Australian Man Out $30K After Buying Fake Air Jordan 1 Dior Sneakers
Written by djfrosty on January 4, 2024
Source: U.S. Customs and Border Protection / CBP
The sneaker game is cold as ice these days with scammers and resellers trying to get over anyway they can. A man in Melbourne, Australia found that out the hard way.
According to the BBC, in October of 2023 a man in The Land Down Under paid $30,000 for seven pairs of sneakers including four pairs of the extremely rare and expensive Dior x Air Jordan 1’s that currently go for $7,000+ depending on size. The problem was that the sneakers turned out to be as Fugazi as can be.
Having coughed up $3,800 (£2,040) to $10,000 (£5,370) for each pair of Nike Air Jordan 1 Dior sneakers, and $2,690 (£1,445) for three other pairs of Nike Air Jordan 1’s, the man had a right to get his hard-earned money back, right? Well, not exactly.
BBC reports:
After receiving the shoes, the man told the Vcat that he noticed “defects” and contacted the seller for a refund – but did not receive a reply and went on to contact the teen’s father.
He claims the boy’s father accompanied him to local authenticators, who immediately recognised the teen as a “fraudster and scam artist” by name. The teen and his father disputed that the shoes were “unauthentic” and that the store used to check the sneakers was authorised to authenticate them.
The seller’s father also told the tribunal that he only became involved in the situation to “protect the safety of his family” after his son was chased through a shopping centre.
Dismissing the claim in December, Vcat member Katherine Metcalf said that the father’s involvement was not enough to suggest that he was responsible for the refund, and that the agreement was between the man and the student only.
Cold. As. Ice.
Being that the seller was only 17-years-old at the time of purchase, he wasn’t of age to enter into any binding contract and thus wasn’t liable for the sale of the counterfeit goods.
Just another reminder that buying sneakers online from sites or people you don’t know is a huge gamble. With that being said, if you spend $30,000 on a few pairs of sneakers, you might want to reorganize your priorities in life. Just sayin.’