StockX, the biggest sneaker-selling site worldwide, has made the controversial decision to remove their official authentication tags, and replace them with something called “StockX Verified”. This change in wording implies a subtle yet significant alteration to their policy, holding them less accountable for products which can’t be proven without a doubt to be authentic.

Now updated on their website, explaining that “StockX Verified is our own designation and not endorsed by any brands sold on StockX”, this change has already spooked many of their loyal customers. Despite the brand coming forward on Twitter to reassure people that “the work our team does every day to meet our elevated standard of excellence has not changed”, the decision comes at a time when finding verified, authentic designer products is getting harder and harder.

Given that StockX has already come under fire for allegedly selling counterfeit Nike trainers at the start of this year, resulting in an ongoing lawsuit, it’s easy to see why they’ve made this change to their policy now. Back in May of this year, Nike spokespeople accused the site of labelling four pairs of fake Nike sneakers with an ‘100% Authentic’ tag. With fakes getting more realistic and harder to identify, it’s clear that StockX no longer wants to be held accountable for verifying their products’ authenticity. 

Whilst many StockX fans have responded with outrage, it’s hard to condemn given the current climate in reselling. With counterfeits becoming more difficult to identify, StockX would argue that their authenticators simply can’t be put under the pressure of saying 100% that something is real or not real, and they definitely can’t risk another lawsuit.

Knowing that fakes are likely to just continue getting harder to spot in the future puts buyers in a difficult position. StockX customers will be left with the decision of whether to go by the site’s verification or just not risk it at all. Perhaps the growing market for counterfeits will mean this is the beginning of the end of resale sites.

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