Adidas is not Nike’s biggest thorn like most people think. As a matter of fact both brands have a common enemy: the counterfeiters. And if you don’t believe me, just take a look at how many fake items are currently being unloaded on eBay on a daily basis and you’ll understand, see article below
In the 2016 fiscal year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized more than $1,382,903,001 worth of counterfeit goods.
Now just think about the many other million of undetected fakes that make it through our borders on a daily basis. The replica industry I’m sure doesn’t account for what analysts look at when they give us a breakdown of the share of the sneaker market competitive brands possess. I bet you they will be in the top 20 were they included. Ten years ago, I could have easily spotted a pair of fake Jordan retros by just glancing at them but lately, one needs more than Sherlock Holmes skills to bust a pair of fakes. When and how was the term Legit check born? Currently there are many sites like mine dedicated to helping the consumer identify counterfeits, something you would have never seen a decade ago. And this was engendered by companies like Perfectkicks which in my opinion is the number one leading counterfeiter currently. They have completely changed the landscape of replicas by making them more acceptable and tolerable. People used to be banned from sneaker communities for dealing or wearing fakes, but that is now a thing of the past. I’m sure many will disagree with me but the data backs it up. There are fully functional IG and Youtube account holders known for their ties with fakes. Perfectkicks’s replicas are basically identical to authentic sneakers- the company is investing millions of dollars to obtain the same materials used to manufacture their breed of counterfeits. They’ve also purchased very sophisticated machines and the icing on the cake is,
They engage and involve the consumer in the manufacturing process
They’ve built a large customer/fan base and actually play the “supply and demand ” game. Just take a look at the Instagram page below and you’ll notice the amount of pre-fulfilled orders they receive daily.
Do you see how they are engaging their fan base; they have about 96k followers who are obviously also regular buyers. Now in a few years , there will be probably a 100 of companies like that, just think about the potential problems that will arise from this.
See how they are engaging the consumer in the video above, it is so compelling that it converts into massive sales. This is pathetic, they understand content creation better than legitimate companies.
We are at the point where counterfeiters are battling each other (to produce the best authentic fakes) and in the process each one is perfecting its craft- which means we’ll witness the birth of more companies similar to Perfectkicks. Just think about it, let me be very generous and assume that each year, 10 companies similar to PK that are born. In the span of 10 years you ‘ll have about a 100 of them; now think about the share of the sneaker market each one of these companies has the potential to acquire ( assuming each has about a 100k followers, and multiply that by a 100) and put them all in one category. I bet you they are taking so much money out of legitimate retailers’ pockets i.e Footlocker, Finishline, Champs, DTLR just to name a few. Footlocker’s stock recently drop by 28% and it was supposedly due to the decreasing in sales of high end items. Now pause for a moment and think about it-Will you not agree that many of the counterfeits are high end items that are cheaper and basically of the same materials? This could very well be another reason why Footlocker’s stock dropped. A lot more retailers are going to go out of business in a few years and many will merge just to survive. Do I have any solution for it? At this point I’m not sure what is going to stop the ball from rolling but stay tuned for further updates.
