How to know if your Basketball Shoes are Genuine or Replicas
There has recently been a proliferation of sites selling basketball shoes on the web to the point the sorting through all the sites to sort out the scammers, ripoff artists and fake shoe sellers from those who sell good shoes is becoming increasingly difficult. Its enough to make you think that half the online business owners are nothing but a pack of liars and ripoff artists.
So how does one sort out the good from the bad, the real from the fake? This is not an easy question to answer as the web is full of reports about whose shoes are real and whose are fakes and not all of these reports are made by users with good intentions it seems. In fact many come from competitors out to make the competition look bad. Its a shame that some of the so-called public service sites accept and post negative reports about scammers without vetting them. Of course there is usually the opportunity for the sites to rebut these reports but that does not do much to dilute the negative power of these comments. Once a site is listed with negative results most buyers do not bother to actually read the reports but just mark that site as a potential ripoff or scam site and move on to other sites.
One of the first things to take into consideration is the price. You do have to consider some relevant points when considering cost as the only factor. Almost all major shoe companies are making billion dollar yearly profits and all of their shoes are made overseas, often in the very same factories which are producing so called replicas, knock offs or fake shoes.
There are many legitimate dealers franchised by those big manufacturers, who parlay the low costs of drop shipping and use only a online based sales to offer lower prices for their shoes. That means therefore that price can be a general consideration, but in my opinion you should not discard a seller simply because his price is low, the shoes dont cost as much to make as you think!
There are some indications of reputable sellers that can help here. First of all, does the site have a contact address with a physical address and phone number? Does the site display the BBB logo or similar? Does the site display a PayPal verified sticker? All of these aspects tend to be indications of reputable sellers as generally those who sell fake or replica shoes normally do not provide any of the above.
You need to ensure you look carefully at the terms and conditions on the website. I know they can be a pain to wade through, but the conditions under which you can get a refund or get replacement shoes are good indications of reputable sellers. If the site seems to offer no question returns or doesnt have a return policy they are probably running a scam operation. One site which has been hit with at least one complaint offers a triple money back guarantee if the shoes are not authentic!
Last but not least are recommendations from those who have actually bought from the site. If you can find a real live person who can tell you his opinion great, but most often you will have to rely on the testimonials on the respective web sites, bearing in mind that not all of them are true.
In looking at many of these sites I have found several who seem to have found favor with others and a couple that I have used myself with good results. These are a few good ones I have located and please investigate yourself before you buy:
flightclub.com
toetoeshoes.com
footlocker.com
kicksbay.com
sneakerhead.com
allsneaker.com
One last parting reminder and that is look over your shoes carefully when you receive them to make sure that they fit right, hare made of good materials, and of course look and work well. If you are not satisfied with what was sent to you, keep all the wrappings, box and packing intact and immediately contact the seller with your complaints. Then follow their return instructions to the letter.
Author Michiel Van Kets writes articles for kicksbay.com and spends his time trying to counter all the misinformation circulating regarding knockoff products and in particular fake shoes. What lies within the definitions of genuine or replica? The author has spent time investigating terms such as rip off, scam and real or fake and present the facts in a straightforward way. Read unbiased information and explanations for these so often used terms when speaking about product brands.
