Sneakerhead Self Defense

Identifying and Avoiding Fake or Variant Sneakers and Fraudulent Web sites

Products

Pictures

Pictures of products for sale should be clear, well-lighted and professional and a larger version available for you to view. All of the pictures should appear uniform with a similar appearance. Very good companies will often be able to offer you multiple pictures and views of the product. The technology and time involved in providing professional pictures and multiple images is a cost that most companies selling fakes will not be able to offer or they will be unwilling to make the investment of money and labor. Most websites with fakes steal their pictures from other websites. Be aware the often these websites will use pictures of real products and send you fakes, so you should never judge from pictures alone.

Colors and Appearance of the Shoes

Each year, brands like Nike, Jordan, Puma, etc. only release certain colors. You can usually see these colors on the official brand websites. If the shoes you're viewing don't appear on the official brand website or on another well-known website, they may be fake. One of the things that makes a sellers of fakes/variants stand out is a huge variety of colorways, most of which have never actually been manufactured or released by the brand. These versions simply don't exist anywhere else (e.g. Air Jordan Sponge Bob shoes). In general, it's a good policy to check at least three websites for that exact color and model. Check the brand website and two others.

Take a good look at the picture. Count the lace holes, and make sure that the shoe is shaped like the ones pictures on the brand website. Look carefully because the differencse are often very small and hard to see. Do the shoes look well constructed? Do they look the same as the models pictured on the brand website or is there something just not quite right about them? Fakes can be horrible or they can be very sophisticated and near perfect, but in all cases they will fall apart very quickly If you see something that is labeled as very rare that you've never seen anywhere, be wary.

Product Descriptions

First and most importantly, any legitimate merchant of authentic products should ALWAYS display and be able to provide the style/SKU number from the box and inside of the shoes. These numbers are assigned by the brand and are specific to each model and color of shoe. If you can't see the style number on the product page, don't buy them. Chances are very good that the shoes are fake. Colors never produced by the brand will not have a style number, usually, or the style number will not match the numbering format of other shoes from the brand.

Reliable web merchants will also provide any product information that is available for the shoes. This information may include materials the shoes are made of, what they are designed for (ex. shoes for running), etc. Reputable merchants receive catalogs from the brands approximately once every six months that show them the new products they can order for the next season. These catalogs usually include at least the most basic information about the upcoming shoes, including a style/SKU number, color description, and purpose of the shoes. Sometimes, information about the shoes is limited or simply not available, but merchants should be able to provide at least this basic information.

Packaging - Original Factory Boxes

Authentic products should come with an original factory box which displays the style/SKU number and color of the shoes and the shoes and shoeboxes should be well packed and packaged in a shipping box. One trick, usually used by manufacturers with very good quality fakes, have everything exactly perfect except the bar code. The bard code on the box does not match the bar code that merchants download from the brands' websites. Spotting this trick is a little beyond the average person, but if you're ever not completely sure, take the box to a Footlocker or other large chain and ask them to scan the bar code to see if it matches.

Made in _______?

Spotting fakes can tough because all of the major brands today (including New Balance who was made famous for its "Made in the USA" policy) outsource their production, usually to Asia. That is, rather than make the shoes in the United States where manufacturing costs are very high, companies hire factories in China, Indonesia, Korea, Vietnam, etc. to manufacture the products for them. The companies then import and distribute the products. At the time of this writing, none of the major shoe brands manufacture exclusively in the United States. However, some fakes and variants are shipped directly to the customer from China or another overseas location. At least one website clearly states that the delivery times are at least 14 days to a month because all of their products are shipped directly from China. This is a clear indication of fake shoes! In the case of the company mentioned, the shoes are probably being manufactured on demand. An interesting thing to note is that this particular website actually states that they sell "variants" (an polite way of saying fake shoes), but the page where they state this is well hidden and the admission is buried at the bottom of a long text article.

Price!

It can't be stated strongly enough that you simply can't buy a new pair of Air Jordan Retros for $50. Price is a big clue about whether or not you have an authentic product. Authentic products will be more expensive and usually priced according to the manufacturer's suggested retail price or slightly higher. At the time of this writing, the average pair of Nike sneakers in a men�s or women�s sizes costs between $70 and $150 while Air Jordans will set you back about $80 to $200 dollars depending on the model. Prices vary according to model, availability, and even location. Any merchant who has a lot of current products available for an unbelievably low price is selling fakes! Fake Nikes can sell for as little as $25 while fake Air Jordan shoes average about $75 no matter what model they are. For example, one website selling fake Air Jordans has nearly any color or style you could want with a full size range available, and all the shoes are priced at $75.

It is interesting to note that website mentioned above has since shut down operations under one name (claiming they have been sold to a local businessperson) and opened up an exactly identical website under another name. In other words, they were caught selling fake, received enough complaints from customers, and probably were shut down by their credit card processor.

Size Range

Companies selling authentic items will usually only have a limited quantity in the most common size range of men's sizes 7 to 13. Sizes will sell out and be removed. Companies that sell fakes always seem to have a full stock in a full range of sizes available. If the products are authentic, this isn't possible. Major brands only manufacture limited quantities of the products. The number manufactured is usually based on the number of orders the company received six months before the release date. Afterall, why manufacture more than you can sell? If you see a website that has a full run of sizes all the time of a shoe that is more than six months old and the prices are ridiculously low, the shoes are more than likely fake. Move on and find a better place to shop.

Consumer Research

Legitimate Business

Legitimate business who sell authentic products will usually be incorporated or otherwise formally organized into companies. Most states have a website where you can search for a business to find information about whether or not they are incorporated and county websites sometimes allow you to search for a fictitious business name (also known as a DBA or "doing business as"). You can usually find this search at the State Comptroller's website or the Business Portal. For example, to search for corporate information in the state of California, you go to the Secretary of State Business Portal website and click on California business search. For information about a DBA name in Los Angeles County, you go to http://lavote.net/fbn/fbn.cfm.

The Better Business Bureau

Consumers often forget about the Better Business Bureau. Go to BBB website and search the name of the business. You may not always find a listing, but chances are good that you will. A very good company will having a high BBB rating and will probably be a member of their local chapter of the Better Business Bureau. Because of the standards for the BBB, chances are excellent that the merchandise is authentic if the BBB rating is high and/or the company is a member of their local BBB.

Customer Testimonials

Most legitimate companies collect feedback from their customers so that they can improve how they are doing business and make the customer happier. A company should be able to provide unbiased testimonials from customers if they don't already offer them for viewing on the website. Check the Customer Service information and look for a feedback or testimonial section. If you don't find it, call the company and ask! Most companies are happy to show you their excellent record of service.

Sneaker and Shoehead Forums

When you're not sure, ask the experts. Sneaker collecting is a growing hobby and when you're in doubt ask the members of shoe forums like a href="http://www.niketalk.com">Niketalk.com.

Buyer Beware - READ EVERYTHING!!

Suprisingly, quite a few website selling fakes actually state that they are doing so. Given the criminal penalties (up to 10 years in prison) for selling counterfeit merchandise, it would seem unwise of them to admit their activities. On the other hand, this makes it a little easier for the average consumer to determine if the products are authentic. Read everything on the website and read carefully. This process may take minutes or even a couple of hours, but it's definitely worth it. We've found more fakes by reading the information posted on the website in question than by any other method. While the company may state the shoes are fakes, variants, or replicas, the information is not always immediately visible. We recommend the "Reading Everything" policy as a first step. If you fail to find a statement about the authenticity of their products or the company claims the products are authentic, fall back to the rest of this article as a guide.

Conclusion

Hiring and training customer service staff, making a toll-free customer service number available, keeping an office open during business hours, answering customer emails, etc. all takes time and money. Running a legitimate business takes money and time and commitment to hard work and a record of good service that will allow the company to continue for a long time. It's an investment for the long-term and an investment that any company selling fakes will not be able to make. Most of the time, they simply unwilling to do it because they guys are not in it for the long-term. They want to take your money and run; usually as fast as they can to avoid the police! Selling counterfeit merchandise is illegal, and buying it also carries some stiff criminal penalties, including fines, confiscation and prosecution with time in jail.

You may think it's a victimless crime that only takes money from huge corporations which can afford it anyway, you'd be wrong. The 2 billion dollars a year in counterfeit merchandise sold in the United States poses huge risks to both our economy and our safety. According to the National Association of Resale & Thrift Shops, consumer have suffered and died because of counterfeit products like auto parts which have caused fatal crashes. Counterfeit shoes may not pose as much of a risk to your health and safety, but they do cost jobs. Think about it. If you buy that great deal that you know if fake, it takes money from the budget of the legitimate manufacturer which in turn may cause them to downsize their staff or cut back on their production which will in turn make already hard-to-find shoes even more scarce. It's also costing you money because the fake shoes are almost always made with low quality materials and poor workmanship. Those $75 Air Jordan fakes will probably fall apart in less than three months, leaving you to shop for a new pair of shoes.

In the end, use a little common sense and take to heart two old adages: "If it seems to good to be true, it is." and "You get what you pay for."

Avoiding Fakes Part I | Sneaker Academy Home