What are Unauthorized Authentic (UA) Sneakers?

Over the past few years, the sneaker market has seen an expansion and growth at an exponential rate. This remains true for both, authentic as well as fake shoes. The authentic sneaker market is huge, but the fake market is even bigger.

Even though selling counterfeit sneakers is considered to be an illegal trade, yet it is difficult to eradicate. The market is flooded with fake and counterfeit sneakers, and now a new kind of sneaker is emerging, the unauthorized authentic shoes. In this article, we will cover all you need to know about unauthorized authentic shoes, so keep on reading to learn more about them.

unauthorized authentic shoes

Unauthorized Authentic Shoes (UA)

These are the sneakers that are produced either in the same factory as the genuine ones using the same materials or in a nearby factory with the same pattern and same or either similar materials. Unauthorized authentic shoes are pretty much the real thing in terms of design, materials, and construction, but they lack the authorization or the seal of approval from the actual company, hence they can not be declared as genuine or authentic pairs.

What is the difference between Unauthorized Authentic (UA) and authentic?

In terms of quality, construction, materials, and performance, there should be very little to no difference, but the UA sneakers are produced illegally without the brand’s consent. These sneakers are either rejected pairs during the quality control process or are produced after the actual contract with the production company has ended. Sometimes the same factories (where genuine shoes have been produced) have leftover materials, they use the same material, real models, and patterns to create the same design again or they sell the pattern to other factories. These illegally produced sneakers are then illegally traded and shipped off to bigger markets such as the United States, Canada, etc. These sneakers are not very difficult to get your hands on and that too at a fraction of the price. The market is flooded with counterfeit and UA shoes by major shoe companies such as Nike, Adidas, Jordan Brand, etc.

Should you buy unauthorized authentic shoes?

Counterfeit sneakers come in a number of qualities ranging from high quality knockoffs that can be mistaken for the real thing to very poor quality replica. The scarcity of genuine and authentic pairs lead people toward fakes. Since they’re unable to get their hands on the genuine ones in retail, and the resale prices are sky high, they opt for fakes or unauthorized authentic.

We are in no way supporting the purchase of fake sneakers or replicas, but counterfeit sneakers do help in building the real brand’s awareness. Basically if someone can not afford the hype sneakers, then ua sneakers or fakes help them fulfill their desire and be fashionable without breaking the bank.

Even reputable sellers like StockX frequently struggle to distinguish fake or UA sneakers from the original ones. Nike recently accused the online retailer of selling knockoffs of its sneakers, and as a result, the retailer guaranteed to legit-check all pairs before selling them. They further defended themselves by pointing out that Nike had previously praised the fakes for making them more famous. 

Are UA shoes real?

As I have mentioned above unauthorized authentic shoes and UA footwear are largely unlicensed. The brand does not consider the sneaker to be genuine, but the quality of a UA pair is assured and there is a guarantee they’re produced using a similar process and materials to genuine. UA Shoes might also include pairs that do not pass quality inspection. UA Shoes are as close as they can get to authentic shoes.

Share with us what you think about fake or UA (unauthorized authentic) sneakers. Are they really as horrible as they sound, or should people actually buy them as they are almost identical to the real thing and the only difference is that they are sold by another business at a fraction of its price? 

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