In October, Kasada IQ released its Q3 Quarterly Threat Intelligence Report. The report provided a deep dive into the resurgence of reselling communities and a refocusing on hype items, something we have been tracking since the start of the year. In November, Kasada IQ published its Holiday Fraud Trends 2025, which predicted retail bot surges in the 2 weeks prior to Black Friday and a scale of botting not seen before.
StockX’s recently released Q3 Big Facts report provides a new data point to support Kasada IQ’s assessments. StockX’s report showed that consumer demand for sneakers, collectibles, apparel, and electronics remains high despite economic uncertainty. StockX reported the following categories as the key leaders and ones to watch.
- Lifestyle runners: ASICS sales are up 45% in 2025, with the ASICS Gel-1130 Black Pure Silver the best-selling sneaker of the year. In 2026, brands to watch include Saucony, Mizuno, and Brooks.
- Ugly-cute collectibles: Labubu products have ranked in the top 10 best sellers on StockX nearly every day in 2025. Notably in Q3, three new ugly-cute collectible lines saw fast growth: Crybaby (21%), Hacipupu (281%), and Skullpanda (132%).
- Slim silhouette sneakers: Slim silhouette and hybrid sneakers introduced by major brands have seen significant sales success, with some being the top-selling new model for New Balance (204L), Adidas (Samba Jane), and Onitsuka Tiger (TGRS). Nike’s Total 90 3 became its third best-selling new model and sales of its Air Rift model are up 21% in 2025.
- Performance basketball: The leader in performance basketball was Nike’s Kobe 6 Protro, which was Nike’s best seller on StockX, seeing more than 100% sales growth in 2025. Nike’s top two best-selling new models in 2025 were its Nike Ja 3 and A’ja Wilson’s A’One. Sha Gilgeous-Alexander’s Converse Shai 001 was the new top model for Converse, giving it its biggest sales month on StockX since March 2022.
- Trading cards: Sales of trading cards skyrocketed in 2025, with Pokémon sales up 339% year-on-year, Topps sales up 127% and Magic: The Gathering up 700%.
- Digital cameras: Searches for “Canon G7X” are up 1919% year-on-year, with consumers spending USD $6m+ on Canon cameras in 2025. Digital camera keychains from Supreme and Kodak are gaining popularity, selling at triple-digit price premiums.
The StockX Q3 report provides an additional layer of insight, signalling which products are the must-have holiday gifts. These gifts can create significant revenue potential but also significant operational pressure for retailers leading into Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Christmas.
Botting of these high-value targets has begun surging. As shown below, bot checkouts for the popular ASICS Gel-1130 have spiked from 12 November.
Bot checkouts for the popular ASICS Gel-1130 spiking on November 12, 2025.
Similarly, checkouts for new models, like the Samba Janes and Nike Ja 3, are rising as Black Friday looms closer.
Bot checkouts for Samba Janes and Nike Ja 3 rise as Black Friday looms closer.
Recommendations for Black Friday
The products reported by StockX will transition from high-value targets to hypercritical targets during the holiday season. Scalpers will aim to amass inventory now to maximize resale profits throughout December. Retailers should expect bot activity to be at least 5-10x higher than a typical quarter. Organizations stocking these items should consider the following recommendations:
- Prioritize and allocate maximum security resources to the transaction funnel for high-value targets identified.
- Focus especially on protecting the most vulnerable API endpoints that handle cart manipulation and payment processing.
- Monitor for anomalous account activity, including multiple orders from the same or similar accounts and/or addresses. Retail botters will create multiple accounts to purchase goods, particularly for raffle-based drops.
About KasadaIQ
KasadaIQ provides real-time intelligence on automated threats and online fraud targeting eCommerce, retail, and digital businesses. The Kasada Threat Intelligence team continuously tracks adversary infrastructure, marketplace activity, and evolving automation tactics to support proactive defense.
To access KasadaIQ insights or connect with our team:
📧 team-threat-intel@kasada.io
