A friend of mine recently ordered and received a pair of Nike shoes from an ecommerce store. He was doubtful that these look like fake Nike shoes. He called and asked me the right way to check original Nike shoes?
I wanted to help him out and therefore immediately asked him to Whatsapp me the shoe pictures and the box of the shoes.
Most of us know that Nike is the number one sportswear brand in the world.
Everyone loves to buy and wear a pair of Nike shoes and Nike has really gained popularity in the recent years. In a recent survey Nike even surpassed brands like ESPN, Adidas and Gatorade in a race to become most valuable sports business brand worldwide.
It is quite difficult for a normal consumer to figure out whether a Nike shoe is fake or original. Especially when you are looking to buy Nike shoes online from other ecommerce sites. A lot of us usually buy shoes from either Amazon, Flipkart and other ecommerce sites and there is a high probability that these shoes may be fake.
An article in 2018 stated that there were 15000 pairs of fake Skechers that were found in a warehouse which were to be sold to consumers. We don’t know how many people would have already purchased these fake Skechers shoes before this incident came to light.
So the question is how do we check if Nike shoes are original?
We all need to understand one thing that it is very difficult for a consumer to determine whether a Nike shoe is fake or original. The truth is that there are lots of first copy shoes being sold right now.
However there are some simple checks that you can take to figure out if shoes are original or not.
There could only be two scenarios when you need to check if Nike shoes are original:
1. You have already purchased shoes and want to check if they are original. (Read here)
OR
2. You are looking to buy shoes online from an ecommerce site but have not yet purchased these shoes because you are not sure if they are original or fake. (Jump to this topic)
Scenario 1
How to check Nike shoes are fake if you have not yet purchased
1. Check Seller history
The first thing you should do is to look at the seller’s track record. Do you see any complaints posted by other buyers, issues with late delivery, refunds, product quality etc. All these are red flags that gives a strong indication that should look somewhere else if you want to buy original nike shoes.
On Amazon you can easily dig into a seller’s history first by clicking on seller’s name.
Then you can see seller’s track record of selling all products. The below screen shows the awful track record of this seller. I would refrain from buying anything from this seller.
In the above example the seller has horrible reviews. I would never buy from a seller like this even if the seller is offering a good discount.
If I see lots of negative reviews on the seller’s feedback page then I stay away from buying anything from that specific seller.
Often you will see mixed reviews on a seller’s page where there are lots of positive reviews and few negative reviews by buyers. So just use your own judgement in these cases.
2. Compare Price
So you noticed that your favorite pair of Nike shoes are being sold at 70% discount on an ecommerce store. If you think this could be a genuine deal. Think again.
As per a detailed research by sole review Nike’s profit on a $100 shoe is approximately 5 dollars. And if you are getting like 70% discount on Nike shoes then it raises a question mark. Either these shoes are outdated in the market or they are fake.
You can see what products Nike offers at discounted prices. The maximum discount on Nike’s website is around 40% within the shoes category.
Although Nike runs promotions from time to time but you would never see their shoes at a 70 percent discount.
Ecommerce sites like Amazon and Flipkart selling Nike shoes usually offer discounts, but only on older models of Nike, in the range of 10% to 30%.
Very rarely you would see an original Nike shoe being sold at 50% or 70% discount.
A Nike shoe is being sold at 74% discount on the well known website Snapdeal. I would never buy these shoes because there is a high probability that these shoes are either fake or outdated.
3. Check Reviews and Pictures posted by other buyers
Sometimes you will see pictures of other buyers on the ecommerce sites like Amazon. These pictures are very useful because you can see the difference between the picture posted by the seller and the actual shoes received by a consumer.
Few buyers question the authenticity of these shoes because of bad performance or bad material used. Sometimes even original Nike shoes do have a minor manufacturing defect but that doesn’t mean that these shoes are fake.
You should use your own judgement here to figure out if the buyer has actually received a fake pair of Nike shoes. In most cases users are not really happy with the fitting of the shoes or shoes just not meeting their expectations in terms of performance.
Also try to see if there is a picture of Nike box posted by a buyer. If you see an orange box then it certainly means that the shoes are original. A plain white or brown box means that the shoes are counterfeit.
Scenario 2
You have already purchased Nike shoes online and want to check if they are original
1. Box
Genuine Nike shoes are mostly delivered in either Orange, brown, or red box. If you receive shoes in a plain white box or a plain brown box then most probably these are fake Nikes.
2. Compare the Design
Whenever you are buying shoes online from an ecommerce site like Amazon and if you are doubtful that these shoes are fake the first thing you should do is to pay close attention to the design of the shoe.
Incase of Nike shoes you should go to nike.com and compare the design of the shoes on both websites.
You should compare the midsole, outsole, tongue and even colors of the shoes with the original shoes on Nike.com to ensure that you’re getting an original pair of nike shoes.
If this is difficult for you to then move to next step.
3. Check the Midsole
One good indication of counterfeit Nikes is that you will see seam on their soles.
You should know that Nike never stitches the midsole to the upper. They usually stick the midsole with the help of glue so you would never see any seam on original Nike shoes.
There are first copy shoes that usually have the same design but there will be some minute things here and there.
4. Outsole
Original Nike shoes typically have high-quality rubber in their outsoles. Their outsoles would also have treads to provide enough traction to the runners.
On the other hand fake Nike shoes would have a lower quality plastic type material that will be slippery.
5. Read the Text on the Tongue
The inside part of Nike’s shoe tongue should display Nike as company name, size details, Bar Code, date of manufacturing and also where the shoe is made (Made in Indonesia). If either one of them is missing then its a strong indication of these shoes being fake.
Also look for a spelling error, a missing trademark sign, or another minute thing on the tongue. These are all Red flags that the shoes are fake.
6. Flexibility
Follow these simple steps to check the flexibility of shoes. Nike shoes are typically made of flexible materials to provide a full range of motion to your feet.
Hold one shoe from front and back side with both your hands.
Try to bend these shoes from both sides to see if the shoe is stiff or flexible. If the shoe is stiff and its difficult to bend the shoe then its probably a counterfeit.
7. Price
Did you buy these shoes at a 70% discount or more?
If yes then what you have bought are probably fake or counterfeit Nikes…
Although Nike runs promotions from time to time but you would never see their shoes at a discounted price of 50 percent and more.
Yes you may get 20 – 30% discount off on sites like Flipkart, Amazon, Myntra etc. and that is fine.
However, if I see a 10K shoe being offered at a discounted price of just Rs. 2000, it is bound to raise a few eyebrows.
8. Visit your Nearest Nike store
If you followed all the steps and still in a doubt about the authenticity of the shoes that you’ve purchased then you should go to the nearest Nike store. Carry the shoes that you’ve purchased and talk to the store manager directly.
Compare the original Nike from the store with the one that you purchased online. Compare the design, outsole, tongue, flexibility etc.
If you follow the above steps you should be able to figure out if these Nike shoes are original are fake.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Are Nike shoes made in Vietnam, Indonesia or China fake?
No, Nike has manufacturing factories in 533 locations across 41 countries. A large percentage of original Nike shoes are made in Vietnam, China and Indonesia. However there are also fake Nike shoes made by few small players in these countries.
Are Nike shoes sold on flipkart fake?
No. Flipkart does not sell fake Nike shoes. Flipkart is a marketplace where a lot of sellers can sell products to buyers by using Flipkart's platform. Consider Flipkart as a big mall where thousands of sellers are selling their products. Some seller may be selling fake shoes but that does not mean Flipkart sells fake products. A lot of Nike shoes on Flipkart have 25-30% discount If you see a Nike shoe at 70% discount or more then its most probably fake.
Can you return Nike shoes to Flipkart?
Yes you can ask for a refund, replacement or exchange of any shoes purchased from Flipkart within 30 days, Only if the shoes are unused and in original packaging condition.
Will I be able to return shoes to Flipkart OR Amazon after using them?
No. Amazon and Flipkart does not accept shoes that have already been used. Unless there is a manufacturing defect in the shoes.
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