StockX offers access to the most popular and hard-to-get brands and products from around the world. We also ensure that every item sold on our platform goes through a rigorous authentication process. At Stock, Authentication is about more than just stopping counterfeiters. Over the last 12 months, the presence of manufacturing defects was the top reason products were rejected during StockX’s authentication process. We are also constantly working on expanding our catalog by onboarding new brands. And we onboard new brands with the same relentless attention to detail that we bring to every single item that passes through our global network of Authentication centers.
Below, we offer an insider’s look at how new brands and products are added to our marketplace, and how we ensure that the products you love now, and the products you will love in the future, are always verified authentic.
Identification
We work hard to identify brands to add to our ever-expanding catalog throughout the year. This process combines the expert knowledge of our Merchandising team and conversations with StockX customers. At the beginning of each year, the Merchandising team researches brand and category trends and performance. In addition to our internal investigation, you, our customers, help guide the catalog’s growth. We periodically roll out customer surveys to determine what brands we may be missing from our catalog. We watch what’s happening in the culture to determine what brands are getting more attention, what brands are being talked about, and what brands are going to be the next big hit. And then, of course, we pay attention to customer behavior on the site to see what clues are left behind by our users to help us make these decisions.
Supreme was the first streetwear brand to get added to StockX. Today, our marketplace is home to thousands of apparel from various brands.
But it’s not enough to identify brands that should be added to StockX. A core pillar of StockX is providing access to current culture. This means we’re sensitive to the supply of items for established brands as well as emerging regional and local brands that have increased global demand. In addition to facilitating access to a smooth customer trading experience, we also work directly with brands and power sellers to add new brands to the site.
Curation and discovery represent the final piece of identifying and onboarding new brands. It’s all about the mix. This means we’re making sure that the brand’s inclusion makes sense for the larger vision of what our global customers are already looking for. It’s all based on the constant feedback loop between our merchandisers and customers. Our goal is to add brands that capture the attention of our customers, and align with the brands and cultures represented in our current catalog.
Authentication
Once a new brand is identified to be onboarded, our Authentication process kicks in. Our Authentication process is a sequential approach spearheaded by our Knowledge Managers. The first step involves researching the brand – brand history, item history, and production history. Following the brand research phase, our team investigates the volume of fake products on the market.
Garment Workshop was recently added to StockX, delivering Italian-made streetwear to our global customers.
Garment Workshop was recently added to StockX, delivering Italian-made streetwear to our global customers.
Garment Workshop was recently added to StockX, delivering Italian-made streetwear to our global customers.
After completing brand research and investigating the level of fakes, different manufacturing defects, and other Authentication notes, our team creates an Authentication Guide that includes everything from brand standards to detailed descriptions of fakes. Depending on the brand and its history, and the volume of fakes on the market, these guides can take weeks or months to complete.
These guides serve as the foundation of our Authentication process. Once the guides are ready, our Knowledge Managers train our network of Authenticators in conjunction with our sophisticated fraud prevention technology – developing AI, risk sortation, Authentication leveling system, and anti-fraud systems. And most importantly, the guides and guide-based training are only the first step – the guides are living documents that are constantly being updated, and training remains ongoing.
Finally, after identification, research, and training, the catalog opens to the brand, and products are loaded so that customers can begin trading—this multi-stage and time-consuming process results in a better, more expansive, and trusted marketplace for everyone.
For those interested in how StockX put these guidelines into action, watch one of our authenticators legit-check a pair of Air Jordan 1 Patent Breds below.
UPDATE: All StockX Day Scavenger Hunt codes have been found and redeemed. There are no codes left. Thanks for hunting!
