The fact is that most fake shoes sellers like to start Tiktok live broadcasts after 10 pm. This is not only to avoid Tiktok’s supervision, but also because these fake shoes can only be shipped at night.
“Welcome brothers and sisters who are new to the live broadcast room. If you want to see any shoes, you can type them on the public screen and I will bring them to you to see.” Recently, when I was browsing Tiktok late at night, I was always pushed to some “unusual” live broadcast rooms selling shoes.
In the live broadcast room, the host excitedly held up a pair of fake jordan 1 high shoes and introduced the shoe’s stitching, materials, and style to the audience in detail. “This one is called ‘Shadow Gray’, which is very popular this year. It has Nike embroidery on the back, which does not drop or connect stitches, thickened shoelaces, thickened tongue, and a rubber threaded outsole, which is very non-slip and very wear-resistant.”
Behind the anchor, there are rows of Air Jordan shoes of various styles, many of which are limited editions that are not available on the market. They are all piled on the ground. Workers wearing masks and hats, they put the shoes into shoe boxes and packing them for delivery.
Unlike the way ordinary Tiktok brand shoe stores sell shoes, these live broadcast rooms do not have shopping carts, and the anchors are particularly reluctant to talk about sensitive words related to “authentic”.
When someone asks in the comment section, “How much?” or “How to buy?”, the anchor will say cryptically, “Click the follow button in the upper left corner. Today, anyone who has followed the anchor will get ’99 USD’, and anyone who has not will get 199 USD. If you don’t know how to place an order, I will teach you now. After clicking the follow button, click the avatar. There will be a fan group next to it. Just go in. It’s very simple.”
The names of these fan groups are basically made up of Whatsapp IDs. After joining the group, group members will immediately guide users to add Whatsapp IDs to view shoes. To be on the safe side, the fan group names will change every few days, with new Whatsapp IDs replacing old ones. After a few days of new users joining the group, the administrator will remove them from the group chat.
In fact, at night, these live broadcast rooms selling fake shoes are particularly rampant. If you accidentally click on one, big data will often push similar live broadcast rooms. Even if you successfully report a live broadcast room, there will be countless other live broadcast rooms selling fake shoes. “When you find a cockroach, it means there are already countless cockroaches in the dark.”
It is not difficult to see that a complete industrial chain has been formed from top to bottom, from purchasing goods from the factory, packaging, to attracting traffic to the Tiktok live broadcast room, and then to adding Whatsapp for monetization. The shipping locations of these fake shoes all lead to the same place – Putian, Fujian, China.
Behind the black industry, there are complicated interests. The fake shoe merchants in the live broadcast room are divided into different levels, attacking each other, snatching users’ business, and openly treating “selling fake shoes” as a good business. But as long as the high profits exist, these fake shoe merchants can remain strong for a while.
Professional One-Stop Service for Fake Shoes
It is no surprise that for any merchant selling fake shoes in Tiktok live broadcast rooms, the most important step to make a deal is to direct users to Whatsapp. Recently, we added six Tiktok live broadcast rooms selling fake shoes to Whatsapp and found that every merchant selling fake shoes would emphasize that they were selling “Putian shoes” at the beginning. To some extent, “Putian shoes” have become the representative of fake shoes.
At present, fake shoes merchants can be roughly divided into two categories. One is to claim to specialize in discounted models, and sell all shoes for only $99 or $198, regardless of the brand or whether they are rare. The other is to emphasize that they are “high-end replicas” and divide the price of shoes into several levels, saying that you get what you pay for, and the difference in shoes mainly lies in the details and the degree of restoration.
Take Kanye West’s “Yeezy 350 v2 cream white” as an example. The price of this shoe on StockX ranges from US$270 to US$1,000. In the Putian fake shoe market, it is divided into four quality levels, from low to high: common goods, genuine labels, company, and pure original. Merchants who make “high-end goods” will emphasize that they only sell fake shoes that are pure original or above, so the price ranges from US$100 to US$200.
Another major difference between the two types of merchants is the way they buy and sell. Generally, merchants who sell special discounts will post shoe information through social software such as Facebook, INS, Tiktok, etc. to attract customers, and require consumers to leave their names, phone numbers, addresses, etc., and pay online with PAYPAL. Cash on delivery is not supported, and these merchants will verbally guarantee after-sales services such as “30-day unconditional return and exchange”. Fake shoe merchants who sell “high-end replicas” use their websites and shop on third-party shopping platforms to attract customers, and make fake product reviews to attract visitors to place orders, and declare return and exchange policies and payment methods on the website. This type of merchant can provide 1:1 replica shoe box sets and supports multiple payment methods.
Want to buy real Nike Jordan shoes for less than $100. This is the fundamental reason why many consumers are deceived.
What’s outrageous is that in order to popularize “high-quality fake shoes”, fake shoe dealers have also expanded their business and conducted online courses on Tiktok, teaching users how to spot fake jordan 1 shoes, how to avoid buying fake sneakers, etc. On the screen of the live broadcast room, they will type “Fake Shoes Anti-Scam Guide” in large letters, euphemistically calling it “for your own good”.
It is reported that the cost of making a pair of fake designer shoes in China is only about $10. Even with various additional fees, the final cost will not exceed $20. In this way, fake shoes market have huge profit margins, and selling every pair of shoes is a profitable business.
So, if you encounter someone selling fake shoes live on Tiktok, will you report this illegal behavior to the platform?
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