At Campless we’re all about data, but data isn’t just numbers. “Number data” – i.e., quantitative data – usually dominates the conversation, but qualitative data is just as important. And because we are so heavy on the quant side, we’re always on the lookout for great qualitative data. Enter @fake_education.
For a while now, the @fake_education Instagram account has put out great content related to fake sneakers. The majority of what they do is side-by-side comparisons between real and fake shoes, highlighting the differences between the two. Here’s a great example:
These dead-simple pictures arm people with tangible data they can actually use to spot fakes and make better purchase decisions.
Today @fake_education put out a video that is equal parts fascinating and sickening – boxes of fake Jordans, presumably about to be shipped to the States. They were nice enough to allow us to embed the video into this post.
When we see things like this, our knee-jerk reaction is to kill the messenger, but the reality is that @fake_education really is just the messenger, and he’s providing an invaluable service to the sneaker community by raising awareness of the issue.
So, in the spirit of doing what we do, here come the numbers. We quantified the potential impact of the fake sneakers in this video. The following chart shows the potential market value of the sneakers we can see:
Key Insights:
- After careful study of the video, we can see 9 different Air Jordan models, 364 total pairs. There are likely many more we can’t see.
- Using Campless data for the max price of a pair sold on eBay in the past 12 months for each model, we calculated the total possible market value of the shoes in the video, by model.
- In total, the shoes in the video could be worth as much as $278 thousand dollars!
What does it all mean?
It means that everyone should understand that fakes are out there. Ignorance is not bliss.
For a while now we’ve watched on the sidelines as a very interesting philosophical debate has played out – the inherent contradiction and fine line between awareness and promotion of fake sneakers. Accounts like @fake_education, which bring awareness of the fake sneaker epidemic front and center, also make it very easy for people to purchase fake sneakers. For that reason, many people bash sites like @fake_education. But after careful consideration of the issue, we think that awareness outweighs all. People who want to buy fakes will figure out how to do so. It’s really not hard. But rarely will the rest of the population take the time to educate themselves on this growing problem.
Awareness of fake sneakers is too important to ignore.
In the spirit of this decision, and the goal of awareness, we encourage more sharing of information. At our core, sharing information (data) is what Campless is all about. And for our part, we will do more posts like this in the future.
What do you think?
Should awareness of the fake problem outweigh the unintended promotion of fake sneakers?
