Imagine surfing the net for some online shopping, hoping to maybe snag some internet-excluisve deals, maybe trying to find something they didn't have in the store. You come across that new pair of hundred dollar Jordans and to your amazement they're only 50 dollars! To good to be true? Well the answer is yes, in fact it is.
Fake and counterfeit sneakers has become a huge (illegal) industry, especially on online websites such as Ebay and Craigslist. Sellers are producing mass quantities of poor quality look alike sneakers, modeled to look almost identical to popular collectable sneakers such as Air Jordans and Nike Dunks. These sneakers look somewhat appealing in pictures but once purchased and worn, the sneakers will most likely fall apart after a few wears. This industry has become so big that Richard Stanwix, Head of Brand Security for Nike, said in a recent issue ofSneaker freaker Magazine, that 98% of (nike)sneakers at any given time on ebay are fake or counterfeit. This is clearly a large concern for Nike and it's brands.
Fake is a rather general term and one might wonder what actually constitutes a "fake" sneaker. Any Sneaker that is advertised and or made to look like a nike sneaker (or any sneaker company ) or bearing the logo that is not made authentically by the sneaker company is considered "fake."
Telling the difference between an authentic pair of sneakers and a counterfeit pair from pictures alone on ebay is difficult. Counterfeit sellers are also known to use stock pictures from reputable footwear websites as their own to advertise their fake sneakers. Buyers are very easily tricked into buying these knock offs. Go here for a quick lesson on how to spot fakes.
Remember if you com across a pair of sneakers on a website such as ebay or craigslist and the price is significantly lower than retail, BEWARE.
