From a quick glance, this looks like two pairs of the Yeezy Boost 350 Turtle Doves.
Now inspect them carefully.
Notice anything suspicious?
Me neither. The resemblance is uncanny. One of these pairs of sneakers is one of many Chinese counterfeits that have recently gained popularity. These sneakers are sold at a mere fraction of the real Yeezys. While the authentic Adidas Yeezys appeal to the market of wealthy hypebeasts, the Chinese counterfeits attract those who find the Yeezys aesthetically pleasing, but cannot afford the thousand-dollar shoe line. However, what if I told you that the two pairs of shoes in the pictures above are actually the same shoe?
In a capitalist economy, big corporations like Adidas only wish to accomplish one goal: profit. The company is obviously aware that despite the popularity of Yeezys, the market will be relatively small as not many consumers can handle the hefty price tag. Anyone who has taken a high school economics class would know that in economies of scale, profit margins from a certain product must first offset production costs. In layman terms, if Adidas cannot sell enough Yeezy sneakers, they would be losing money from the cost to produce the sneakers.
So in order to sell more Yeezys, would Adidas try to appeal to the other aforementioned market of consumers? Of course they would. After all, money is on the line.
On the popular Chinese e-commerce website, Taobao, both fake and authentic Yeezy sneakers are sold at a large scale. According to Taobao's statistics and common sense, the cheaper, near-identical counterfeit sneakers are much more popular in sales.
Upon closer inspection, we see that the average rate and price at which the counterfeit Yeezy sneakers sell are inverse proportional. The average price ($134) is a sixth of that of the authentic Yeezys ($721) while the sales figures of the counterfeits (7252) are six times that of the authentic sneakers (1306). Assuming that Adidas is the one responsible for manufacturing both "counterfeit" and "authentic" Yeezys, they gain roughly the same profit from both while effectively offsetting the costs of production.
In addition, the cost to produce one pair of Yeezy sneakers for Adidas is but a fraction of the cost of the retail price. The trusted sneaker review site Solereview analyzed the cost to produce of a pair of Adidas sneakers.
As many know, the $350 retail price is not the real price for a pair of Yeezys. These sneakers release in limited batches and resell for over $1000.
Here is another graphic from Solereview, displaying the "financial anatomy" of a pair of Adidas sneakers.
While the cost of the materials and labor to produce the sneaker would total up to be $21, other expenses are included in this graphic to show the end cost for Adidas. However, did you notice that a large majority of the expenses are from the retailer margin? This is the part of the money that goes to whatever retailer sells the sneakers for Adidas. In fact, this $50 margin is more than every other cost involved in the production combined. Having retail stores sell their sneakers is clearly expensive.
What if Adidas could subtract that retailer margin from the cost? By having Chinese sellers sell their sneakers as "counterfeits," they are effectively able to minimize the $50 retailer margin that is present in their official line.
These Chinese sellers likely work for Adidas for a low price too, akin to the underpaid employees in the Chinese factories.
This is a picture of Kanye's visit to one of his Yeezy factories in China. Let me ask you a simple question, so that you can decide for yourself. Do any of these Chinese employees look genuinely happy to you? Clearly not. It is obviously when a perfect smiles merely for a good picture. The only genuine smile here is Kanye's. Of course he's happy. He's able to make millions off of hypebeasts by exploiting Chinese workers who do his bidding as well as hypebeasts who buy into the expensive line of "authentic" Yeezys.
Now we have established that the production of both "counterfeit" and "authentic" Yeezys would certainly benefit Adidas. Would it be so far-fetched to think that Adidas actually does supply the counterfeit dealers with sneakers? After all, the production of the sneakers are based in China, allowing for easy transportation of the sneakers to the dealers. There are even brick-and-mortar stores in China dedicated to selling these "counterfeit" sneakers.
This particular store even directly uses the brand name. If Adidas wanted to shut down this store for copyright of their product, they could easily do so as a powerful, international corporation. However, this store is the result of Adidas' scheme to profit from two different market under the guise of Chinese "counterfeits."
So many people have paid ridiculous amounts of money for these pairs of sneakers, but they end up receiving sneakers no different than those who pay a fraction of the amount. Adidas is making a fool out of the fashion fanatics in the market. If these hypebeasts aren't outraged, they aren't paying attention. Stay woke.
In addition, the cost to produce one pair of Yeezy sneakers for Adidas is but a fraction of the cost of the retail price. The trusted sneaker review site Solereview analyzed the cost to produce of a pair of Adidas sneakers.
As many know, the $350 retail price is not the real price for a pair of Yeezys. These sneakers release in limited batches and resell for over $1000.
Here is another graphic from Solereview, displaying the "financial anatomy" of a pair of Adidas sneakers.
While the cost of the materials and labor to produce the sneaker would total up to be $21, other expenses are included in this graphic to show the end cost for Adidas. However, did you notice that a large majority of the expenses are from the retailer margin? This is the part of the money that goes to whatever retailer sells the sneakers for Adidas. In fact, this $50 margin is more than every other cost involved in the production combined. Having retail stores sell their sneakers is clearly expensive.
What if Adidas could subtract that retailer margin from the cost? By having Chinese sellers sell their sneakers as "counterfeits," they are effectively able to minimize the $50 retailer margin that is present in their official line.
These Chinese sellers likely work for Adidas for a low price too, akin to the underpaid employees in the Chinese factories.
This is a picture of Kanye's visit to one of his Yeezy factories in China. Let me ask you a simple question, so that you can decide for yourself. Do any of these Chinese employees look genuinely happy to you? Clearly not. It is obviously when a perfect smiles merely for a good picture. The only genuine smile here is Kanye's. Of course he's happy. He's able to make millions off of hypebeasts by exploiting Chinese workers who do his bidding as well as hypebeasts who buy into the expensive line of "authentic" Yeezys.
Now we have established that the production of both "counterfeit" and "authentic" Yeezys would certainly benefit Adidas. Would it be so far-fetched to think that Adidas actually does supply the counterfeit dealers with sneakers? After all, the production of the sneakers are based in China, allowing for easy transportation of the sneakers to the dealers. There are even brick-and-mortar stores in China dedicated to selling these "counterfeit" sneakers.
This particular store even directly uses the brand name. If Adidas wanted to shut down this store for copyright of their product, they could easily do so as a powerful, international corporation. However, this store is the result of Adidas' scheme to profit from two different market under the guise of Chinese "counterfeits."
So many people have paid ridiculous amounts of money for these pairs of sneakers, but they end up receiving sneakers no different than those who pay a fraction of the amount. Adidas is making a fool out of the fashion fanatics in the market. If these hypebeasts aren't outraged, they aren't paying attention. Stay woke.
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