“HOW LIMITED WERE THESE YEEZY 750 BOOSTS IF EVERYDAY I SEE SOMEONE NEW WITH THEM?
It peaked my curiosity, I had seen an awful lot of photos myself and it seemed like ten new photo sets would pop up everyday. I thought maybe resale prices weren’t that bad, maybe people were just getting around to picking them up at 10-15% above retail. I was wrong, way wrong. Resale had skyrocketed. That is when I noticed something else that struck me as very strange, there were a ton – no, a MEGATON – for sale on eBay. So, if I had been seeing more on my social networks and simultaneously dozens of pairs were being added to eBay, something fishy was a foot (and it wasn’t theseFoamposites).
I have always thought that covering replica sneakers was some of the most important sneaker journalism conceivable. I mean, first of all, it is extremely valuable information – every day a new sucker is born and with no information on how to protect yourself…
EVERYONE WHO IS INTO SNEAKERS GETS BURNED.
Arming yourself with what to look for, knowing where they are coming from and identifying what markets present the most risk is crucial. Then there is the fact that counterfeit sneakers have their own supporters, a sort of subculture, who “love sneakers just as much” but don’t want to pay current retail or resale prices. They have their own Youtube channels, sub-Reddits, forums etc. They are a real audience that wants their “sneaker passion” to be treated equally and not tainted by their interest in “grey market” products. For those reasons I had a few contacts in the “grey market” and I decided to see what was up with theseYeezy Boosts.
Contacting a replica dealer is not too much different from contacting a drug dealer. There is a Skype account which serves the role of a sort of “internet burner phone.” They all have aliases, their real names never discussed. Every Skype conversation starts with a sort of feeler exchange,
“MY FRIEND, YOU KNOW THIS SNEAKER IS REPLICA?”
Make no mistake, they want you to buy their fake sneaker; they just first want you to be very clear that you are buying a fake sneaker. It is sort of like a street code. Drug dealers often validate their actions with comments like “I never forced anyone to shoot up.”
Replica dealers will even hit you with the bulk and return customer discounts – they want you hooked. It starts with whatever it is you came for, next thing you know you are being shown sneakers that don’t come out for months or faked PEs – you know, the hard stuff.
I had done the song and dance before. I cut to the chase, I asked “what’s up with the kanyewest Yeezys.” After agreeing multiple times to tell you all that “David” is “The Plug” (*sigh*) he started to tell me how there are multiple versions, varying in quality, being produced by eight “replica factories.” Astonishingly,more than 1,000 pairs were sold by pre-order and had shipped the week before (yes, they were all over eBay). I decided I need to see one in hand, “The Plug” made the arrangements.
AGAIN, MUCH LIKE YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD JUNK PUSHER, THE REPLICA DEALER IS A MIDDLE MAN.
He took note of my “order,” payment was made via a (expensive) Western Union transfer and “The Plug” began to source it from the “factories.” This particular dealer has a (almost comical) pride in his customer service. I received “quality control” photos of the sneakers that were being sent to me so that I could say “these look great, send them” or decide to wait for a better version. My research in the aforementioned forums confirmed my timing was impeccable, the “4th version” had just landed and I was getting the “best.”
The (somewhat comedic) customer service continued. I was sent an email with tracking for my order the next day. For the briefest of moments, it almost felt like a legit transaction.
The sneakers shipped remarkably fast. I would say no more than five days passed between my first contacting “The Plug” and them arriving (signature required) at my doorstep. Most notably, they absolutely flew through customs in New York. I couldn’t help but imagine what a vast, cross continental, network was allowing this to all feel so “normal.”
I CRACKED OPEN THE BOX, HALF EXPECTING TO LAUGH AT WHAT I WOULD FIND… BUT… THESE “UNAUTHORIZED YEEZY 750 BOOSTS” WERE NO JOKE
