Founded back in 2002, Sneaker Freaker is the first and only international footwear magazine. StockX, which promises “Guaranteed Authenticity,” said 100% of the products on its marketplace are physically inspected and authenticated. Only purchase sneakers off of trustworthy websites that have detailed columns highlighting their ‘Sneaker Authenticity’ process.
For me, reselling is something else, it’s just a little bit of fun on the side. I like sneakers and I’m very into business, so it was kind of a nice, interesting, fun thing to do last year, but now I’m running out of time to do it. I was trying not to say explicitly “they’re fake” because to me, authenticity—there’s a whole other thing about what authenticity is and who’s the ultimate authority on that, which is really the brand. But I was just trying to get this to go viral enough so that StockX would notice me and I could deal with the situation and have someone reach out.
Nike has amended its suit against StockX to include accusations of selling counterfeit merch labeled as “authentic” on its platform. fake AJ comes after Nike says it purchased four pairs of fake shoes from StockX over the last few months, including a pair of Air Jordan 1 High OG “Patent Bred” sneakers. A size 11 pair of these shoes sell for around $340 on the secondary market after taxes and fees are applied. Unfortunately, the counterfeiting market is a booming industry across the world as many buyers are wanting to achieve that high end designer look for that thrift store price. Buying and selling fake goods can destroy the reputation of a legitimate business. It can decrease their rightful profit margin and hurt their overall business.
In what at first appeared to be a photo editing faux-pas, Blake Lively joked on Instagram on Thursday about using her iPhone to draw fake shoes on her actually barefoot feet. The company shipped shoes of extremely low quality from China. You don’t even have to contact a website that uses a free Hotmail email account to know that it’s fake. If they provide a phone number, call during business hours to check if anyone answers.
“2022 brought new wins for our business as we posted record revenue and trades and served our community of buyers and sellers around the globe.” Verification stats did not appear in StockX’s 2021 marketplace report, but the company has called out the number of counterfeit pairs spotted in recent quarterly reports. Overall, the resale platform turned away over 330,000 fake items shipped by sellers for verification last year, according to its latest annual marketplace report. Your chances of buying fake Alphaflys from eBay are about to decrease, because the website is now rolling out a program that will authenticate sneakers. Unfortunately, smelling new opportunities, counterfeiters are flocking to the marketplace as well.
Jessica Brillant examines a pair of Nikes she bought online. They say the amount of counterfeit products seized annually exceeded $1 billion in the most recent report from authorities. If you don’t trust your own judgement, it’s good to visit a sneaker specialist friend or brick-and-mortar sneaker shop to be extra sure.