Fake or Authentic sneakers: Pick the right website!

May 3rd, 2006

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With the sneaker industry booming, there are a lot of people who want to take home their share of the profits. Unfortunately, they are going about doing it the wrong way. There are hundreds of websites that sell shoes, and all of them appear to be selling what you would call “authentic” items. But upon further review you might be surprised to find out that some of these sites actually have a policy page where they come clean about the authenticity of their merchandise. If you are aware that this is going on, yet still decide to buy, no harm is done. But by hiding where these sites put this information, they have tricked hundreds of unsuspecting customers into purchasing fake shoes.

With that being said, continue reading for a list of 47 websites selling sneakers, and whether or not they sell authentic or fake sneakers!

Authentic Sneakers
 
www.instyleshoes.com
 

This site is selling 100% authentic Nike shoes to people from all over the world. They specialize in selling rare Nike shoes including Jordan's. The site states"We do not sell fakes, knock offs, or factory variants and we are leading the battle against fake shoes on the Internet by educating the consumer."

 
www.pickyourshoes.com
 

Pickyourshoes.com guarantees that all of their sneakers are 100% authentic. The frequently asked questions page clearly outlines this by stating "We only sell Nike Authorized authentic shoes. No variants and no fakes. Their shoes are supplied by authorized Nike Retailers (example: Footaction, Champs and Footlocker)."

 
www.sneakerhead.com
This site dubs their company as a "one-stop source for authentic brand name sneakers"; They offer a large inventory of Nike sneakers including the Jordan's, Air Force 1, and several limited editions. In addition, they also carry every other major shoe manufacturer. They also offer a testimonial page as a way of putting prospective customers minds at ease.
 
 
www.uptempoair.com
 
The front page of this site sets the buyers mind to rest by stating that all products, including the Nike Air Jordan Basketball shoes, are 100% authentic. 
 
 
www.vintagekicks.com
 
Vintagekicks.com states that they do not buy, sell, or trade any shoes that are not 100% authentic. They do not deal with fakes or variants, and every pair of shoes that they sell is thoroughly inspected to ensure authenticity.
 
 
Fake/Variant Sneakers
 
www.3dkicks.com
 
Under the frequently asked questions page, this site admits that their shoes are factory variants. You will not find any authentic products on this site.
 
www.888kicks.com
 
This site does not touch on the authenticity issue, but they do state that they are not affiliated with Nike or Adidas in anyway. 
 
www.allthehotkicks.com
 
On the frequently asked questions page, the question of “Are the shoes fake” is addressed. The answer to this question is that the shoes on the site are official factory variants that are sold brand new.
 
www.bayareakicks.com
 
The shoes that are sold through bayareakicks.com are not guaranteed authentic. The site states that all of their merchandise are factory variants, and have been customized. They customize merchandise by producing shoes in colors that are generally not available to the public.
 
www.blazekicks.com
 
Blazekicks.com does not guarantee the authenticity of any shoes that they sell. All of their products are factory variants that are manufactured in unique and unreleased colors.
 
www.bigtimekicks.com
 
The frequently asked questions page on this site reveals that all of their shoes are not authentic; instead they are customized shoes. They state that their non authentic, customized shoes are of the same quality as the factory originals.
 
www.cankicks.com
 
Cankicks.com does not sell 100% authentic shoes. All of the shoes that they have listed on their site are factory variants, and have been customized. 
 
www.crispykicks.com
 
All of the shoes that are listed on crispykicks.com are factory variants.
 
www.direct-inventory.com
 
Direct-inventory.com clearer states on their policy page that they do not sell fake shoes. They state that every pair of shoes on their site is real and genuine. But, they do go on to say that all of their merchandise is manufactured in unique and unreleased colors.
 
www.ebuynike.com
 
Ebuynike.com states that all of their shoes are 100% authentic, and are shipped to customers packed in the original box. They also note that the tag and style code number listed with each shoe is 100% correct.
 
www.fashionpartz.com
 
Upon review of this site, there was no information available on the authenticity of the shoes that they offer. A call to the customer service line was consistently rerouted to an email address. For further information, your best bet would be to contact customer service via the home page.
 
www.flavakicks.com
 
On the general information page of this site, flavakicks.com states that they do not have any affiliation with the brands that they sell. All shoes sold at this site are factory variants, and are not authentic.
 
www.globekicks.com
 
Globekicks.com does not sell authentic shoes. Their site states that all items are for fashion and novelty purposes.
 
www.hiphopvalley.com
 
The disclaimer on at hiphopvalley.com states that all of their products are similar to the originals, but they are not factory originals or identical copies.
 
www.kickaaa.com
 

Kickaaa.com is run by TIAN MA International Trade Co., Ltd. The site states that they can produce various different sneakers including the Nike Jordan Series, Airmax, and Shox. While it never states that the shoes are fake or authentic, it should be believed that if they are manufacturing their own shoes that they are not 100% authentic.

www.kicksonfire.com
 
All of the products that are sold on this site are factory replicas that have been custom altered. They offer shoes that are unique and available in previously unreleased colors.
 
www.laststopgear.com
 
All of the shoes that are for sale on this site are factory variants, and are not authentic. They are designed in custom and unreleased colors.
 
www.ludakicks.com
 
All of the shoes that are for sale at ludakicks.com have been customized and are factory samples. They do not offer 100% authentic merchandise. 
 
www.nike-sale.com
 
This site does not directly address the issue of authenticity. For further details and contact information visit the site at nike-sale.com.
 
www.onesweetpair.com
 
The front page of onesweetpair.com says it all. It states that since 2003 they have been selling 100% authentic kicks! The “About Us” page goes on to explain that they have been collecting shoes for years, and that they only carry authentic Nike shoes.
 
www.qualitykicks.com
 
All of the shoes that are listed on qualitykicks.com are factory variants. They produce custom shoes that come in previously unreleased colors.
 
www.rockkicks.com
 
All shoes that are sold on rockkicks.com are factory variants. They state that their products are quality 1:1, which is the next best thing to being 100% authentic.
 
www.sbapparel.com
 
Sbapparel.com gets right to the point when discussing the authenticity of their shoes. They state that they do not represent their replica products to be original, and at the same time they do not represent that they are exact copies of the factory produced sneakers.
 
www.selectkicks.com
 
Selectkicks.com clearly states that all of their shoes are factory variants, and are not authentic. In addition, you will not receive a card or original box with the exception of the Nike Rare Jordan’s.
 
www.shoeclubusa.com
 
This site states that they do not represent their replica products to be original, and at the same time they do not claim that their merchandise is exact factory copies.
 
www.shoecreations.com
 
All shoes that are sold on shoecreations.com are factory variants. They sell shoes that are made in unreleased colors, but are not authentic.
 
www.sneakerguy.com
 
This site does not guarantee the authenticity of any of the sneakers that they sell. They state that all of their merchandise has been customized and are factory variants.
 
www.southsidesole.com
 
All of the merchandise that you will find on this site are factory variants, and are not guaranteed to be authentic.  
 
www.thejordanstore.com
 
All of the shoes that are for sale on this site are factory variants. The front page of this site states that they do not accept credit cards at this time, and also suggest that visitors check out 3dkicks.com
 
www.topqualitykicks.com
 
On the conditions of use page, this site explains that their shoes are for novelty purposes only. They also state that their products are comparable in style to the originals, but that they are not exact copies.
 
www.unitedtopkicks.com
 
All of the shoes for sale on unitedtopkicks.com are factory produced replicas. They offer customized shoes available in unique and previously unreleased colors.
 
www.urbanfootwearonline.com
 
The policy page of this site clearly states that all items for sale are factory variants.
 
www.vipkickz.com
 
The policy page of this site clearly reads that all of their sneakers are of great quality, but at the same time all of their sneakers are not authentic.
 
www.walkthatway.com
 
Under the terms and conditions page, this site states that they do not offer any authentic items or products. They also go on to explain that all of their products are customized factory replicas.
 
www.wownike.com
 
This site does not directly address the issue of authenticity, but it appears that their products are not factory originals. They state that they have relations with various factories in China, and that they have a quality control team that once worked at Nike. If you are going to order from wownike.com, you will want to contact them for further details on authenticity.
 
www.youngkicks.com
 
All of the shoes for sale on youngkicks.com are manufactured outside of a licensed factory. The shoes that they list are factory variants.
 
DO NOT BUY FROM THE FOLLOWING STORES
www.urbanretrowear.com 
www.nikeshoebase.com
www.modsports23.com 
 

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