With the issues regarding "early release" websites, how does that affect your buying decision now?

[rippaflow]

Ive watched everyone buy from these sites for years.. Never got the urge to buy. Then this year, having never had them, I bought the Black Cements from Air Randy. They showed up in a smaller box (size 13 in a size 12 or so box), proper retro card and paper. Tons of precreasing, visable glue on seam of the midsoles. I ended up trading them to my friend with light cash for Columbia XIs. He decided he was going to beat them. He got his release date pair and they were 100% comparable, just the accessories aren't on point. I wore them a few times, they feel just like my NDC 2011s. On the other hand... we both dabbled in SDS Concords.... Got the mini box for our 13s, size 10.5-12 shoe trees, wrong paper, wide 23, Joqdans, etc. Having had my 4 retail pairs now (I wore the Joqdans 3 times, but friend didnt) and having worn my retail pair, those had to be fake. I ended up selling mine for 295.00 after I wore them and my friend traded them for DS 2001 Bred XI. Needless to say, those 2 experiences will keep me away from early release. Im a collector, I wear everything except my DS backups, but not having the proper packaging & accessories really bothers me to the point where I won't want them. It's a big deal to me. Good luck to anyone who choses to buy from these people. I wish you the best. Rumor has it Chinese authority captured Air Randy. Any truth to that? Seen it on Twitter.

 

[dric]

I'm still toiling with paypal to get my money back from an early release seller. They never even sent the shoes...

 

[gameupz]

I think it affects everyone because all these grey market pairs will continue to circle around amongst the buy/sell/trade community for years to come. I mean, can't really expect someone to have their receipt for say a release in 2008 or 2009 etc especially when this didn't seem like a problem during those years, or at least it wasn't fully exposed yet like how it is now. Now you have to always do your research after receiving a pair from someone to be cautious

 

[Magic33]

was the big font necessary?

 

[doubled productions]

Luckily some of the stores around my way will let releases go about a week or so early so I've never had to look into the early release sites. But after all the info I've read about them and all of the horror stories I've heard I would never consider buying from them.

 

[sundie]

couldnt agree with you more. If AR had concords up a month before release for 80 bucks everyone would be saying looks how fake these are and so on. Because theyre 400 bucks everyone thinks they are real. Which is pretty ironic if you think about it. Those sites are all sketchy. 

 

[ijapino]

Originally Posted by sundie

couldnt agree with you more. If AR had concords up a month before release for 80 bucks everyone would be saying looks how fake these are and so on. Because theyre 400 bucks everyone thinks they are real. Which is pretty ironic if you think about it. Those sites are all sketchy. 

Not necessarily true. The shoes AR and those other sites are selling look almost exact to the release models. The differences are hardly noticeable if at all.

 

[rjucks]

Originally Posted by mrlongong

is soleawesome an early release site?

Yes. At best. Check the AJXI Concord Thread for side by side comparisons of the kicks I got from SoleAwesome and the pairs I got on Release Day from Finish Line. Es No Bueno.

 

[ninjahood]

Originally Posted by LimitedRetroOG

Originally Posted by mrkane

LimitedRetroOG wrote:

---

that cat doesn't know what da hell he's talkin about..tappin? scratching?

 

[Deleted member 42060]

nike should switch over to japan if they could
its a crime to sell anything fake counterfeit in japan
everything has to be authentic

 

[sbsallday12]

I've never been ballin enough to drop the money for early shoes. patience is a virtue

 

[hypent500]

Originally Posted by ijapino

Originally Posted by sundie

couldnt agree with you more. If AR had concords up a month before release for 80 bucks everyone would be saying looks how fake these are and so on. Because theyre 400 bucks everyone thinks they are real. Which is pretty ironic if you think about it. Those sites are all sketchy. 

Not necessarily true. The shoes AR and those other sites are selling look almost exact to the release models. The differences are hardly noticeable if at all.

AGREED.

 

[23rakim45]

The saga continues...

 

[cdunk]

Originally Posted by 23RAKIM45

The saga continues...

Oh, it's just not gonna end until there's some way of finding out exactly where/how shoes originate.