What’s good, family! Here we are again with another KYW thread. For Friday’s newsletter, I’ll be writing about StockX as they continue this battle with Nike.
I don’t know if you all have seen it, but they’ve sprinkled us all week with statistics and facts about their authentication process that me and a whole lot of others have really been digging for from them over the last few years. They even shared a video of what their authentication process looks like.
It’s led to more questions on top of the answers we already have, but it’s good information to have on hand nonetheless. My question to you is what does this all mean to you, if anything at all?
Has this information and transparency changed your view of StockX? Or are you unmoved by this? Let me know something in the comments!
Jun 8, 2022·edited Jun 8, 2022Liked by Mike D. Sykes, II
It doesn’t mean much to me. I think StockX tries to honestly authenticate, now how hard, I can’t say, since it is a business. The metrics that they also sent implies maybe 5+/- minutes are spent per shoe. So are they going to catch all fakes, probably not. Reps like the Dark Moca and Travis Scott 1s, which they called out as most faked, are close to 1:1 at this point. In general transparency is good, without knowing how may fakes they find and how many fakes get through and are disputed by the customer, we don’t know the true story.
My thing is... isnt this how we thought it was done? Like how else would you check them. The question becomes how do you train folks on ever changing shoes and ever more sophisticated reproduction processes with fakes. I don't think you're ever going to get that detail because why would they give out that info and if I can't understand how you keep people up to date to keep down human error with such a huge blight on your brand already in this area, how am I supposed to trust yall?
I think what's interesting with StockX is that when they first went live, a big part of their marketing push was the authentication aspect of their platform, as plenty of people had been burned before through eBay, Facebook groups, etc. Even if their attempts to be transparent about their process is a good step, I think the reality is that fakes have simply gotten too good and personally, I've never once actually bought through their platform due to a preference for others and would rather try my hand there (eBay obviously took note with their revamped focus on authentication).
Where StockX wins -- and will continue to win -- is as the go-to source for data regarding the sneaker/overall collectibles market. It still feels like every article and YouTube video references StockX's valuations almost as the gospel fact. While we don't exactly know how the company makes the brunt of their money (but can assume platform transaction fees), given this whole fiasco with the Nike lawsuit, I almost think they should lean into their market position as a data company over absolute authenticator.
What that model looks like (B2B subscription? Robinhood-esque order flow?), I'm not sure. I just know that I was never going to buy through their platform and probably won't anytime soon anyway.
It doesn’t mean much to me. I think StockX tries to honestly authenticate, now how hard, I can’t say, since it is a business. The metrics that they also sent implies maybe 5+/- minutes are spent per shoe. So are they going to catch all fakes, probably not. Reps like the Dark Moca and Travis Scott 1s, which they called out as most faked, are close to 1:1 at this point. In general transparency is good, without knowing how may fakes they find and how many fakes get through and are disputed by the customer, we don’t know the true story.
My thing is... isnt this how we thought it was done? Like how else would you check them. The question becomes how do you train folks on ever changing shoes and ever more sophisticated reproduction processes with fakes. I don't think you're ever going to get that detail because why would they give out that info and if I can't understand how you keep people up to date to keep down human error with such a huge blight on your brand already in this area, how am I supposed to trust yall?
I think what's interesting with StockX is that when they first went live, a big part of their marketing push was the authentication aspect of their platform, as plenty of people had been burned before through eBay, Facebook groups, etc. Even if their attempts to be transparent about their process is a good step, I think the reality is that fakes have simply gotten too good and personally, I've never once actually bought through their platform due to a preference for others and would rather try my hand there (eBay obviously took note with their revamped focus on authentication).
Where StockX wins -- and will continue to win -- is as the go-to source for data regarding the sneaker/overall collectibles market. It still feels like every article and YouTube video references StockX's valuations almost as the gospel fact. While we don't exactly know how the company makes the brunt of their money (but can assume platform transaction fees), given this whole fiasco with the Nike lawsuit, I almost think they should lean into their market position as a data company over absolute authenticator.
What that model looks like (B2B subscription? Robinhood-esque order flow?), I'm not sure. I just know that I was never going to buy through their platform and probably won't anytime soon anyway.