- 2,903
- 2,899
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2012
Disclaimer: I was hired at a new warehouse they opened in New Jersey. Not the Detroit headquarters, which I assume is more professional and organized.
Job title: Sneaker Authenticator
Pay: $18/hr
Hours: 8am-6pm Mon-Fri
The story:
I relocated to New Jersey to start a career at stockX. I woke up Monday morning with high hopes. Motivated and ready to begin a new chapter of my life. My excitement didn’t last long.
Within 5 minutes of walking in the building, I was handed a box cutter and put to work. No orientation. I quickly realized that this was a sneaker plantation. That’s the best way to describe this hell hole. Modern day slavery.
UPS drops off shipment in the morning. The mission is to process shipment and get it out the door by the end of the day. By any means possible. I worked from 8am-8pm on my first day. By 6, I was on the verge of tears. What did I get myself into? It wears you out mentally and physically.
It’s basically an assembly line. Each person has a station. You cut open box after box after box, until your mind goes numb and you become a human robot. They blast music all day to make it more bearable, but by 3pm I wanted to rip my ears out. The only decent song they played was ruff ryders anthem.
Now to the best part. Sneaker authenticating. That process blew my mind. You are expected to authenticate 55 shoes per hour! That’s basically 1 shoe per minute. These guys are machines. They quickly examine the shoe, check the bottoms and inside to make sure its not worn, sniff it, and put the green tag on it. They work at such a rapid pace that there’s NO WAY they can do their job to the fullest. So many fakes and worn shoes must slip through the cracks. I couldn’t picture myself doing that for 50 hours a week. I’d go insane.
The main problem is they were severely understaffed. They need to hire 200 new people to handle that kind of workload. It’s a 55,000 sq ft warehouse and they had 40 employees working. It’s just not a healthy work environment.
Management is heartless. I’m not asking to be pampered, but I certainly didn’t feel welcomed. My coworkers were arrogant and unfriendly. Imagine a bunch of clowns that only rock off whites or yeezy’s. I think I had one or two decent conversations all day. The only cool dude was a guy who cleaned up all the cardboard/garbage. My guy had on dress shoes with holes. I was ready to go in my trunk and give him a pair of French Blue 12’s, but he didn’t wear my size.
By time my day finished at 8:30, I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I sobbed in my car. Call me soft or weak, but it was truly a sneaker hell. I don’t know how these people can work in that environment. For my sanity, I had to get out.
I didn’t expect the job to be fun. I did think it would be a cool experience. I was dead wrong.
I’m trying to think of positives, and I can’t. You would think you would come across some rare/dope kicks. 80% of the shoes are off whites, retro 1’s, and yeezy’s. So many yeezy’s. I wanted to vomit at the sight of a 350 box.
I wanted to stay strong and give it a chance, but I knew this wasn’t for me. The routine never changes. Same thing, everyday. My decision was made.
Just thought I would share/vent. I hope somebody reads all of that. I wish I had video of the authenticating process. It was unreal to watch. I’d be tempted to sell them fakes just to see if one of these guys catches it. It’s worth it considering how quickly they operate.
Job title: Sneaker Authenticator
Pay: $18/hr
Hours: 8am-6pm Mon-Fri
The story:
I relocated to New Jersey to start a career at stockX. I woke up Monday morning with high hopes. Motivated and ready to begin a new chapter of my life. My excitement didn’t last long.
Within 5 minutes of walking in the building, I was handed a box cutter and put to work. No orientation. I quickly realized that this was a sneaker plantation. That’s the best way to describe this hell hole. Modern day slavery.
UPS drops off shipment in the morning. The mission is to process shipment and get it out the door by the end of the day. By any means possible. I worked from 8am-8pm on my first day. By 6, I was on the verge of tears. What did I get myself into? It wears you out mentally and physically.
It’s basically an assembly line. Each person has a station. You cut open box after box after box, until your mind goes numb and you become a human robot. They blast music all day to make it more bearable, but by 3pm I wanted to rip my ears out. The only decent song they played was ruff ryders anthem.
Now to the best part. Sneaker authenticating. That process blew my mind. You are expected to authenticate 55 shoes per hour! That’s basically 1 shoe per minute. These guys are machines. They quickly examine the shoe, check the bottoms and inside to make sure its not worn, sniff it, and put the green tag on it. They work at such a rapid pace that there’s NO WAY they can do their job to the fullest. So many fakes and worn shoes must slip through the cracks. I couldn’t picture myself doing that for 50 hours a week. I’d go insane.
The main problem is they were severely understaffed. They need to hire 200 new people to handle that kind of workload. It’s a 55,000 sq ft warehouse and they had 40 employees working. It’s just not a healthy work environment.
Management is heartless. I’m not asking to be pampered, but I certainly didn’t feel welcomed. My coworkers were arrogant and unfriendly. Imagine a bunch of clowns that only rock off whites or yeezy’s. I think I had one or two decent conversations all day. The only cool dude was a guy who cleaned up all the cardboard/garbage. My guy had on dress shoes with holes. I was ready to go in my trunk and give him a pair of French Blue 12’s, but he didn’t wear my size.
By time my day finished at 8:30, I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I sobbed in my car. Call me soft or weak, but it was truly a sneaker hell. I don’t know how these people can work in that environment. For my sanity, I had to get out.
I didn’t expect the job to be fun. I did think it would be a cool experience. I was dead wrong.
I’m trying to think of positives, and I can’t. You would think you would come across some rare/dope kicks. 80% of the shoes are off whites, retro 1’s, and yeezy’s. So many yeezy’s. I wanted to vomit at the sight of a 350 box.
I wanted to stay strong and give it a chance, but I knew this wasn’t for me. The routine never changes. Same thing, everyday. My decision was made.
Just thought I would share/vent. I hope somebody reads all of that. I wish I had video of the authenticating process. It was unreal to watch. I’d be tempted to sell them fakes just to see if one of these guys catches it. It’s worth it considering how quickly they operate.
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