “Galaxy,” anyone?), prices and release dates like a baseball announcer reciting stats.

“Ever since I was little, I always liked sneakers and fashion,” says Barillas, who resembles the similarly sneaker-obsessed Turtle from “Entourage.” “Getting the limited stuff, it’s fun for me.”

And when Barillas talks about sneakers, he’s not talking about the average pair you can pick up down at the local Payless. What he and his fellow sneakerheads are after are the extremely rare releases shoe companies, including Nike, Asics and New Balance, put out every few weeks for hard-core fanatics. In some cases, just a few hundred pairs are sold worldwide.

Here’s how the game works:

First, you have to find them.

This is not as easy as it sounds. Many times, companies announce a shoe’s release date, but they rarely if ever publicize which stores will be selling it. You can’t just ask at stores either, because they — in hopes of avoiding a melee at their registers — will often fib and say they won’t be getting any shipments.

The best bet is to know which stores have gotten which shoes in the past. A store that got, say, the Nike Air Yeezy I will probably get the sequel. “You have to talk to a lot of people to see what they know,” Barillas says. It also helps to have a connection inside Nike, as he does.

You have to sleep on a sidewalk.

Earlier this month, Barillas spent 12 days straight camping out for the Air Yeezy II’s. He ultimately landed two pairs at Jimmy Jazz in Brooklyn and says that if he decides to sell them he expects to get as much as $5,000.

“It’s not that bad. I like camping,” he says. “You really just sit down and chill.” He brings a beach chair to sleep on. Others bring sleeping bags and occasionally tents. The crowds waste time by playing Uno and dominos. To eat, they bring sandwiches from home or order pizza. Bathroom breaks mean begging local businesses to let them use theirs.