Beware of fakes when investing in ‘modern-day art’ of luxury sneakers

Business is booming in luxury sneakers, with punters going to great lengths – and paying big cash – for fashionable footwear.

Business is booming in the luxury sneaker market. From Adidas Yeezys to Air Jordans and Nike Dunks, punters are increasingly going to great lengths – and paying big cash – to be among the limited few to sport the fashionable footwear.

Emerging Australian businesses such as ShoeGrab and Waves Never Die, which can locate and authenticate the goods, have grown exponentially over the past couple of years, particularly as people have gravitated towards more comfortable everyday clothing for work post-pandemic.

It is increasingly difficult to purchase particular shoe styles direct from the sneaker brands due to limited releases and high demand. They release countless “drops” each year, some being of a limited number and therefore making them more exclusive and harder to buy.

For hardcore sneaker fans, it is a serious business, with some collectors seeing their prized possessions as an investment.

ShoeGrab Australia's Rabia Ozkan, Adam Hussein and Jim Sinos.

“Sneakers are modern-day art,” ShoeGrab founder Jay Eldahabi says. “I believe, among other ways, it’s a form of self-expression. Traditionally, people might have invested in art such as paintings, something which they personally understand, are educated on and can value. Sneakers also carry value, which may be sentimental or market reflective, and people now more so than ever are educated in respect to this and are investing in shoes as collectibles, aside from wearing them.”

REAL OR NOT?

With the high demand, however, comes the risk of more affordable, but often still expensive, fakes flooding the market.

Where a Yeezy Boost 350 might cost about $350 retail through Adidas, they can fetch two to three times that online, and often a lot more.

Yeezy Boost 350 shoes.

That is where authentification retailers such as Dough Store and Secret Sneaker Store are key, as punters are unknowingly forking out large amounts of cash for fakes.

The main business for these companies is usually online, with retailers sourcing product internationally. An authenticated Yeezy ranges in price from between $600 and $1100.

“The market value of an item is most times determined by the consumer,” Eldahabi says. “If you’re a little sceptical about a low-priced item which you’ve randomly found online which isn’t through a reputable source, it is best to do your research among the more reputable marketplaces and get an estimate of the value of that item. If it looks too good to be true though, it most likely is.”

DRESSING DOWN

Eldahabi credits the rise of social media and a more relaxed attitude to clothing for the increase in sneaker popularity.

“In general, we dress a lot more casually now than we did a few years ago,” he says.

“And with information readily available to consumers now via social media, generally they are much more educated about the products and what is currently trending in fashion.”

Eldahabi advises people to buy from reputable marketplaces, “someone that has been around a while, not just a pop-up”.

Waves Never Die retailers Olivia and George Kozma, with children Penelope and Remy. Picture: Supplied

George Kozma, who runs Waves Never Die with wife Olivia, says it can be hard to distinguish between a fake and real item.

“We get so many stories from customers who have paid maybe $50 or $100 less than we sell on our website, for example, and they have received a fake because they just don’t know the difference,” he says. “I’d say 50 per cent of the businesses out there are selling non-authentic items, unfortunately.”

INVESTMENT BRANDS

Kozma and Eldahabi agree on the top sellers at the moment: Yeezys, Dunks and Air Jordans, with New Balance a brand to watch.

The most expensive shoe on Kozma’s site currently is the Travis Scott Air Jordan Fragment with a price tag upwards of $5000.

“I have personally sold shoes up to about $60,000,” he says.

People are willing to pay for the sneakers they want from Waves Never Die. Picture: Supplied

The Louis Vuitton Nike collaboration originally retailed for about $4000 and is highly sought after by collectors. It will now sell with a market value of up to $20,000.

“They were originally only sold to VIP shoppers who spend at least $250,000 in store,” Kozma explains. “They are extremely hard to come by. People want them for collections and they are willing to pay for it.”

Eldahabi and his ShoeGrab team have become experts in identifying fakes, and rely on multiple factors to determine the authenticity of a shoe.

“It could be the quality of stitching, the smell of glue used for the composition of the sneaker; we check factors within the box itself, the font on the label of the box, matching tag and box details, checking outsoles and insoles, the font on the size label inside the sneaker – there are several things we look at but these are just some.”

Kozma of Waves Never Die suggests using PayPal as it can include buyer protection.

Originally published as Beware of fakes when investing in ‘modern-day art’ of luxury sneakers