How to Make a Return on StockX

Have you ever got scammed while buying clothes or shoes online? Maybe you haven’t even tried because you’re afraid of scams. Rest assured. Your mistrust is well-placed and your questioning doesn’t make you paranoid – scams happen online a lot. However, the online prices for shoes and clothes are so damn low that you won’t want to walk into a physical store ever again.

Meet StockX, a startup that specializes in sneaker resale, a company particularly focused on making sure that you don’t get scammed online. If you want to buy collectible shoes safely, this is the intermediary you’ve been looking for.

Can I Return an Item?

Whenever you buy an item in a regular way, you do get the comfort of always being able to return an item in case you don’t want it for whatever reason. So, you’re probably wondering whether you can and how to return an item on StockX.

Unfortunately, this isn’t an option. StockX, as the company explains, operates on a live market and, due to its anonymous nature, they can’t offer exchanges, refunds, or swaps. Yes, that’s right – if you ordered the wrong size, you won’t be able to swap it for another one.

However, there is a way you can ‘return’ a pair of shoes or any other item bought over StockX and get your money back – by reselling the item on StockX itself. However, expect that you’ll have to lower the price a bit. Now, with that out of the way, let’s get into the gist of StockX.

What Is StockX?

Some ten years ago, in order to buy sneakers online, you had to send a postal money order to someone you’ve probably never met outside a forum. Then, all you can do is hope that the person in question actually sends your shoes. Alternatively, you could meet the buyer in person but this is risky to an extent and there’s a chance they simply won’t want to travel to a physical meeting point.

Today, things have changed significantly – there are guarantees established online that protect the buyer from a scam. Then, there are eCommerce websites that come with their own security guarantees and features. That being said, there’s still a lot of shady sellers and fakes out there. Additionally, if you’re a sneaker collector or an enthusiast, you may not be able to find the exact product model on a trusted website. Therefore, you may have to resort to potentially shady ones.

StockX was founded in 2015 and its tagline is “the stock market of things”. What this website does is makes purchasing streetwear, watches, designer handbags, but mostly sneakers safe and secure. The service doesn’t sell anything but rather acts as a middleman for you and the seller in question. So, clearly, there are two parties involved in the process: the buyer and the seller.

Buyers and Sellers

Both of the parties engaged in a product-money transaction obviously need to feel safe and have certain guarantees. Here’s how it works.

Buyers

StockX essentially lists items that retailers have to offer. There are thousands of items available to choose on StockX. Now, there are two ways to buy a particular product: immediate purchase and engaging in a bidding war. If you want the item immediately and bad enough, you can purchase it straight away for the lowest asking price. If you want to try to get away with paying much less, there’s an option to submit a bid and simply engage in a bidding war.

Although StockX will require you to provide a payment method (credit/debit card or PayPal), you won’t be charged for bids; only when your bid is accepted.

But what happens after you’ve successfully purchased an item? Well, StockX obligates the seller to ship the item within two business days, meaning that they’re held accountable if they delay the sendoff. This is a fantastic benefit that StockX offers, as sellers do tend to be late in this regard.

Your item then arrives at StockX and is thoroughly checked for authenticity. This is the bread butter of this company – they make sure that the product you’ve paid for is in great condition and absolutely authentic. When an item gets a green tag that spells “verified authentic”, StockX ships out the order to you. Of course, you also get to track the order’s status online.

Sellers

If you have an item that you want to sell, all you need to do is search for it on StockX and select the size. Using the StockX website, you can sell the item for the highest bid but also provide an asking price and simply wait for someone to buy the item.

Then, once someone buys your item, StockX sends you a shipping label (already paid for) and a packaging slip that you need to include. From that moment, you have exactly two business days to send out the package. If you don’t, StockX will hold you accountable and charge you a fee.

Once the item arrives at StockX and once it’s checked for authenticity and outlined details, the company will release the funds to you and the transaction is complete. The seller can’t return this item and you’re no longer held accountable for it.

As a seller, you’ll have to pay a transaction fee but it’s much more reasonable than, for instance, the transaction fees on eBay and consignment shops.

Additional Info

If you’re wondering about the ‘stock’ part of StockX, there’s logic involved. What StockX offers and many other intermediaries don’t, is information – such as retail price, release date, number of sold units, previous prices, and much more. This data helps the buyer essentially assess the market and make sure that he or she doesn’t overpay for an item.

If you happen to be savvy at this particular kind of thing, you’ll get into the science of previous releases data and be able to accurately predict the future value of releases. In that sense, StockX, in a way, works like the stock market.

Using StockX

Whether you’re a buyer or a seller, StockX is a great and secure way to sell your items, especially if we’re talking about collector’s sneakers. StockX is a bang-for-the-buck intermediary that comes with certain guarantees that you won’t find anywhere else.

Have you ever used StockX? Would you in the future? Feel free to hit the comments section with your past experiences, thoughts, tips, and questions.