2.5/5
I came into Restyled in Stonestown to sell a few pairs of shoes, and while I completely understand that shops have every right to pass on buying something they are unsure about, the way this situation was handled really threw me off.
One of the pairs I brought in was the Concord 11 from 2018. I know for a fact they are real because my friend bought them directly from the SNS when they released, and I was literally with him at the time. I saw the order confirmation, the receipt, and the shoes when they arrived. I have never bought fakes in my life, and everyone I buy from either gets them directly from Nike, Adidas, or another authorized source. I am extremely careful about authenticity.
When I handed over the Concords, the employee looked them over and said they were fake. The reasons given were the bottoms were yellowing, the soles had the wrong print, the box was wrong, and the glue smell was not right. They even compared my pair to one of theirs and decided mine did not match. Also worth noting, if your shoes have yellowed at all, they count them as used even if you have never worn them once. I have nothing against that policy and just wanted to point it out.
I can respect if they are not comfortable making a deal, that is their right. What bothered me was the commentary that came along with it. They made repeated remarks like, "You should get your money back from your friend," "Are you still friends with him?," "You can just wear these fakes because no one will know," and "You got ripped off." Between these comments and the reasons they gave, it honestly made me doubt how well they can authenticate shoes. Yellowing happens to many older shoes, box variations can occur with legitimate releases, and a glue smell is far from a definitive test. When you factor in that I know the full history of the shoes from purchase to now, it is hard to take their verdict seriously.
Even after deciding to pass on the Concords, they did not move on. While looking at my other shoes, they kept circling back to the Concords, continuing to explain why they thought they were fake. It just felt like overkill, especially after the decision was already made. On top of that, they started asking me for proof of purchase for my other pairs, as if I might be trying to unload multiple fakes. I get being cautious, but the tone felt more like they were accusing me of something rather than just doing due diligence.
The store itself is well kept, clean, organized, and visually appealing. They have a cool key machine for prizes, which adds some fun to the place. The other employee I interacted with was friendly and professional. Pricing on shoes is about what you would expect for a resale shop in a mall. If you are selling, just know their offers tend to be StockX buy now price minus around 30 to 40 dollars, which is reasonable for a business trying to make profit.
Bottom line, I did not walk out upset because of the deal. I walked out feeling insulted because of the way they handled it. If they had just said, "We are going to pass," and left it at that, I would probably be giving a completely different rating right now. read more