Do shoe store employees take advantage of the naive buyer? If so how often?

[gerawrd]

Story. I go to UNLV, and I wear my Jordans all the time on campus. I don't look for props on my kicks, nor do I care if anyone is looking at them EVER. All that matters is that I like them, and they are comfortable. UNLV isn't full of shoe heads or anything, but theres definitely some there. I'vegotten stopped a few times from people asking where I got my kicks etc...but this one stop which happened the other day really surprised me. While I waswalking to class a maintenance guy yelled at me from a far distance. He yelled so loud that I heard him through my iPod...which I'm partially def fromlol. Anyway, he stopped me about my shoes. He asked me when and where I got them, and how I got them and what not. (I'm not saying which pair yet for areason.) I was vaguely answering saying I got them online and blah blah 2 years ago and what not. My answers weren't good enough for him. This guy wasalmost interrogating me to the point where I was either going to walk away, or punch him in the face. Finally, I asked him why he was so interested in myshoes. He immediately responded that my shoes were worth 1500-2000 dollars, and that his "homie" at Footlocker told him so. I look down at myshoes...which were BMP Black/Maize Jordan 1's and ask him, are you SURE it's this exact pair? He said yes that exact pair. Instead of beingcondescending and telling him he was wrong, I acted like I believed him and joked saying I should try to sell them. I lied and told him that I was runninglate for class so I left pretty quickly and was wondering to myself why he was so anxious about my shoes. It then hit me that during this conversation he saidthat he had a pair himself. He probably bought this pair from his "homie" at Footlocker for a substantial amount of money, thinking he was gettingsome rare/exclusive kicks. Now I do NOT expect anyone else to know as much about kicks as I do, nor will I look down on someone who overpaid for a pair ofkicks because he had no idea. BUT it upset me when I found out a Footlocker employee is taking advantage of someone that doesn't know as much, or maybeeven anything at all. When I'm at a shoe store, 95% of the time I know more about kicks than the person thats selling them to me. Naive people on theother hand would believe employees at any shoe store just because theyre around shoes all the time. Now that I've seen a situation like this firsthand...does anyone else have any stories like this or know anyone that actually does stuff like this? I'd really like to hear more on this topic. Ireally want to see how grimey some people will get just to get some loot.

 

[nomadicsole21]

False.

There are alot of goons at Footlocker/Champs/Footaction/Finish Line you just got to know the guys that are really into what they are doing and actually knowwhat they are selling.

Sometimes you just run into those idiot workers like that, but you cant make that out for everyone else that works there.

 

[mikkol109]

lol when i worked there i made some crap up because the customers didn't know anything and they would believe anything you say... whatever it takes to lettime pass by when your working for 8 bucks an hour FTW

 

[nikeaircobraben]

Originally Posted by Mikkol109

lol when i worked there i made some crap up because the customers didn't know anything and they would believe anything you say... whatever it takes to let time pass by when your working for 8 bucks an hour FTW

 

[kmn2008]

^^thats dumb.

if your job is boring thats your problem.

dont provide $!#%*%## answers when people are trying to gain real information.

SMH.

 

[gerawrd]

Originally Posted by NomadicSole21

False.

There are alot of goons at Footlocker/Champs/Footaction/Finish Line you just got to know the guys that are really into what they are doing and actually know what they are selling.

Sometimes you just run into those idiot workers like that, but you cant make that out for everyone else that works there.

I agree with you, but I never said all of them. I just want to know how grimey it can actually get, because that really bugs me if people are getting takenadvantage of.

 

[ballinb]

cliff notes?

 

[jhobson5]

U make a very valid point. People in FL, FNL, FA, and champs all the time try to up sale u on junk shoes no one likes. For example, this guy at a FL in Denverhere tried to get me to buy a pair of of fusion IXs, and tried to tell me they were limited to 300 pairs world wide. And all i could do is laugh, because hehad no clue what he was talking about. I have come to the conclusion that good people are hard to come by these days. No matter what you are dealing with,people are all about the dollar. Which is sad, but very true. Now u r in Vegas, which has even more shader people so i understand.

 

[lacelocka]

Putting people on game with kix has way more benifits than shiftin the hell outta them....anyone in houston tx has a problem with shoe store employeez come seeme at finishline galleria.....I'm going to always keep it 100% we usually get shipments a wk in advance so you can ask to peep the quality on the upcomingreleases....no prob with me!

 

[justwinbaby]

lol wut an idiot who the hell would think a pair of bmp's were worth over 1000 fool

 

[tz85]

same thing happen to me and my girl we was looking for the hornet colorway of the trueflight and i asked her if she has them in stock and she said that colornever came out then the following week i went back and show them to her face and was like learn ur product

 

[sneakerhead85]

i used to manage a footaction in southern california not too long ago and just to let u guys know we have alot of knowledge in the variety of shoes we carry,however not every associate has the same knowledge as the average sneakerhead working for the company. If u cant find the correct answer why not ask someoneelse and see wat kind of responses u get before u decide to buy the product.

 

[sneakerhead85]

Originally Posted by tz85

same thing happen to me and my girl we was looking for the hornet colorway of the trueflight and i asked her if she has them in stock and she said that color never came out then the following week i went back and show them to her face and was like learn ur product

this happens because alot of the times the store didnt receive that colorway that maybe another store did receive, and they get that colorway aweek later or maybe longer. It happens alot u would be surprised

 

[spooln407]

i work for footlocker inc. and im dead honest with all customers when they come ask me about a shoe. If i know they're gonna be wasting their money on a$100+ dollar shoe when they can buy something else for around 70, ill tell them.

 

[takeflightlikemike]

Originally Posted by BallinB

cliff notes?

Are you serious??? I hope you are being sarcastic... If you can't read a long paragraph,you are extremely lazy...

 

[theadimac]

Yeah, you gotta watch out for employee's at shoe stores, you gotta remember they get commision on the stuff they sell.

I have a similar situation where an employee at my local finishline, that Im not real familiar with was trying to game me on the 2009's recently, wasbasically telling me to get the white/black 2009, because they were like too 2300 pairs and they were one of the only stores that had them left. my boy thatworks there and is the manager walked up and death glared the guy. So yeah some shoe store employees can be shady

 

[dcortes23]

i don't necessarily give them false information. but if i know they don't know too much about shoes. I hype them up to the fullest. I don't goaround saying that they are worth 10 times retail price if they sell them. but i try to make it sound like they're on top of the world when they swoop apair of kicks. I work at a mom and pops store so i get no commission. but i still try to make sales. but i never give false information at all. just make themsound hot. i'll say things like the nick name of the shoe or something like that. or educate them on the materials on the shoe and then show them a fit togo with it. that always seals the deal!!

 

[size14only]

Word!

But about the shoe store employees, I never waste my time talking to them unless they have some OG's on - otherwise they're just some guys trying tomake a living. I'm not hating on them for not being knowledgable about every facet of sneaker culture, but I'm not gonna walk up and expect to have alegit conversation about 2001 releases with them. Leave those conversations for NT gatherings or exclusive/quickstrike stores like Lifted in Portland, OR:http://www

.yelp.com/biz/lifted-portland-2

Unfortunately, Lifted is closed

 

[wren32]

WOW that dude was a hypebeast. I work at a shoe store (not champs or footaction or footlocker) and I feel like ever since I started I know more bout shoes thenanyone at that store and there isnt much else I could learn bout shoes and I feel that far too often there are people working in shoe stores and they knownothing about shoes; like they couldn't tell you the difference between mesh and nubuck. Maybe they guy at footlocker didnt know anything about shoes ormaybe he did but he for sure ripped that dude off. but it happens all the time. good story bro.

 

[pinero354]

I wouldnt give anyone false information, but remember, you always have to make the product look good, especially when employees are getting comission on thingsthey sell.

 

[throwedindagame]

People take advantage of ignorant/naive people in all areas of life for a variety or reasons ranging from jest to scamming.

Shoe retail is no different

 

[william rivera 3]

Commission money has 2 be chased and some good story telling has 2 take place for certain sales 2 go through.
lying is definitely a cowards way 2 get money...lol

 

[ripcity32]

Originally Posted by Mikkol109

lol when i worked there i made some crap up because the customers didn't know anything and they would believe anything you say... whatever it takes to let time pass by when your working for 8 bucks an hour FTW

feeling the avatar nomad!

 

[the j collector]

Them foot locker, finish line, foot action ,, ect..ect... employees are getting just above min. wage,,they usually just want to sell for commision , they couldcare less what they got to say to get you to buy there kicks , as long as you do ,thats all that matters to them ....

"money makes a man strange"<-Quote by: De La Soul

 

[drjayiv]

yea when the playoff 8's came out I copped mine right away, but like 3 months later I was in finishline and I saw one on the shelf, so I asked an associatewhat size he had left and the kid was reluctant like he didn't want to sell em to me, but he went in the back because his manager walked over and the kidwas telling me that the sneakers were overpriced and weren't worth that much and that I should get some team jordan instead. I did pick up the playoffs butit shows you have to be careful with these employees