Sean Wotherspoon, RevolutionAIR winner and the creator of the Air Max 1/97 hybrid that sold out instantly, says that he’s tired of seeing fakes from StockX.
“I sit behind a buying counter all day from Friday-Sunday in Hollywood CA,” said Wotherspoon in a comment on Instagram. “You would never believe the amount of fake shoes I see coming from StockX,” he continued.
But Sean wasn’t finished. “They [StockX] are an absolute plague to the world, I hate everything about them. @stockx you suck!” he wrote. Wotherspoon has since deleted this post.
StockX, the world’s first stock market for things, is a live “bid/ask” marketplace, according to the company. One of the platform’s main selling points is that the company authenticates shoes before releasing funds to sellers or shipping shoes to buyers. The company teaches authenticators how to inspect every pair that comes in and used sophisticated technology to cross reference sales data.
“I replied to Sean publicly on Instagram, offering to fly him to Detroit so that he could see everything, meet everyone and ask anything,” said Josh Luber, CEO and co-founder of StockX said. “Sean has since deleted his comment, so my comment is no longer visible, but he and I are now in touch privately.”
“Regardless, it should be noted that just because someone has a StockX authentication tag, it does NOT mean that they purchased that item from us,” continued Luber in a statement. “People make and sell fake authentication tags, and our current tags can be removed and reattached to other products.”
In late March, Guanyu Li, a StockX consumer, filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland Baltimore Division against StockX.com over alleged violation of the Maryland Consumer Protection Act and other counts.
According to Legal Newsline, the plaintiff (Li) alleged that in November 2017 he purchased a Supreme beanie that he received in January 2018, which was later determined to be fake. Li also alleges that after he complained to StockX and reported it he was “kicked” off the website. The plaintiff has requested a trial by jury and seeks judgement for all damages.
This isn’t the first time notable figures in sneakers have leveled allegations against StockX. However, brands familiar to sneaker enthusiasts like Flight Club, Nice Kicks, and Wotherspoon’s own Round Two have been caught selling fakes, so it can be difficult to know which brands consumers can trust.
Stay tuned for updates as this story develops. What do you think about this issue? Sound off in the comments below.
UPDATE 4/28/18: This article has been updated with a statement from Josh Luber, CEO and co-founder of StockX.
Source: Legal Newsline / Featured image via @sean_wotherspoon
