Grey market discussion thread (Let's keep the discussion mature) Rules on pg 1 please read before yo

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Deezrsackolishus said:
Take pics n tag em or something


The same people saying these were IDENTICAL had to eat their words and say the xi were the only ones u could tell the difference on.
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Ima' take tagged pics. I have to get to the bottom of this. Everyone says that the "authentic" versions are identical and "grey market". I believe it, but I have to compare them next to each other.
 
Deezrsackolishus said:
Omg really dude? Did u have that grey market pair next to your REAL pair?
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Compared them directly with the concords on the pic. albeit there was a 2 size difference between the pairs, proportionally they were Exactly the same.

you say "REAL" as if you dont think my pairs arent authentic. I assure you every pair in that pic REAL and RETAIL. The conords are deadstock but still have the typical yellowing around the pods. 
 
Deezrsackolishus said:
I can totally understand huge fans of yeezys n corks buying grey market


But i wouldnt myself
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See I don't understand that kind of hypocrisy though. So it's okay to buy "fake" (as you so eloquently put it) Corks & Yeezys because the market prices are too high? But if someone wants to buy grey market Jams or Concords or CGs at nearly retail, it's unacceptable?
 
I agree with Madam and JDFrench. We running around with this elitist attitude about shoes we have no stake in. I'm curious why grey market gets so much flack, when people didn't see a problem buying early release pairs? How did they think they were obtained? It wasnt authorized by Nike to be produce and smuggled out the back door of the factories, but nobody complained about that until the concord release. If what Ninja says is true then these are in fact the very same shoes, with ou without Nike's authorization. Truthfully the pairs we get with Nike's approval are half assed and passed as an A grade when in fact should be B grade status.

It's not like we are buying an electronic device, or a watch that would require manufacturer warranty down the road. I wouldn't buy an ipod even if were produced in the same factory with the same internals approved by Apple. That is stupid because you have no protection. But some damn nikes,? C'mon who gives a damn at this point? Right now all I want is a pair of concords and the white cement 4s and I'm cool. Whether I buy from a seller on CL, Ebay, NT, or Taobo it doesn't matter at this point. We not in jr high and high school when people are checking your tags. The are true to form and not replicas. THat is what is important, because I wouldn't wear replica, or straight up fake Js.
 
Agreed, I would understand if the shoes were falling apart on peoples feet or their was something clearly wrong with them. but there isnt. so why so much debate?

and like i said before these shoes below are a combination of grey market pairs AND retail pairs. And idk about you guys but if i didnt look at the pictures of their soles before hand I wouldnt be able to tell you which is which.
 
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In the grey market world of wristwatches, the watches are in fact authentic. The reason that they wind up on the grey market is that a jewelry store has a quota to meet each month. If they don't consistently meet this quota, then they lose their account with Rolex or Breitling or Omega, etc. So the jewelers will sell their authentic watches at a wholesale discount to someone who they trust, and that helps them meet the quota to keep their account open. Grey market watches often have the serial numbers removed so that Rolex or Breitling can't figure out who is pulling this scam. i wonder if some big name Jordan and Nike accounts are playing this same game with kicks. I doiubt it tho, because Nikes and Js don't sit on the shelves the same way that Rolexes and other high end watches do.
 


Everyone keeps talking about "where's the evidence?" Well heres just one of the dozens of reviews on YouTube for "authentic" Space Jams.
 
JChambers said:
Ima' take tagged pics. I have to get to the bottom of this. Everyone says that the "authentic" versions are identical and "grey market". I believe it, but I have to compare them next to each other.
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Feel u 100%. I know they are damn near the exact shoe. Even if teres just one or two lil dofferences
 
jdfrenchbread23 said:
I dont know about you but nike's approval doesnt guarantee you a flawless pair of kicks. my first pair of cool grey 11s from the most recent release was far from perfect. the lace loops didnt line up across both shoes so when laced up it looked like laces were at different angles. these were given nikes approval because i got them from finishline on release day. with the way these shoes are mass produced youve still got to cross your fingers that the pair you get is acceptable.
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Not saying the approval process is a guarantee, however if you get a flaw that you can't overlook you can always get your money back. By no means am I saying Nike/JB products are flawless, LOL.
 
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madamimadam said:
See I don't understand that kind of hypocrisy though. So it's okay to buy "fake" (as you so eloquently put it) Corks & Yeezys because the market prices are too high? But if someone wants to buy grey market Jams or Concords or CGs at nearly retail, it's unacceptable?
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Again,

You pick me out and come at me


I said I UNDERSTAND.

Did i say it was acceptable or ok in my eyes?

No. Then i even said i wouldnt do it myself.


So stop trying to pick apart everything i post madam
 
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alp said:
madamimadam said:
lol i do make my own judgements. I've purchased Space Jams and Concords grey market pairs so I know how they look and feel. I have experience dealing with taobao vendors and I can tell you right now, if I didn't tell you where I bought them from, you'd never know.
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 it doesnt make it real, even if they used the same materials.
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nah, i don't subscribe to that...if they're illegally made because of authorization then

thats a abstract stipulation that has no bearing on da actual product, that like crossing state lines wit pot, and in one state its legal

but another state its contraband, but da product didn't magically change when you crossed da border...
 
ninjahood said:
nah, i don't subscribe to that...if they're illegally made because of authorization then

thats a abstract stipulation that has no bearing on da actual product, that like crossing state lines wit pot, and in one state its legal

but another state its contraband, but da product didn't magically change when you crossed da border...
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No but plenty of people call their stuff widow, kush, haze, when it aint now is it haha
 
jdfrenchbread23 said:
madamimadam said:
It doesn't? So what are YOU paying $200 for then? Nike's approval? So some schmo gives it a thumbs up and it keeps moving down the assembly line...big deal. I wear and buy sneakers because I like how they look not based on who authorized them. Nike doesn't give a **** about you. Why should you care about them? But keep living in your little bubble. You wanna sell your soul for Space Jams or any other "grail" be my guest.
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? below are 4 separate pairs of concords. I wont say which, but by niketalks "standards" 1 or more of the pairs are retail and one or more of the pairs are grey market. ALL of the shoes have flaws, but youre going to tell me that one or more of theses is worth $200 over retail because it was authorized by nike? ive actually held a grey market pair and compared to my retail pairs and if theyre wasnt a size difference and fresher sole i wouldnt be able to tell them apart. you can call them fake you can call them whatever but I for one am not gonna knock people for buying shoes that look exactly like mine if theyre not authorized. hell ill give them props cause they got the same shoe as me months later for the same price i paid for mine with out all of the hassle of cyber camping or camping out at the actual store. 
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whoever says they can tell what is a grey market authentic and what is a retail authentic is lying their ***** off
laugh.gif


remember folks, they're unauthorized because they were made without permisson NOT because they're not da same damn shoe.
 
This whole thread has me wondering If I have purchased grey market kicks off of Ebay before. I verify by the way that the shoe looks, and the feedback, but I don't request a receipt for the kicks every time I order.
 
ninjahood said:
jdfrenchbread23 said:
madamimadam said:
It doesn't? So what are YOU paying $200 for then? Nike's approval? So some schmo gives it a thumbs up and it keeps moving down the assembly line...big deal. I wear and buy sneakers because I like how they look not based on who authorized them. Nike doesn't give a **** about you. Why should you care about them? But keep living in your little bubble. You wanna sell your soul for Space Jams or any other "grail" be my guest.
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? below are 4 separate pairs of concords. I wont say which, but by niketalks "standards" 1 or more of the pairs are retail and one or more of the pairs are grey market. ALL of the shoes have flaws, but youre going to tell me that one or more of theses is worth $200 over retail because it was authorized by nike? ive actually held a grey market pair and compared to my retail pairs and if theyre wasnt a size difference and fresher sole i wouldnt be able to tell them apart. you can call them fake you can call them whatever but I for one am not gonna knock people for buying shoes that look exactly like mine if theyre not authorized. hell ill give them props cause they got the same shoe as me months later for the same price i paid for mine with out all of the hassle of cyber camping or camping out at the actual store. 
 


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whoever says they can tell what is a grey market authentic and what is a retail authentic is lying their ***** off :lol:

remember folks, they're unauthorized because they were made without permisson NOT because they're not da same damn shoe.
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That 23 on the top pic is leanin' to the right. I'ma' guess that it is fake. I'm guessing the first pic and the last pic are fake, the others are legit?
 
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It's a strong possibility. Anyone selling pre-sales on ebay is also likely getting their shoes from taobao. They charge their premium on top of whatever it costs them to buy the shoes from their source. And since most of these sites give a discount for ordering in bulk, they make a good chunk of change on each pair sold.
 
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madamimadam said:
It's a strong possibility. Anyone selling pre-sales on ebay is also likely getting their shoes from taobao. They charge their premium on top of whatever it costs them to buy the shoes from their source. And since most of these sites give a discount for ordering in bulk, they make a good chunk of change on each pair sold.
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yup, straight up..da only think they doesn' effect are older retros ( until those are also made)
 
the guy talking about the watches, thats different scenario. If employees at footlocker bought pairs of jordans from FTL and removed the tags and resold them(which they do to an extent), then that would be a different discussion. We are talking about pairs that are made illegally and sold through the back door(whether or not all grey markets are made in the same factories as nike is a different story completely).
 
JChambers said:
That 23 on the top pic is leanin' to the right. I'ma' guess that it is fake. I'm guessing the first pic and the last pic are fake, the others are legit?
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No actually the first and the third are the retail pairs. And that's the point I'm trying to make. They all have flaws. But construction is the same. I'm staring at my retail pair right now and I can't even tell the difference. I'm just trying to make a point. People saying I'd never buy fakes and discounting these grey market pairs as trash and inferior products are dead wrong if they're using patent leather height, 23 placement, or Jumpman size/placement in their criteria of whether or not a pair is grey market or not. Here's my deadstock "REAL" retail pair for further comparison View media item 432872
 
My only opposition to fakes was the quality issue, but official Nike products haven't been looking too great lately. I never would have guessed that those were the real ones. If they are making fakes now that look identical to the real pairs, then I don't have a problem with it. They are also $200+ so it isn't like people are pulling a broke move because they can't afford the real thing.
 
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