Is Kick-Sole.com and Iamkickz.com Run by the SAME PEOPLE?

[thatuncutraw]

Maybe this is the wrong place for this, or maybe y'all don't care, but I figured I'd post this here. So, I was checking out a "Legit Check" for a guy who had a pair of '88 3s he was suspicious might be a b-grade. In the beginning of his post, he said that he had ordered from a site based out of Austin, TX, but didn't mention the name of the site. Immediately, when I put together "Austin, TX" and "shady pairs", the name that immediately sprung to mind was "Kicksole". Later on in the thread, he mentioned that the site he ordered from was called "Iamkickz.com", which is a site I'd never heard of before. Still, I commented that I had assumed it was Kicksole, based on the reasons I explained earlier. Another fellow chimed in and said he also had ordered from that website, and also felt he might have b-grades as well. Naturally, I decided to check out Iamkickz.com. The first thing I noticed was the picture for the White/Cement 4s they had for sale; the picture used a photo of a GS pair of WC4s, which I found to be odd. What was more odd was that I distinctly remembered having that same odd feeling months ago when I noticed the same thing on Kick-sole's website. 

IAMKICKS.COM                                

KICKSOLE.COM

Now, I am in no way saying Kick-sole sells fakes, or that they sell legit pairs, nor am I doing the same with Iamkickz. I won't lie, I've heard mostly bad things about kick-sole, and have had my suspicions that they are selling unauthorized pairs, much like every other grey-market website. I've considered ordering from them before, but never took the plunge, and am glad I didn't, especially after the '88 3s release (people complaining about b-grades and not getting their orders still after a month of waiting). That being said, I wouldn't tell someone they for sure are selling fakes, because I for sure don't know that. Until it becomes a known, proven fact, or until I have actual 1st hand experience with them, I'll keep my ideas to myself, for they are just that; ideas.

However, when doing a little more digging, I decided to post this, just to share my conspiracy theory, and to see what u guys think. So, after noticing the picture on the WC4s, I decided to pull up both websites, so I could actually see if the pic was, in fact, the same one. Of course, it was, and when I looked at the other pics for the shoe, they turned out to also be the same pics. "Maybe it was an aberration", I told myself. So I pulled up another shoe; the Bred 11s. Shockingly, those too had the same photos on both sites. Same as the Bred 4s. And the Black Cement 3s. Those were all shoes that had untagged photos. So, I decided to pull up the Joker 3s, which uses a tagged pic in Kick-soles page. Now, the first pic was different than any of the other ones on iamkickz. But when I looked further, I noticed that for other pics, both sites were using the same photos, only both decided to tag their pics.

IAMKICKZ                                                  

KICKSOLE

So, what does it all mean? Websites steal pics all the time. But, some of these pics are tagged with each individual site, which means they either both stole the pics from the same website, or they are using the same original photo. I'm leaning more towards the latter, considering I have never seen that GS pic of the White Cement 4s on any other Grey-market website. Could it be the owner of Kick-sole's attempt to escape the ever-growing cacophony of complaints, by starting fresh with a new website? Is it just a coincident that both of these websites sell questionable kicks, at damn near the same price, and using the same photos? Maybe. But maybe not. It's getting late, and I need to get to sleep. Hopefully, I don't sound like a crazed psycho, and this makes some semblance of sense. Let me know your thoughts on this weird situation, and also, if you have any experience ordering from either of these sites, good or bad. Peace.

 

[bg50]

I have ordered from iamkickz recently. I went there to purchase the OG 88's. I received them, and just had an uneasy feeling about it. Pretty much everything checks out with the shoes, except for the box. The size/price sticker is on the box, and not the top like every other pair I've seen on the web. If I could compare, in hand, to a confirmed real pair, I would feel a lot better. But I'm leaning towards a really really good pair of B grade

 

[jayc4489]

Im actually looking to order from this site. From their videos, i only spotted out 1 other thing, which was the Jordan info card that comes with the shoe. I have an actual pair of 88's i was lucky to get and mine is folded up and matte(theirs appears to not be folded up and is shiny). 

 

[afldino]

i order air jordan concord from this web site are the shoes real

 

[160jordansdeep]

both sites sell early

b grades

early releases

fakes

what ever you want to call it

this and an old site called i think sneakerape.com are the same

 

[160jordansdeep]

both sites sell early

b grades

early releases

fakes

what ever you want to call it

this and an old site called i think sneakerape.com are the same

 

[jz4dayz]

both sites sell early

b grades

early releases

fakes

what ever you want to call it

this and an old site called i think sneakerape.com are the same

arent B grades rejects made by nike ?

 

[scottyb]

Yes you are right they used to be sneakerape and then it changed and when it first changed it redirected me to kick-sole and now when you type in sneakerape.com it goes to iamkickz so idk what the deal is. I know I was going to order when it was sneakerape but I kept hearing about it takin a month or 2 to get the shoes or people not even getting their shoes and also people were saying the same about fake or being b-grades so i didnt order and im happy i didnt but it just seems funny because its like sneakerape was getting a bad name so he changed to kick-sole to get away from that name and now changing to iamkickz because maybe kick-sole is starting to get a bad name. i bet pretty soon that kick-sole will disappear and redirect you to iamkickz when you go looking for it.
 

 

[capital sb]

Please stop calling these fakes B grades. Heads dont wont to admit they got fakes, its okay you know not to buy from these people again.

 

[lebrons n jays23]

They actually sell B-grades at the Nike Factory stores. B-grades are AUTHENTIC and made by Nike, just with some flaw in production (usually minor). They are usually marked with a red "B" on the tags, and/or on the box. B-grades are REAL! They sell them at Nike stores. Fakes are.... FAKE!

Big difference.

 

[lebrons n jays23]

Its crazy to me how many "sneakerheads" even bother to deal with these shady shops online, thats how I know half of these guys are here for the hype. I buy all my pairs at retail, and if I miss out, oh well... I will occasionally buy a pair off eBay, but thats usually some shoe 4+ years old

 

[o0mojorisin0o]

Please stop calling these fakes B grades. Heads dont wont to admit they got fakes, its okay you know not to buy from these people again.

PREACH!!!

People really need to stop the B-grade thing for real. Early releases are FAKES call them replicas or unauthorized or whatever their high quality fakes. Now some people say "but their like the same quality as official nike stuff!".... Man the early release people are doing a great job.... making people pay $300+ for some shoes that are almost same quality. Hand clap to you early release people. So people are willing to pay almost 3x over retail for shoes that are "same" quality. I really don't understand why joe vuento is still promoting kicksole its like he doesn't want to believe it, hes a clown. It was first the crappy quality fakes, then the spongebob clear shoes, now its "early release'. Buy your shoes from the store people. its more fun #Teamearlyfail

 

[160jordansdeep]

arent B grades rejects made by nike ?

yes

and that's what some sites are selling but people think what they think

 

[thatuncutraw]

Im actually looking to order from this site. From their videos, i only spotted out 1 other thing, which was the Jordan info card that comes with the shoe. I have an actual pair of 88's i was lucky to get and mine is folded up and matte(theirs appears to not be folded up and is shiny). 

If you end up buying them, check for the perforation on their pairs. If it's that extra-tiny perforation, they're "Unauthorized" pairs, most likely made from scrap/left-over materials from the 2011 white cement 3s. Also, I'd check to see how flimsy the info card is, especially if you have a "legit" card to compare it to. I ordered a pair of BC 3s off Taobao and initially, the cards/box/paper/etc looked identical to the stuff that came with my "legit" pair of 2011 WC3s, but when I actually touched the Taobao pair's card, it was super flimsy. I don't know for sure, but just from the facts I pointed out in this posting, I think they're the same people. Kick-sole already changed their name once (they used to be sneaker-ape or something like that, right?), so it's not weird that they'd try to do it again. I just think when you establish the fact that they changed their name, you have to ask "Why?". If y'all want to cop from them, that's on you, but I would highly advise against it. Or copping from ANY "grey-market/early release" website. If that's what you want, you might as well get the same shoe from Taobao through an agent for $100 less than what you pay the grey market guys. It is my opinion that the top sellers on Taobao (not the ones selling $50 fakes) have the same exact product as the sites in question, including Kick-sole/Iamkickz. Never again will I shop from a "Mentalkicks/kicksole/sole-up" type place again, bet that. But y'all do what y'all wanna do. I just wanted to post my thoughts and see what y'all think. It seemed like nobody cared when I originally posted this, so I'm surprised to see the posts. Peace.

PS I actually came back to this thread so I could find the link for it and link to it on a youtube vid Joe Venuto did for some pairs he bought from Iamkickz. I gained a lot of respect for him after he posted that video a couple months back about his relationship with Kick-Sole and what he thinks about the grey-market game, but that respect is now in question again after he posted the Iamkickz video. Suspect, in my opinion...

 

[thatuncutraw]

arent B grades rejects made by nike ?

Yes. People get it all confused. B Grades and the shoes these "Grey Market" websites sell are NOT the same thing. Personally, I don't think the shoes places like Mentalkicks/Kick-sole sell are "Fake". I think they are "Unauthorized", which to me are shoes that are made in the same factory as the "Authentic" shoes, and using the same materials as the "authentics". The only difference is that they were made without the Authorization of Jordan Brand (hence the name "Unauthorized"). Another misconception about these "Unauthorized" kicks is that they're all F-Grades or messed up shoes, which is not true. Since these "Unauthorized" pairs most likely do NOT go through any kind of Quality Inspection, yes, you do have a much higher chance of getting a flawed pair, but that doesn't mean you can't get a "Flawless" pair. I've gotten pairs of Concords from Mentalkicks that were identical to an "Authorized" pair I had from Nikestore.com. Anyways, this is a whole different topic that I don't want to get into right now, but yes, B-Grades are shoes that did not pass the Quality Inspection that Jordan Brand puts their shoes through before going to Authorized Retailers for sale; they are flawed, but not too flawed that they are a terrible product unworthy of being sold. They will usually have a small cosmetic flaw here or there, sometimes no flaws (like, if for instance, the shoes were in a fire and they were subject to smoke for a certain period of time; even if the shoes don't have any changes to their appearance or structure, they will be considered Fails to the inspectors). Unauthorized/early-release shoes are totally different things, since they were never ok'd by Jordan Brand to be made in the first place, and they never went through any inspection to get a rating, A through F. Hope that clears it up for you.. lol.

 

[thatuncutraw]

Its crazy to me how many "sneakerheads" even bother to deal with these shady shops online, thats how I know half of these guys are here for the hype. I buy all my pairs at retail, and if I miss out, oh well... I will occasionally buy a pair off eBay, but thats usually some shoe 4+ years old

Maybe that's true for some people, but that doesn't apply to everyone. I've bought an Unauthorized pair from Taobao before, as well as pairs from Mentalkicks, before I figured out they were selling Unauthorized pairs. My reasoning for buying the shoes has nothing to do with hype. I'm a 30 yr old man who has worn Js longer than most of y'all have been alive, let alone collecting sneakers. I've loved Js since a kid and after taking a break for several years, just got back into copping kicks again about a year and a half ago. All that being said, the reason I'm OK with buying an Unauthorized shoe is to me, if the shoe is made in the same factory with the same materials, it is good enough for me. That is only the case if the shoe is as flawless as an Authorized pair would be (for the kids that don't know, it is COMMON to get small flaws sometimes on your kicks when buying them from AUTHORIZED RETAILERS, not just grey-market sellers). Now, if it was a small artist or brand or a person I respected that was selling the items, I wouldn't want to do that. Even with music, I download tons of stuff, but if I like an album, I will support the artist and buy their music, even though I could get it for cheaper through other sources (i.e. Free Ninety Nine). But Michael Jordan, as I've come to find out over the years, is a d-bag, and I don't care at all about not "supporting" Jordan Brand. All that being said, of course I prefer buying shoes from Retail sources! And that's what I do all the time. I've ordered 4 pairs of Unauthorized kicks in the last year and a half since I got back into copping sneakers (2 of which I sold to a friend of mine) and over 40+ pairs from Authorized Retailers. So don't think I'm some guy who buys from grey-market websites all the time or some broke kid that just wants to buy a cheaper shoe. If the shoe is flawed more than I would expect from an Authorized Retailer, bet I am returning that shoe (and if they don't take returns, I'll file a claim with PayPal and get it back that way). I've used eBay and Craigslist several times as well to buy shoes, though like you mentioned, for older stuff that came out a while back. It's a great way to find good deals on DS Js that came out a couple to a few years earlier, so long as you are smart and stick to the "rules" of shopping on eBay. Ok, I'm diverging now from the original point. But anyways, you can't just make those assumptions based on a couple comments, not just in this thread, but in life. To assume, as they say, only makes an as... u know the rest. lol. I'm a sneakerhead in my own mind, and there's nobody who can tell me different. I'm not the biggest expert on kicks, nor do I have the most kicks, but none of that matters. What matters is I love kicks and I am passionate about them, and I know I'm a sneakerhead, whether u think so or not. It's all love tho, bruv. Peace.

 

[o0mojorisin0o]

yes

and that's what some sites are selling but people think what they think

What site is sellin B grades?

 

[ninjahood]

unauthorized/grey market pairs =/= fakes..how many times are we gonna go thru this?

 

[kristyles]

i dont know what it is but I ordered from iamkickz back april12.....its may 16 , nothing yet....fraud fraud ...
 

 

[anthracite8s]

they are still making your shoes. guaranteed. they aren't authentic pairs.