I have read hundreds of guides, and own many pairs of authentic Jordan’s; Some bought on eBay, most bought for NikeTown, Footlocker, Champs and other reputable shoe distributors. I have learned some Tricks about verifying the Authenticity of one of the best sports shoes of all time. I’m more than glad to educate all, especially those looking to start a collection, but don’t consider this guide the final word of Identifying Jordan’s. Everyday there are new tricks invented to get your money, so the best way to prevent this is to educate yourself on the history of this remarkable shoe.
First and foremost COLOR, there are specific colors that have been released. If you find Jordan’s in outlandish color combinations, while these combination maybe rare, understand that may not be authentic. They are often dissembled, and painted, and finally reassembled, this doesn’t guarantee quality or if anything significantly decreases their value.
Next MATERIALS, this is one of the hardest things to verify, since you often can’t physically hold the item when buying online. All Jordan’s are made for the highest quality materials, revolutionary designs keeps Jordan’s among the top manufacture of shoes. If you can hold the shoes, feel them, Fakes are often stiff, and feel like plastic! Is hard to catch it, but if you feel a real one the difference will become obvious.
Also CONSTRUCTION, another important factor in verifying authenticity. Fakes often contain flaws, now it’s not impossible for a flawed shoe to make it to a store, but these are often spotted and removed. Usually they are sold at an outlet store for a cheaper price. When I say flaws I mean non-uniform stitching, missing logos or incorrect placement, incorrect shapes, and sizing.
1. Check the entire shoe and follow the stitching it should be neat, and uniform. Often in fakes, the stitching is irregular, with shaky sewing lines.
2. Scan over the shoe and look for logo’s and if they in the proper place. These are sometimes screaming flaws, but pay attention to the direction of logo’s if it’s suppose to face inward then make sure they do.
3. Paying attention to the size of certain designed pieces, I have seen portions of the shoe that are incorrectly sized. Instead of a line coming a 1/3 of the way down the shoe it’s shorter, or longer.
4. Lastly check the actual shoe size sometimes size ten looks bigger, and the proportions are off so pay attention.
After that comes QUANTITY, be careful, these shoes are expensive so if some is selling a lot of these shoes ask yourself how did they get so many especially if they are selling the same shoe.
Finally PRICING, if you find shoes consistently selling below market price and are supposedly new, there probably fake, so be aware.
You have to understand that Jordan’s sell for a hundreds of dollars, so this offers an opportunity to make a lot of money. If a worker in China manufactures shoe for a few cents each and they have a resell value in the hundreds, they going to try hard to make perfect counterfeits, so save yourself, and take pride in your collection. Collect only the real deal, and don’t be afraid of paying big bucks for quality. You pay for what you get!
