November 22, 2024 • 16 mins
StockX is facing significant challenges as it grapples with its ability to authenticate sneakers, raising serious concerns about the integrity of the resale market. Matt gets into the implications of StockX's admission that it cannot guarantee the authenticity of the shoes it sells, especially in light of the lawsuit from Nike.
---
Subscribe to Matt Frates on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@mattfratescreates
Like what you hear? Help this content grow: https://ko-fi.com/firefootwearpod
New episodes released on Monday.
Follow Fire Footwear on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/firefootwearpod/?hl=en
Follow Fire Footwear on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@firefootwearpod
Reach out to me with questions or thoughts: mattyicemedia@gmail.com
---
Review Fire Footwear on Apple Podcasts : https://apple.co/3HgVdpR
Review Fire Footwear on Spotify Podcasts : https://open.spotify.com/show/0qjJxokny16WTSh1Kgx3hU
Review Fire Footwear on Podchaser : https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/fire-footwear-a-sneaker-podcas-1984189
---
For more amazing podcasts, please visit the Matty Ice Media Network: https://www.mattyicemedia.com/mimnpodcasts
Contact us: mattyicemedia@gmail.com
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy
Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Stockx is in trouble becausethey don't know what authentic shoes
actually are.
We're going to talk about itthis time on Fire Footwear.
(00:25):
Welcome back to Fire Footwear, everybody.
As always, this is your host,Matt Fraits.
I hope that this finds you well.
And I want to thank everybodywho has stuck with this podcast from
beginning to now to the middle.
It doesn't really matter.
Y'all are really great.
And I just want to say thankyou as I'm continuing to go through
some hard times.
But I will tell you that I'mgoing to be headed home, back to
the studio pretty soon.
So this is all going tochange, and we're going to get back
(00:46):
to our regular cadence.
But I did want to put out anepisode this week because I wanted
to talk about this whole thingwith Stockx and really as it relates
to the idea of authenticity.
Now, last week, I talked aboutDJ Clark Kent.
I talked about his passing,and I talked about what that meant
to the culture.
And I think it's veryimportant to acknowledge the fact
(01:06):
that I think the idea ofauthenticity in the way that I think
that it's very important, kindof originated from DJ Clark Kent.
And over the years and decadesthat he's been involved and over
the decades that sneakerculture has evolved, I think the
idea of authenticity has changed.
And where does StockX fit into that?
Well, it's a littlecomplicated, but I think on the surface,
(01:27):
or at least overtly in thenews, Stockx was sued by Nike.
I think it was a handful ofyears back, and I'm pretty sure I
did an episode on that at some point.
And I'm sure Sock Jake hastalked about that in detail.
I know he has talked about iton Twitter.
So if you're looking for thereal nitty gritty details definitely
go to him because as I alwayssay, he's doing some of the best
work in sneaker content out there.
(01:48):
But the idea was that Niketried to put fakes through StockX
authentication process, andthey failed.
And that's where we are today.
I believe in court, Stockxcopped to the fact that they don't
know really how toauthenticate shoes or they don't
know with 100% certaintywhether the shoes that they pass
on are 100% authentic.
(02:10):
And that is really a problem.
So this all kind of goes backto the idea of authenticity, but
it also goes back to the ideaand the presence of fake sneakers
in the culture.
Fake sneakers have always been around.
They have been around fordecades, and they have changed over
those decades, I think theperception was that fakes were bad
(02:31):
because of the fact that theyjust were bad.
They were quality bad.
And I think nowadays that haschanged a lot.
I talk a lot about the repmarket, fake market, whatever you
want to call it, because I dothink that it holds a very specific
place within this culturebecause I think that it represents
kind of sort of what makessneaker culture.
I don't want to say bad, but Ithink what makes it a little bit
(02:54):
toxic these days, because Ithink what it represents is the ability
to have availability of all ofthe shoes that you want.
And the idea that you can getanything that you want at a super
high level of quality for themost part, makes it so that you don't
have to worry about anythingthat happens in sneaker culture.
You don't have to worry aboutwhether shoes are going to sell out.
(03:15):
You don't really have to worryabout anything.
And I think on the surface, Iused to believe that that was okay
because that we should allhave access to shoes.
But as I've been doing contentmore, and I've talked about this
before, I think that my viewshave changed on it.
I certainly am not going tostop wearing the ones that I own,
but I have definitely stoppedengaging in that space the way that
(03:37):
I used to.
I still think that it's veryimportant to have my fingers in on
that particular space becauseI think it's important to see what
is happening there.
Because I do believe that fakeshoes, I do believe that the fake
market does tell us a lotabout what is happening in sneaker
culture.
And I think when you looktoday, you see that many people are
(03:58):
still buying the same thingsfrom five, six, seven years ago.
You don't see as many fakes ofthings that are coming out now.
And that is indicative of thefact that the culture has changed.
It is indicative of the factthat the economics of sneakers has
changed to the point that weare so oversaturated with shoes that
we don't see them the way thatwe used to.
(04:18):
Maybe that will change withthe new CEO.
I know that they're going togo for more exclusivity, which is
going to drive up hype.
But resell has been around inthe way that we know it today for
a little over a decade.
I would say resell always did exist.
It just existed in a muchdifferent way.
People did that on the side.
At the advent of Craigslist,you were seeing a lot of people trying
(04:40):
to sell shoes on Craigslist,and that turned into Facebook marketplace.
Prior to that, you'd hadmessage boards, you had ebay, the
early days of ebay.
And that's how people wouldswap shoes.
Nowadays, if you want to payresell, it is as easy as picking
up your phone, clicking acouple of times, and paying what
the going rate is of a shoe.
And the going rate in a lot ofcases is way higher than the actual
(05:04):
retail price of the shoe.
Not to sound like Bob Barkerhere, but that's where resell has
kind of become another partand embedded into this culture.
And it's a very polarizingaspect, Much the same as fake sneakers
are in the culture.
People see resell basicallyblack and white.
You either love it or you hate it.
I think there is a lot of grayarea, There's a lot of in between
(05:26):
as to what resale means.
But resell has changed a lotin the way that we know sneakers
today, and that is because Italked about last week when it came
to authenticity, about theidea of authenticity, of wearing
what you like and stayingauthentic to who you are as an individual,
especially within thisculture, to not just to conform to
hype and trends and wear whatyou like.
(05:49):
I think that the market hasevolved in a way that we are allowed
to do that a little bit more,because it's not just jordans, it's
not just dunks, it's asics,it's new balances, it's crocs, even.
There's a lot of options.
But still, resell existsbecause within this culture, hype
and celebrities, within thisculture, they drive a lot of what
(06:10):
people want.
Travis Scott, even though he'scome out with so many silhouettes,
his shoes still sell.
They probably always will sell.
Ama maniere has been seeing adownturn in their sales, and there
have been a lot of ama manieres.
They don't seem to hold thesame gravitas as Travis Scott.
There are just people withinthe culture that are going to sell
(06:32):
shoes, period.
There are just shoes that aregoing to be hyped, and they're going
to cost more on the resalemarket than anything else.
And when you really thinkabout it, it's capitalism, and it's
really what the market drives.
Things are what people say,that they are worth what they're
willing to pay for them.
And so while at the beginningI saw resale as this evil, I think
(06:53):
it's a necessary evil withinthis culture.
But it's twofold.
Because when you go to theresale market, no matter what your
income situation is, no matterwhat shoe, it is that you are looking
for.
Your hard earned money isgoing into buying this shoe.
And it's no different than ifyou buy it from Nike or New Balance
or Adidas.
You want to make sure thatyour money, however it is earned,
(07:16):
goes towards something and youknow that that product is coming
back and everything is on theup and up.
And so When Goat and StockXget involved, there is a middle person
or a middle section of thistransaction that now is involved
in a way that you really don'thave transparency with.
Goat, StockX, even eBay, theysend these shoes whenever they are
(07:39):
sold to a third party whoauthenticates them.
They have given us very littleinsight into what that authentication
process looks like.
There are other sites, I thinkit's Check Check, it's called that
you can actually put picturesof a shoe and that you can get it
checked, basically.
And I know that a ton ofpeople in the fake market like to
put their reps up there to seeif they will pass.
(08:01):
I don't like that because tome it seems like, well, what is your
next step?
What are you going to do with that?
Because when you start messingwith people's money, when you start
telling them that something iswhat it is, not when their money
is involved, then I think thatthat is nefarious.
I know when I've purchasedfake sneakers that they are fake
(08:21):
sneakers.
I know that my money is goingtoward that.
But now when I look on ebay orwhen I look at StockX and goat, I'm
a little hesitant because Idon't know.
And so now fast forward tothis lawsuit and StockX essentially
telling the world we don'tknow whether things are 100% authentic.
(08:41):
And my man Devontae, the MacISM effect is his podcast.
You should listen to it.
Listen to what I said aboutWalmart and StockX partnering up.
And I said that the idea thatI was really concerned about was
whether people were going tobe able to go and buy these shoes
through Walmart's marketplaceand that they were going to know
that they were 100% authentic.
(09:04):
And I think even Sockjigtalked about the fact that it was
going to be a lot of peoplewho maybe wouldn't have access to
StockX or maybe wereintimidated by StockX or goat going
to Walmart and having Walmartbe another intermediary in that transaction.
But those people, becausethey're not knowledgeable about the
culture, they're notknowledgeable about fakes, they should
(09:25):
be even more taken care of.
And that's what worries me soStockX is one of, or was one of the
biggest players in resale.
The millions and millions ofdollars that has been traded around
because of shoes going on thesecondary market and these people
getting a huge profit off ofwhat is sold, that to me should come
(09:47):
with the idea that, you know,100% that you're getting what you
pay for.
And as time has gone on,you've heard more and more stories
about people getting shoesthat seem to be fake.
Not every shoe has a super,super easy tell, but if you are comparing
to a retail pair many, manytimes, it is very obvious.
(10:08):
The differences are subtle onfeet, but they should be very overt
in hand.
And for StockX to have beenaround this long, for StockX to have
so many shoes passing throughtheir authentication process and
to now tell the world via Nikeand this lawsuit that they don't
know what authentic really is,that's a huge problem.
(10:30):
Now what does it mean?
Does now the microscope getput on Goat in this way?
Does it get put on ebay inthis way?
Your microscope as a buyershould always be on other marketplaces
that don't even have thisthird party authentication, because
you just have no idea.
It's the wild west.
But is Goat now under scrutiny?
(10:51):
Is ebay now fair game for scrutiny?
I think that they are becauseI believe that resale is still something
that needs to happen so thatpeople can feel hyped about shoes
in a certain way.
And maybe it needs to be regulated.
Now how do they regulate it though?
And that's what I was sayingabout my man Davante is it's like
(11:12):
what is authentic?
What does that actually mean?
Objectively?
It means that this shoe wasproduced by Nike, all the trademarks,
everything that goes alongwith that and has gone directly to
you.
You should know that.
But how do you tell that ifyou're stock X, how do you guarantee
to your customers that that isthe case?
(11:33):
And I think this is thelinchpin now where we're going to
be severely looking at resaleculture and looking at how we 100%
regulated.
And it almost feels like theonly way to regulate this is that
Nike, Adidas, Puma, whateverthe brands are, that they have their
own secondary marketplace thatdrives these prices.
(11:54):
I think we need to startthinking about getting rid of StockX,
getting rid of Goat, gettingrid of these third party individuals
and platforms that aren't 100%sure that what you're getting is
worth the money that you're paying.
And think about it.
Think about all the peoplethat have bought from StockX over
the decades.
How many of those people got fakes?
(12:15):
How much money was spentcollectively on those shoes?
That means something to mebecause in order to keep the integrity
of this entire culture,everything has to be on the up and
up.
I, as a podcaster, have toldyou and been very transparent about
the fact that I am mostly a fraud.
I'm not an OG, because I havedabbled in fakes, and I do have some.
(12:37):
But I think by beingtransparent about that, it's letting
you know that I'm not somebodywho's trying to be something that
I'm not.
And stock X, by not knowingthis is inadvertently making it so
that they are something thatthey're not.
They're not a trusted platform anymore.
We're seeing the stock go down.
I wish that this would triggersomething drastic.
(12:58):
I hope that we as a cultureand the businesses behind this are
going to take a really hardlook at how we regulate this.
I don't think that thesecompanies should stop people from
spending the kind of moneythat they spend, because I think
that is their choice.
But what I do think is that ifthey're going to spend that money,
they should be 100% sure thatwhat they're getting is authentic.
(13:20):
And I think that that nowcomes down to Nike and all these
other brands to take care ofus in a way that they really haven't
over the years.
Before we get to the end,let's get to release of the release
(13:44):
of the week, where I like tohighlight a shoe that catches my
eye.
It's not always hype.
As a matter of fact, thisweek, it's kind of silly.
It's just something that Iwant you to know about.
One of the reasons that I dorelease of the week every week is
because people like to knowwhat's happening.
And I also like to highlightsomething that I feel like is kind
of off the wall.
And a lot of times it is offthe wall.
So this week it is definitelyoff the wall.
(14:05):
And it is just crazy.
But if you are of a certainage, you remember how big Scooby
doo was on November 27th.
Going along with the MB04colorway of Scooby Doo.
We have the Scooby Doo PumaSuede xl.
And it basically looks likethe Mystery Machine, which was the
van that the whole Mysterycrew drove when trying to solve all
(14:26):
of these mysteries.
And why do I point it out?
Well, first of all, I think ifyou take off this particular colorway,
take off this aesthetic, itactually looks really, really cool.
I love this silhouette.
I love the old chunky skatervibe and that definitely has it.
But the other thing that Ilove about it is it's kind of nostalgic
and I think it looks really neat.
Is it something that a lot ofguys are probably going to go after?
Absolutely not.
(14:47):
It definitely has a morefeminine look to it, but I think
that it speaks to a specificpart of the culture and that's again,
speaking to what I always talk about.
There is something foreverybody and I absolutely love that.
What are your thoughts aboutStockx and the idea that they don't
know how to authenticate sneakers?
Let me know.
Call the Fire Footwear Hotline.
Give me your opinion.
(15:08):
Give me a sneaker story thatis area code 202-643-9170.
I would love to hear from youand play it on this podcast.
If you want to be a part ofthe listener group chat that I have
on Instagram at Fire FootwearPod is the handle to find me on Instagram.
You can also Find us on YouTube.
Fire Footwear Sneakers Talkwith Matt Frates.
(15:29):
Like subscribe.
All that good stuff.
It means a lot.
I just want to keep coming outwith content and I'm so glad that
I'm able to do that on aweekly basis.
Glad to be back on our regular Friday.
I hope this finds everybodywell and safe and fam.
I'll see you next time.
This is Fire Footwear.
(16:02):
The opinions and viewpointsexpressed on Fire Footwear are those
of Matt Frates and his guestand not necessarily those of the
Maddie Ice Media Network.
Fire Footwear is exclusivelyowned by Matt Fraits and is brought
to you by the Maddie Network.
Stockx is in trouble becausethey don't know what authentic shoes
actually are.
We're going to talk about itthis time on Fire Footwear.
(00:25):
Welcome back to Fire Footwear, everybody.
As always, this is your host,Matt Fraits.
I hope that this finds you well.
And I want to thank everybodywho has stuck with this podcast from
beginning to now to the middle.
It doesn't really matter.
Y'all are really great.
And I just want to say thankyou as I'm continuing to go through
some hard times.
But I will tell you that I'mgoing to be headed home, back to
the studio pretty soon.
So this is all going tochange, and we're going to get back
(00:46):
to our regular cadence.
But I did want to put out anepisode this week because I wanted
to talk about this whole thingwith Stockx and really as it relates
to the idea of authenticity.
Now, last week, I talked aboutDJ Clark Kent.
I talked about his passing,and I talked about what that meant
to the culture.
And I think it's veryimportant to acknowledge the fact
(01:06):
that I think the idea ofauthenticity in the way that I think
that it's very important, kindof originated from DJ Clark Kent.
And over the years and decadesthat he's been involved and over
the decades that sneakerculture has evolved, I think the
idea of authenticity has changed.
And where does StockX fit into that?
Well, it's a littlecomplicated, but I think on the surface,
(01:27):
or at least overtly in thenews, Stockx was sued by Nike.
I think it was a handful ofyears back, and I'm pretty sure I
did an episode on that at some point.
And I'm sure Sock Jake hastalked about that in detail.
I know he has talked about iton Twitter.
So if you're looking for thereal nitty gritty details definitely
go to him because as I alwayssay, he's doing some of the best
work in sneaker content out there.
(01:48):
But the idea was that Niketried to put fakes through StockX
authentication process, andthey failed.
And that's where we are today.
I believe in court, Stockxcopped to the fact that they don't
know really how toauthenticate shoes or they don't
know with 100% certaintywhether the shoes that they pass
on are 100% authentic.
(02:10):
And that is really a problem.
So this all kind of goes backto the idea of authenticity, but
it also goes back to the ideaand the presence of fake sneakers
in the culture.
Fake sneakers have always been around.
They have been around fordecades, and they have changed over
those decades, I think theperception was that fakes were bad
(02:31):
because of the fact that theyjust were bad.
They were quality bad.
And I think nowadays that haschanged a lot.
I talk a lot about the repmarket, fake market, whatever you
want to call it, because I dothink that it holds a very specific
place within this culturebecause I think that it represents
kind of sort of what makessneaker culture.
I don't want to say bad, but Ithink what makes it a little bit
(02:54):
toxic these days, because Ithink what it represents is the ability
to have availability of all ofthe shoes that you want.
And the idea that you can getanything that you want at a super
high level of quality for themost part, makes it so that you don't
have to worry about anythingthat happens in sneaker culture.
You don't have to worry aboutwhether shoes are going to sell out.
(03:15):
You don't really have to worryabout anything.
And I think on the surface, Iused to believe that that was okay
because that we should allhave access to shoes.
But as I've been doing contentmore, and I've talked about this
before, I think that my viewshave changed on it.
I certainly am not going tostop wearing the ones that I own,
but I have definitely stoppedengaging in that space the way that
(03:37):
I used to.
I still think that it's veryimportant to have my fingers in on
that particular space becauseI think it's important to see what
is happening there.
Because I do believe that fakeshoes, I do believe that the fake
market does tell us a lotabout what is happening in sneaker
culture.
And I think when you looktoday, you see that many people are
(03:58):
still buying the same thingsfrom five, six, seven years ago.
You don't see as many fakes ofthings that are coming out now.
And that is indicative of thefact that the culture has changed.
It is indicative of the factthat the economics of sneakers has
changed to the point that weare so oversaturated with shoes that
we don't see them the way thatwe used to.
(04:18):
Maybe that will change withthe new CEO.
I know that they're going togo for more exclusivity, which is
going to drive up hype.
But resell has been around inthe way that we know it today for
a little over a decade.
I would say resell always did exist.
It just existed in a muchdifferent way.
People did that on the side.
At the advent of Craigslist,you were seeing a lot of people trying
(04:40):
to sell shoes on Craigslist,and that turned into Facebook marketplace.
Prior to that, you'd hadmessage boards, you had ebay, the
early days of ebay.
And that's how people wouldswap shoes.
Nowadays, if you want to payresell, it is as easy as picking
up your phone, clicking acouple of times, and paying what
the going rate is of a shoe.
And the going rate in a lot ofcases is way higher than the actual
(05:04):
retail price of the shoe.
Not to sound like Bob Barkerhere, but that's where resell has
kind of become another partand embedded into this culture.
And it's a very polarizingaspect, Much the same as fake sneakers
are in the culture.
People see resell basicallyblack and white.
You either love it or you hate it.
I think there is a lot of grayarea, There's a lot of in between
(05:26):
as to what resale means.
But resell has changed a lotin the way that we know sneakers
today, and that is because Italked about last week when it came
to authenticity, about theidea of authenticity, of wearing
what you like and stayingauthentic to who you are as an individual,
especially within thisculture, to not just to conform to
hype and trends and wear whatyou like.
(05:49):
I think that the market hasevolved in a way that we are allowed
to do that a little bit more,because it's not just jordans, it's
not just dunks, it's asics,it's new balances, it's crocs, even.
There's a lot of options.
But still, resell existsbecause within this culture, hype
and celebrities, within thisculture, they drive a lot of what
(06:10):
people want.
Travis Scott, even though he'scome out with so many silhouettes,
his shoes still sell.
They probably always will sell.
Ama maniere has been seeing adownturn in their sales, and there
have been a lot of ama manieres.
They don't seem to hold thesame gravitas as Travis Scott.
There are just people withinthe culture that are going to sell
(06:32):
shoes, period.
There are just shoes that aregoing to be hyped, and they're going
to cost more on the resalemarket than anything else.
And when you really thinkabout it, it's capitalism, and it's
really what the market drives.
Things are what people say,that they are worth what they're
willing to pay for them.
And so while at the beginningI saw resale as this evil, I think
(06:53):
it's a necessary evil withinthis culture.
But it's twofold.
Because when you go to theresale market, no matter what your
income situation is, no matterwhat shoe, it is that you are looking
for.
Your hard earned money isgoing into buying this shoe.
And it's no different than ifyou buy it from Nike or New Balance
or Adidas.
You want to make sure thatyour money, however it is earned,
(07:16):
goes towards something and youknow that that product is coming
back and everything is on theup and up.
And so When Goat and StockXget involved, there is a middle person
or a middle section of thistransaction that now is involved
in a way that you really don'thave transparency with.
Goat, StockX, even eBay, theysend these shoes whenever they are
(07:39):
sold to a third party whoauthenticates them.
They have given us very littleinsight into what that authentication
process looks like.
There are other sites, I thinkit's Check Check, it's called that
you can actually put picturesof a shoe and that you can get it
checked, basically.
And I know that a ton ofpeople in the fake market like to
put their reps up there to seeif they will pass.
(08:01):
I don't like that because tome it seems like, well, what is your
next step?
What are you going to do with that?
Because when you start messingwith people's money, when you start
telling them that something iswhat it is, not when their money
is involved, then I think thatthat is nefarious.
I know when I've purchasedfake sneakers that they are fake
(08:21):
sneakers.
I know that my money is goingtoward that.
But now when I look on ebay orwhen I look at StockX and goat, I'm
a little hesitant because Idon't know.
And so now fast forward tothis lawsuit and StockX essentially
telling the world we don'tknow whether things are 100% authentic.
(08:41):
And my man Devontae, the MacISM effect is his podcast.
You should listen to it.
Listen to what I said aboutWalmart and StockX partnering up.
And I said that the idea thatI was really concerned about was
whether people were going tobe able to go and buy these shoes
through Walmart's marketplaceand that they were going to know
that they were 100% authentic.
(09:04):
And I think even Sockjigtalked about the fact that it was
going to be a lot of peoplewho maybe wouldn't have access to
StockX or maybe wereintimidated by StockX or goat going
to Walmart and having Walmartbe another intermediary in that transaction.
But those people, becausethey're not knowledgeable about the
culture, they're notknowledgeable about fakes, they should
(09:25):
be even more taken care of.
And that's what worries me soStockX is one of, or was one of the
biggest players in resale.
The millions and millions ofdollars that has been traded around
because of shoes going on thesecondary market and these people
getting a huge profit off ofwhat is sold, that to me should come
(09:47):
with the idea that, you know,100% that you're getting what you
pay for.
And as time has gone on,you've heard more and more stories
about people getting shoesthat seem to be fake.
Not every shoe has a super,super easy tell, but if you are comparing
to a retail pair many, manytimes, it is very obvious.
(10:08):
The differences are subtle onfeet, but they should be very overt
in hand.
And for StockX to have beenaround this long, for StockX to have
so many shoes passing throughtheir authentication process and
to now tell the world via Nikeand this lawsuit that they don't
know what authentic really is,that's a huge problem.
(10:30):
Now what does it mean?
Does now the microscope getput on Goat in this way?
Does it get put on ebay inthis way?
Your microscope as a buyershould always be on other marketplaces
that don't even have thisthird party authentication, because
you just have no idea.
It's the wild west.
But is Goat now under scrutiny?
(10:51):
Is ebay now fair game for scrutiny?
I think that they are becauseI believe that resale is still something
that needs to happen so thatpeople can feel hyped about shoes
in a certain way.
And maybe it needs to be regulated.
Now how do they regulate it though?
And that's what I was sayingabout my man Davante is it's like
(11:12):
what is authentic?
What does that actually mean?
Objectively?
It means that this shoe wasproduced by Nike, all the trademarks,
everything that goes alongwith that and has gone directly to
you.
You should know that.
But how do you tell that ifyou're stock X, how do you guarantee
to your customers that that isthe case?
(11:33):
And I think this is thelinchpin now where we're going to
be severely looking at resaleculture and looking at how we 100%
regulated.
And it almost feels like theonly way to regulate this is that
Nike, Adidas, Puma, whateverthe brands are, that they have their
own secondary marketplace thatdrives these prices.
(11:54):
I think we need to startthinking about getting rid of StockX,
getting rid of Goat, gettingrid of these third party individuals
and platforms that aren't 100%sure that what you're getting is
worth the money that you're paying.
And think about it.
Think about all the peoplethat have bought from StockX over
the decades.
How many of those people got fakes?
(12:15):
How much money was spentcollectively on those shoes?
That means something to mebecause in order to keep the integrity
of this entire culture,everything has to be on the up and
up.
I, as a podcaster, have toldyou and been very transparent about
the fact that I am mostly a fraud.
I'm not an OG, because I havedabbled in fakes, and I do have some.
(12:37):
But I think by beingtransparent about that, it's letting
you know that I'm not somebodywho's trying to be something that
I'm not.
And stock X, by not knowingthis is inadvertently making it so
that they are something thatthey're not.
They're not a trusted platform anymore.
We're seeing the stock go down.
I wish that this would triggersomething drastic.
(12:58):
I hope that we as a cultureand the businesses behind this are
going to take a really hardlook at how we regulate this.
I don't think that thesecompanies should stop people from
spending the kind of moneythat they spend, because I think
that is their choice.
But what I do think is that ifthey're going to spend that money,
they should be 100% sure thatwhat they're getting is authentic.
(13:20):
And I think that that nowcomes down to Nike and all these
other brands to take care ofus in a way that they really haven't
over the years.
Before we get to the end,let's get to release of the release
(13:44):
of the week, where I like tohighlight a shoe that catches my
eye.
It's not always hype.
As a matter of fact, thisweek, it's kind of silly.
It's just something that Iwant you to know about.
One of the reasons that I dorelease of the week every week is
because people like to knowwhat's happening.
And I also like to highlightsomething that I feel like is kind
of off the wall.
And a lot of times it is offthe wall.
So this week it is definitelyoff the wall.
(14:05):
And it is just crazy.
But if you are of a certainage, you remember how big Scooby
doo was on November 27th.
Going along with the MB04colorway of Scooby Doo.
We have the Scooby Doo PumaSuede xl.
And it basically looks likethe Mystery Machine, which was the
van that the whole Mysterycrew drove when trying to solve all
(14:26):
of these mysteries.
And why do I point it out?
Well, first of all, I think ifyou take off this particular colorway,
take off this aesthetic, itactually looks really, really cool.
I love this silhouette.
I love the old chunky skatervibe and that definitely has it.
But the other thing that Ilove about it is it's kind of nostalgic
and I think it looks really neat.
Is it something that a lot ofguys are probably going to go after?
Absolutely not.
(14:47):
It definitely has a morefeminine look to it, but I think
that it speaks to a specificpart of the culture and that's again,
speaking to what I always talk about.
There is something foreverybody and I absolutely love that.
What are your thoughts aboutStockx and the idea that they don't
know how to authenticate sneakers?
Let me know.
Call the Fire Footwear Hotline.
Give me your opinion.
(15:08):
Give me a sneaker story thatis area code 202-643-9170.
I would love to hear from youand play it on this podcast.
If you want to be a part ofthe listener group chat that I have
on Instagram at Fire FootwearPod is the handle to find me on Instagram.
You can also Find us on YouTube.
Fire Footwear Sneakers Talkwith Matt Frates.
(15:29):
Like subscribe.
All that good stuff.
It means a lot.
I just want to keep coming outwith content and I'm so glad that
I'm able to do that on aweekly basis.
Glad to be back on our regular Friday.
I hope this finds everybodywell and safe and fam.
I'll see you next time.
This is Fire Footwear.
(16:02):
The opinions and viewpointsexpressed on Fire Footwear are those
of Matt Frates and his guestand not necessarily those of the
Maddie Ice Media Network.
Fire Footwear is exclusivelyowned by Matt Fraits and is brought
to you by the Maddie Network.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!