In the USA, a sneaker secondary market is currently thriving. Inside this playground, a “bunch” of people makes money by purchasing false sneaker limited edition. Then, they sell them back to enthusiast buyers.
Craving for fake
Looking at the analysis carried out by SEMrush marketing company, Supreme turns out to be the most sought-after fake brand. In fact, in the United States nearly 14,000 people a month (on average) search for it, and almost 29,000 on a worldwide scale. Vans is currently in second position, in the world (about 17,000 monthly searches), while UGG, Dr Martens and Converse are placing in the top fifteen rankings. “From shoes to accessories, from casual brands to luxury labels, people are craving for fake products”, pointed out Jana Garanko, SEMrush spokesperson (quoted by Footwear News).
Being happy about fake
Let us go one step further, taking inspiration from a survey carried out by Red Points (a company specialized in brand safeguard technologies). Their research highlights that 20% of sneaker online buyers purchased fake shoes in the past. Almost half of them were on the lookout for the original product. Finally yet importantly, 69% of customers, who purchased (on purpose or by chance) a counterfeited article, were very or fairly happy about their shopping.
Sneakerhead buyers
The Wall Street Journal published an article to spotlight sneakerhead buyers. They are the ones who intentionally purchase high-quality replicas of the most sought-after models. They play this way because they are not able to get a pair of original sneakers, taken in advance by bots and retailers. Not to pay an excessive amount of money, disappointed buyers end up falling back on a fake model, which is a great deal similar to the original one. Such model can mislead even the most analytical experts. Ultimately, someone even tries to sell back that fake item on a secondary market, therefore gaining the surplus between its purchase price and its resale value. Quite a rather vicious circle indeed.
In the image, taken from YouTube, the comparison between an original Supreme snekaer and a false one
