Thursday , March 28 2024

Avoid Counterfeit and Find the Right Website to Buy From

Counterfeit boots

I watched a great documentary on CNBC tonight called Crime Inc: Counterfeit Goods (available to watch here) and it prompted a follow-up on the “Boots You Don’t Want To Buy” post from a few months back.

If you are wondering what I am referring to, over the last year a string of suspicious websites have sprung up, causing a lot of confusion among players looking to buy new boots. The prices listed on these sites are incredibly low, making the boots extremely appealing. I have received hundreds of emails about the sites, so I figured it was worth again highlighting to ensure you are getting real shoes and realize that there are sites that should be avoided.

I am sure most of you have seen one of the websites in question at some point. You will not find any of the URLs listed here as I simply don’t want to give them any attention. But, when you see a website posting prices that seem too good to be true, it is too good to be true and the products are counterfeit! The boots are not actually manufactured by the specific brand. Instead, these sites are producing boots that look like the specific boot and brand in question, but are “economical” version. The boots are not tested and do not feature the true intended technology included by the likes of Nike, Adidas and Puma. If you want something that resembles the real thing, then these might be the ideal boot for you. But, would you actually want to buy a Ferrari if it came with a Fiat Punto engine? (no offense to the Fiat!) All looks, with downgraded performance.

In the CNBC documentary, they highlight a legal battle that running shoe company New Balance faced. A company in China started producing running shoes under the name “New Barlun“. New Balance President and CEO, Robert Di Martini pointed out several pretty important points. First off, these companies produce counterfeit goods for one reason – they want to make a quick profit and move on. The shoes feature technology that is painted on and they do look like the real deal, but underneath they won’t have the same technology. Here is an interesting fact – shoes are actually the most counterfeit product in the world at a cost of $12 billion a year to shoe manufacturers. In turns, this actually leads to loss of jobs in the US and your money leaving the US economy in return for a product that will last for a few months at most.

[See: Unique Looking Boots That You Don’t Want To Buy]

My advice is simple; stick with the sites that have a positive reputation and allow you to make returns if there are any problems. Take advantage of sales and look out for great deals on top boots – one of the primary reasons I post so many deals is to help you save on official products, use those sales to get the similar prices. Buying counterfeit is an issue that impacts more than you actually think, and it can cause a chain reaction of problems. As reference, sites that I recommend and trust include:

On a final note, it has also come to our attention that some of these sites are stealing SC101 content and images – including one specific site that went as far as displaying the SC101 logo across their website! As a result, several consumers have purchased from the site and contacted SC101 with complaints – I apologize if you have fallen foul on a fake pair, but SoccerCleats101 does not work with, promote, encourage or endorse purchasing counterfeit soccer shoes!

About Bryan Byrne

The mastermind behind the revolution that is SoccerCleats101. Bryan started this website back in 2008 and has been testing boots on a daily basis ever since. Check out our About Page for more details on Bryan and the website.

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159 comments

  1. Great article! thank you for writing about this problem. I have run into several of these companies even through a google shopping search so people need to be very careful. Like the article says if the price is too good most likely is a knock off. Another good way of telling if a site is a bad one is to look for a physical address if you can't find one in the website (or if its in china) chances are you are dealing with a bad store.

    • do u now if a $109 dollar nike maggots cause my dad thinks that there a rip off! and ill be pissed if there fake!

  2. Hey Brian, one of my soccer buds, said he found a website that sells Superflys for $80 i told him their fake. Any chance they are real?

  3. is lovell soccer.com a legit website where you can buy cleats? they have some pretty cheap prizes!

  4. Pro Direct is another. Also, I would LOVE to see some reviews of the fake shoes!

    • Pro Direct Soccer is very good e-shop. If i am checking shoes(fake or not), i always go there and find their price(regular price and sale price) and the colourway(fake shoes always have little another colour).
      Dont try buy fake shoes, because fake shoes are not good quality, you can hurt you feet or even broke ankle etc(bad sutd,bad insole,soleplate etc.). Healthy is priceless for everyone, dont take risk just for 30-50dolars.

    • I would, too. I mean, They're probably made in the same Asian factories.

    • I bought pantofola d'oro superleggera from PRO DIRECT. I customize it and love it!!!!

  5. Easiest way to pick the fakes, prices are all the same for every shoe and the price is very low. For e.g they will sell Legend IV Elites for $80, but I can guarantee you they are fake!

    There are some good sites and some bad sites. The weird thing that I find though is eBay retailers that sell genuine items are usually a bit cheaper and send your boots doubles boxed. The UK based and some US based sites never ever double box. I know some people don't care, but I hate receiving my new boots in their squashed original box. For the price you pay for shipping I just wish they would double box them.

  6. soccerpro.co is also good

  7. you forgot soccerpro.com

  8. Hey Brian, I was wondering if you know of the website called "lovell-soccer.com" and I was wondering if you know if this website is real or fake.

  9. Nice article but Brian, Fiat owns Ferrari

  10. Do you guys know any website where I can have soccer cleats shipped internationally? I'm locayted all the way here in the Philippines and the stores here don't offer a wide variety of choices when it comes to soccer shoes..either that or the they get the models all mixed up so the pricing isn't as acurate..Thanks!

  11. I wonder if these are real because its my local soccer shop an asked how did they get these kinds of colors first other than soccer.com and soccerpro.com. This soccer store has 2 stores in California

  12. One place to sometimes score a steal of a deal on cleats is at Ross – you know "Dress for Less". I've found all kinds of deals on cleat there — CTR360 Maestri for $30, Adipure IV for $30, Adipower Predator for $30, Adizero F50 for $22 … of course never in my size (10.5) but I sell em on Ebay for cheap and everybody seems happy!

  13. I found this website called mysoccerboots.com There are t90 cleats on their for $80. I don’t know if they are real or fake. Can you help?

  14. Thank you for the article, i'm from Argentina and i was about to buy a pair of predators lz at a very low price now i've changed my mind… the problem is that i don't trust any longer in the sports shops in my town as they sell realley cheap versions of tiempo or predator as economical versions and as original branded pairs, but you can easily spot that there's actually no technology on them, What can you tell me about the adidas predator absolado or the nike tiempo natural iv…. after i read a tiempo flight review i decided to find one of those as a secure option….. ONE QUESTION FOR YOU, do you know of a trusted website that could ship a pair to argentina effectively? sorry if my english is lame. thankyou for your answer

  15. IS lovelsoccer.com a real or fake website, same price boots, they just have free personalisation?

  16. Nice one !!

  17. I’m wondering If soccerpro.com Is fake OR not?

  18. What about nikehypervenom.com are they replica cleats ?

  19. Hi Bryan
    What are your thoughts on http://www.sportskicksus.com
    Best,
    Jon

  20. sportscleatsusa.com real or fake

  21. Is soccersavings.com okay to use

  22. Is cheapsuperflycleats.com (cheap-cleats) legit? My hunch is no… How about soccerwearhouse.com?

  23. Is Start Fitness/Start Football a legitimate site? I’ve looked it over and it looks fairly reputable but I hadn’t heard of it before and want to be sure.

  24. I purchased a pair from [email protected] I have been attempting to return them since the day we received them, they will not respond,
    DO NOT BUY FROM THEM, PLEASE SHARE THIS WITH OTHERS….THEY ARE A FAKE, trying to get the word out there so others don't make the same mistake I did.

  25. what do you think about sports cleats usa??

  26. Is vipsoccershoes.com a trusted site

  27. i wish I had taken more time to look into certain sites. I recently bought my daughter cleats from usacportscleats.com We received a pair of knock off NIKES. Their site says to email them for return instructions. I have emailed them 2x and have had no response. my fault for not taking time to look further into site. But, now I am out $115.

    • Sorry to hear, Angie. Hope this post provides you with some helpful info going forward. If you have concerns before purchasing in the future, feel free to send us any questions beforehand!

  28. Amazing post in regards to shoe shopping, List of sites you recommend here is truly useful for shoe shopping one other shoe site I might want to recommend you is Charles Clinkard. You can get Discount code and exclusive deals for Charles Clinkard at discount code offering sites like Voucherfox, Vouchercode, Voucherbox.

  29. http://www.pro-uksoccers.co.uk/

    does anyone know if these are fake or real ….

  30. is usacleats.com a legit website? because they post brand new cleats for insane prices. They have a pair of black and gold cr7 superflys for 103$ the website says that they are usually 171$. Please reply to this comment and tell me if this is a legit website.

    • They using the logo and site design of another retailer (soccerloco) and they have new boots released at INSANE prices? I think that in itself should answers your question. Stick with the listed websites above only!!!

  31. soccerbootsonline . com Is this a legit website that I order boots will they come need help as I just ordered a pair of boots at £72 will they come??

  32. topsoccershoes2015.com trustworthy?

  33. Is anyone aware of the website soccerlp.com? They have great prices on Nike mecurial superfly. I am having a hard time finding my daughter's size on several other websites, but I am a little concerned because I am not finding a phone number for this site. Any feedback is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

  34. http://www.soccer-shoppe.com

    what about this website, anyone ever bought from them?

  35. USASoccermart.com real or fake?

  36. So the sites listed above are legit? They sell legit authentic cleats?

  37. is soccer cp.com is real

  38. Is prodirectsoccer.com legit?

  39. Is soccerloco.com Legit?

  40. anyone know about this site?

    http://www.soccercleats-pro.com/

    any help would be greatly appreciated.

  41. I recently purchased a pair of cleats from soccercleatss-us for $96.99 and im fine with them being a lower quality reproduction of the say $260 cleats. However this site sent me notification of payment along with my order # and i have sent them numerous msgs because thats the only way to contact them apparently. There's been no feedback from them yet and i have tried to track my order and can not. If you have any info on how i can get through to this company or if you have any info on it being a fake please let me know. V…VERY DISCOURAGED CUSTOMER! !!! EMAIL IS [email protected]

    • It is one of the huge problems with these sites, they are unreliable and actually steal credit card info. Honestly, I'd consider contacting your bank to reverse the charge and cancel that card.

  42. Does anybody know where to buy cheap laceless boots? idc if its not authentic i want to buy laceless boots for around $200-$250 AUD.

  43. Soccer cp has eaten my eighty dollars.
    It’s six weeks since payment and still no shoes

  44. You seem to say that Pro Direct Soccer (US or UK) is a legit retailer but you also mention to all to stick to your list, but the list doesn't have Pro Direct Soccer on it.

  45. I stupidly ordered from soccerauthentic.us when I was on pain meds. My credit card was compromised and when the CC company tried to call soccer authentic’s customer service number, they got an emergency room in Texas! I should have known when they tried to make their website look like world soccer shop’s!

  46. Hello is soccercorner.com a trustworthy website?

  47. What about soccerKP.com

  48. what about soccerkp.com?

  49. This feeling is very good.

  50. Hi are soccerzoneusa.com, futfanatics.net, and tntsoccershop.com legit? Thanks

  51. Hey Brian what about sportscleats.us.com is it fake or real

  52. Hey Brian have you heard of cp-soccer.com?

  53. Hey Brian, what about soccerscheap.com?

  54. Soccer pro is so bad idea for buying soccer stuff. be aware !

  55. How about soccer4you in Carson City, NV? Bought some Adidas Ace 16.1 synthetic cleats of Amazon.

  56. Can you please tell me if kps-soccer.com is a scam

  57. I placed an order with online delivery, and here I am almost a week later and I still have nothing. Not only that, but they won't respond to any of my messages. I only wish I had looked at reviews for this before I had placed an order. I guess I should consider myself fortunate I didn't lose as much money to them as many on here.

  58. Hey I wanna buy some cleats from soccerleakef.com are they reliable????

  59. I wanna buy a jersey from bestbuysoccer.com
    Anyone know if they sell authentic jerseys?

  60. Never Ever buy Soccer shoes from vip-soccershoes.com/
    They sell fake hoses. I paid USD $75 for Fake Adidas Rubber shoe.
    All fotball/soccer player out there do not fall into trap, this company sell fake and low quality soccer shoes.

  61. Please add to your personal list of BAD GUYS the following site: http://www.soccer-kp.co.uk
    The website is fake, since you can click any thing on the webpage and you won't get anywere.
    There is no way to get in touch with the Company in order to send back the Product you got in case it doesn't fit och in case they send the wrong product. Both happened to me. NO NO NO soccer-kp.co.uk

  62. is soccer spikes real or fake please answer

  63. Hey is soccersavings.com a legit website and should I order from there

  64. is xpsoccer.com a legit website

  65. is xpsoccer.com a legit website?

  66. are you sure tntsoccershop is a credible site?

    ive read some bad reviews and it doesnt rate well on scam advisor.

    does have some good deals on alot of boots though!!

  67. Soccer savings is completely legit? I bought some cleats from the website with the original price of $300 but there it was about 130? Is it legit?

  68. anybody now anything about soccerbo.com

  69. luthando soqashe

    I'm from South Africa bought from a Xpsoccer.com website. Is this website legit? I bought a soccer boot for $99 plus $18 Shipping that is R1623 in South African currency.i've been waiting for a tracking number since 26 April 2018 until 07 May 2018 then they told me they shipped to a wrong country and will send the tracking number in 2 to 3 days,what happened to a 24hrs rule? They even sent me a picture of what I never ordered. I wonder how legit is this online shopping website…

    • Unfortunately, that is not a trusted site. The boots, if they arrive, will not be actual brand boots. Instead, they will be reproduced to look like the original. I would look to cancel my order and honestly, cancel the credit card used. Sorry to share the bad news!

  70. Is stripe3.com legit or fake

  71. Great article. I have a question. Is goalinn.com legit online shop. Prices are low and some reviews are good but some are bad. Do you know anything about it?

  72. Hey do you know if goodmagista.com is legit?

  73. is U80soccer.com legit?

  74. I’ve found a site called YPSoccer.com

    Is this legit or fake???

  75. Hi. Do you know if unisportkick is legit? Prices for kids predators seemed market. But, it’s shipping from China and not the UK? Plus lots of designs on Predators that you cannot find in the US. Thank you so much for your help!

  76. Anyone know about sharemercurial.com

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