StockX has been around for five years this week. To celebrate, the resale platform has put together another one of its “Big Facts” infographics. This specific iteration tells the story of the changes the marketplace and its supply and demand have undergone since 2016. Most interestingly, StockX has unveiled the most popular counterfeit sneakers its authenticators encountered — both in 2016 and 2020.
In 2016, the most attempted fakes were of the adidas YEEZY Boost 350 V2 “Beluga,” Nike Air Jordan 1 “Banned,” and the Nike Air Jordan 11 “Space Jam” — all three relatively widely available sneakers and (with the exception of the YEEZY) non-collaborative. Last year, however, the most attempted counterfeit sneakers were the Off-White™ x Nike Air Jordan 1 “Chicago,” Off-White™ x Nike Air Jordan 4 “Sail,” and the Travis Scott x Nike Air Jordan 1 High — all three are collaborations and extremely limited.
“When we look at the most attempted fakes in 2016 vs. 2020, one of the most notable shifts we see is in the types of sneakers on the lists,” says StockX’s chief economist Jesse Einhorn. “In 2016, all three sneakers ranked among the top five best-selling sneakers on StockX. By contrast, when looking at the three most attempted fakes in 2020, not one of the sneakers ranked among our top 50 best-sellers. Instead, these were some of the most limited releases of the year, and were artist and designer collaborations.”
StockX did not share exactly how many fakes are caught by its team of authenticators, but Einhorn shared that StockX sees “far fewer fakes than we once did, which is a direct result of our rigorous authentication process. The fact that we sit in the middle of the transaction serves as a deterrent for those looking to pass counterfeits.”
Five years ago, StockX had a single authentication center with four dedicated authenticators. In 2020 that number had risen to 10 authentication centers and drop-off locations and around 300 authenticators.
That growth alone has improved StockX’s authentication process, which the platform claims has a 99.95 percent success rate for sneakers. The 0.05 percent of sneakers that pass the initial authentication process but is later determined to be an error are not necessarily all fake. “A sneaker may not meet our authentication standard for a number of reasons,” explains Einhorn. “It could be that it has been worn, is the wrong size, a fake, a damaged box, or a product with missing accessories or a manufacturer defect.”
In addition to giving its users rare insight into its authentication process, StockX shared other interesting, data-backed trends in its Big Facts infographic. These include the rise and fall of Boost cushioning versus Max Air, the best-selling Air Jordan 1s over the past five years, and YEEZY’s declining average resale value. Check it out here.
