StockX Statement on Authentication Program

Published Jun 6, 2022 - Company News

Updated as of June 6, 2022

Authentication is core to our history at StockX, and one of the many reasons the company was founded. While counterfeiting is rampant through other third-party marketplaces, StockX revolutionized the industry by creating a process in which 100% of products on its platform are authenticated by trained human authenticators before they are sent to the buyer. Today, StockX has one of the most – if not the most – rigorous authentication processes in the market.

StockX has invested millions of dollars to fight the proliferation of counterfeit products, employing over 300 authenticators across eleven authentication centers around the world. Since inception, StockX authenticators have inspected more than 30,000,000 products and prevented $60M in counterfeit sneakers from reaching buyers.

In its latest legal filing, Nike’s allegations not only lack any details about the alleged counterfeit shoes it claims to have purchased through the platform, but also contradict Nike’s own past dealings with StockX. Even within the last few years, Nike has sought to collaborate with StockX on authentication efforts and communicated confidence in the StockX authentication process. Despite numerous opportunities to offer feedback or criticisms, at no time in the past did Nike express concerns to StockX about its authentication processes.

The timing of Nike’s new allegation is suspicious. Nike alleged that they had counterfeit shoes months before they filed their initial complaint, but only added these claims after their lawsuit against StockX’s Vault NFT failed to gain traction or to win over public sentiment. Like Nike’s initial claims, Nike’s new allegations lack any merit.

StockX looks forward to defending its reputation and to understanding why Nike, which once sought to collaborate in combating counterfeits, now seeks to anticompetitively undermine StockX’s business model for making the secondary market safer and more efficient for consumers.

Here is a link to StockX’s response to Nike.

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Originally published on May 11, 2022 

We take customer protection extremely seriously, and we’ve invested millions to fight the proliferation of counterfeit products that virtually every global marketplace faces today. Nike’s latest filing is not only baseless but also is curious given that their own brand protection team has communicated confidence in our authentication program, and that hundreds of Nike employees – including current senior executives – use StockX to buy and sell products. This latest tactic amounts to nothing more than a panicked and desperate attempt to resuscitate its losing legal case against our innovative Vault NFT program that revolutionizes the way that consumers can buy, store, and sell collectibles safely, efficiently, and sustainably. Nike’s challenge has no merit and clearly demonstrates their lack of understanding of the modern marketplace.