Fake Fridays: Realest_Store
There aren’t enough Fridays in the year for all these fakes and scammers! And we have an interesting one this week. Requested by you, this Friday we are covering Realest_Store run by @calvinprolay.
With a name like that, the store must be pretty confident in the authenticity of their products. But as you’ll see, that confidence is definitely a bluff to trick customers out of their money. Despite being a heavily requested fake store, we are also looking at Realest_Store because they are different from the other fake pages we have covered before. Pages like Zeezo, SneakerStore_ZA and ShoeGarden present the same kind of lifestyle aesthetic with prices added to images. These stores often share the same photos and prices and many now know this as a 'fake store aesthetic' with the classic ‘NO REFUNDS’ in the bio.
Realest_Store is different. They use only stolen on-white images, shot from the side. No coincidence, this is the same style that KITH and other world-famous stores present on their Instagram pages. So by creating a feed and aesthetic the way they do, they separate themselves from other fake stores and align themselves with real ones. And this could definitely trick some people, as we have been told in the DMs.
Now that we‘ve looked at the aesthetic of the IG page, let’s look at what really matters - the product. For a store with a name like the ‘Realest’, it's crazy to see them promote sneakers that only exist in one’s dreams (or nightmares). Ever wished your Yeezy Slides had BAPE print on it? The Realest has got you covered at R2500 a pair. That’s more than double the retail cost of real Yeezy slides! Guess you have to pay extra for the make-believe double-collab between BAPE and Kanye. The higher prices are another way the store tries to stand out from the other more common fake stores. They know if the prices are too low, it looks suspect. So they increase the prices to make it seem legit - stealing more of your money in the process too.
You took an L on the Chunky Dunks and the Sacai LDWaffle on SNKRS. Why not catch two Ws and cop both in one? The Realest_Store continues the theme of ultra-fake releases with a Chunky Dunk LDWaffle hybrid. What most people would laugh at, the Realest Store is charging people R5500 for. While this creation may seem ridiculous, if you accept the store is real and the price is high but not too high to scare you off, you might just pull the trigger. Maybe.
Realest_Store boasts that they are a ‘quality authentic store’ in their bio but one quick scroll through their page, and looking at this Ben & Jerry's Waffle, will tell you otherwise. Nowhere does it say custom so they can’t hide behind that either. They blatantly trick people with their high prices and more professional look to the Instagram page.
Other crazy examples are their Off-White Dunks at R3500 each - priced just enough so you don't immediately think it's fake but cheap enough for you to consider copping, maybe. But their pricing really is all over the place. Supreme hoodies from R1500 when they retail at about R2700 and resell for double in the real world. Balenciaga Triple S sneakers for R3500 when they retail for about R15 000 in real life. There are even some comments calling them out that they have forgotten to delete. It's very clear Realest_Store tries very hard to trick people into thinking they are a "Quality Authentic STORE" (as they say in their bio), and take your money with no remorse.
Shelflife Weekly Tip
Just because a store's prices are higher does not automatically make their products legit. We have received many messages about stores increasing their prices to make it seem more likely to be authentic. Always ask for tagged photos of their product so you can see the quality to make sure its legit. Do online research before purchasing - always!