I hate all the bickering going on about these sites and fakes and so on. It's pretty clear how I feel about them but one thing to note is if NIKE doesnt step in and do something about this soon, it will eventually hurt their product and they will lose a lot of customers.
There are some of us who consider ourselves collectors. Sure theyre shoes and theyre meant to be worn but theyre also art to some of us. Those people like myself who consider sneakers to be collectibles are gonna eventually give up on this hobby because of all the questionable stuff out there on the market.
I'll use the Ray 13 PE as an example cause to me its the perfect example.
The shoe came out in limited numbers in just 2 north american markets along with a few select HOH's in Europe. We all seen the resale they hit soon after the release which only made more people thirsty for them and then you have the 'collectors' like myself who wanted a pair. I think the $700 price range was justified given the rarity and history the shoe represents. But soon after the release you had a bunch of these sites that we're talking about now, offering the shoe for a little less and people ate them up.
Well if you followed the Ray thread you seen what these sites pumped out.......and I don't care what you say about quality, those were straight up FAKE......you cant deny that....the pics spoke for themselves.
If I am one of the people that paid $700 for an authentic pair and Im watching these sites that some of you are saying sell authentic product selling for much less......Im pissed....as any of you would be.
I think if this happens more you will see these 'collectors' completely shy away from buying altogether because of the flood of grey, unauthorized or straight up fakes. It devalues the shoe and you can say that this won't affect Nike's bottom line but in the long run it will because those who consider themselves collectors will see no reason to collect since there is no way to determine a real pair from an unauthorized pair and therefore it devalues both. Nike needs the 'collectors' otherwise they will see more of their product sit on their shelves cause really, besides the collectors, how many people you know have 50+ pairs of sneakers in their closet??? take collecting out of the equation and now its just a shoe, and nobody needs 50 pairs of shoes that they will actually wear.
Maybe Im just ranting but Im speaking on my own thoughts and feelings on this whole situation.
I'll leave it at this..........
UNDFTD 4's are considered one of the rarest and most coveted JB sneakers of all time......sort of the crown jewels of the JB line.
If you owned a pair and you saw that MK or AR or whoever was selling a FSR of them today.......how you gonna feel??? TBH, if it was me I'd sell my whole collection and call it quits and I think Im not the only one that feels........whats the point of collecting when theres companys that can replicate down to the last stitch??? The promo IV's that we've seen are another example.
How much more valuable were the MARS IV's before this summer/fall when we started seeing 'promo' pairs......or CDP promo 4's???...CDP promo 3's???
Its ruining a good thing and thats what bothers me most
Now lets talk about Concords yall