[ SoJones ] Around what time do you feel the selling of variants crossed into the whole 'sneaker head' market? And do you feel people's logic should have overridden their buying impulses, since no real stores sell new Nikes at discount prices?

[ The Variant Dealer "Mr Nike Air Force One" ] Recently, probably last year, the definition of variant products became a little clearer to the average customer. Sales began to SLOWLY drop. Don’t get me wrong though. There are still thousands of people every day purchasing fake shoes. Some know it, most don’t. A lot of real sneaker heads don’t realize that there’s still very popular variant web sites out there right now that probably are getting around 50-100+ orders every single day. They don’t realize exactly how big the variant market is. A lot of people think it’s dying, it is, slowly. But fake shoes will never completely die, just like fake hand bags will never die.



[ SoJones ] Like a lot of people say, “if something seems too good to be true, then it probably is.” That’s what you need to keep in the back of your mind when shopping online. Learn about what you are buying before you buy it and learn about who is profiting from what you are buying. If you see Nike selling some Air Force Ones for $300 and then you see some other random web site selling them brand new for $80, it’s obviously some type of scam. You aren’t going to find authentic Bathing Ape Hoodies or Shoes online for $80. It’s just not happening. Don’t fool yourself. If you just want to buy a fake product because you don’t feel like paying retail, more power to you. Just make sure you are educated on what you are buying before whipping out the cash for it.

[ The Variant Dealer "Mr Nike Air Force One" ] I’ve even had reputable sources contact me asking to advertise with them. Do they know I was selling fake shoes? I don’t know. I never chose to advertise with any places that may fool customers into thinking I was selling authentic merchandise. For example, when you see MTV advertising a shoe, you wouldn’t think they were advertising an illegal product, would you? It’s actually kind of disturbing to think that one uneducated person can influence thousands of others.



[ SoJones ] Another thing I'm aware of because of various ties around the states, quite a few celebrities purchased variants. I even saw a well known designer at the MAGIC fashion convention who wore his sneakers through the convention without a problem. Did you serve any well known names while selling variants?

[ The Variant Dealer "Mr Nike Air Force One" ] I’m positive that I’ve sold to a few celebrities. I’m sure a celebrity wouldn’t purchase under their stage name and I don’t keep myself up to date on a lot of celebrity’s real names or their stylist’s names but to be completely honest, I’ve been contacted by a lot of professional athletes. It seemed like some even wanted to purchase a large amount specifically to resell them. It’s also somewhat funny because I remember hearing awhile back about some professional athletes getting caught for selling fake shoes. They’re making tons of money doing what they love to do, play sports. And at the same time, they’re out there selling fake shoes, that’s how addicting that fake shoe money is. It’s so easy to make money that it’s hard to stop making it.

Personally, one of the things I never did while selling fake shoes was sell them in wholesale amounts. I did not want to sell large amounts of shoes to people. Mainly because if people buy large amounts, it’s obvious they plan on reselling them. I don’t want them to resell them as authentic and I definitely did not want to be part of their operation in doing so.

A lot of people do not understand why variant dealers sale and how fast the money can be. Money is one of the most addicting things out there and to me, variant selling was just like anything else fast money; once in, you're hooked.

[ SoJones ] On an average day how much money would you say would run through a good variant dealers hands?

[ The Variant Dealer "Mr Nike Air Force One" ] If you had an easy to use and popular variant web site, on an average day, you would probably be bringing in 30-50 orders. Some orders would be for one pair while others would be for $500+ dollars worth of shoes. On average I’d say the average order consisted of around 1-3 pairs and ended up totaling around $150. So 20-40 orders worth $130 on average. That’s during a slow time period too. Now during Christmas or “Back to School” time, you’d probably bring in 50 orders a day and on busy days you’d probably see over 100 orders. Just do the math.

[ SoJones ] What's the biggest amount of money seen from variant sales in one day? I heard many variant dealers call Monday, "Money Mondays" around 6 or so years ago (photo posted of over $5k in Money orders).

[ The Variant Dealer "Mr Nike Air Force One" ] When selling variant shoes, most people accept money orders. It’s hard to accept other payments because selling fake products violates every policy out there. Credit Card merchant accounts get shut down and PayPal accounts get limited. As soon as they see how much money you bring in, they look at what you’re selling. Unlike customers, they read the policy on your web site, which results in closing your account.

People say “Money Mondays,” because usually you get a lot of mail on Mondays. On a busy Monday, I’ve seen way over $10,000 worth of orders and 30-40% was mine to keep. I won’t give out an exact numbers but over $5,000 in profit on a Monday wouldn’t even be that impressive to a popular variant web site.



[ SoJones ] When you first started seeing so much money, how hard was it for you to manage it? Did you blow a lot?

[ The Variant Dealer "Mr Nike Air Force One" ] Managing the money never really was hard for me. I never went overboard with it and always saved it to invest in something more legitimate. Since the beginning, I always knew I wasn’t going to sell fake shoes forever.

Don’t get me wrong, a lot of money was spent on some pretty stupid things. However, I was able to save a majority of it for something bigger and better.



[ SoJones ] Being you were into Urban and Hip Hop fashion yourself... how much money did you go back and spend on real Nike sneakers and Hip Hop clothing, you think?

[ The Variant Dealer "Mr Nike Air Force One" ] I never really wore the fake shoes too much, especially as the times had changed and the shoes were becoming more recognized as being fake. I’ve always been into authentic clothing and shoes and I would always buy a majority of the authentic new releases from Nike and Jordan. Right now some of their releases are actually looking like variants, but that topic is for another time. Right now, I’ve kind of matured from purchasing every new release that I like and I only have a small collection of fewer than 50 pairs.

[ SoJones ] What's probably some of the most expensive trips you've had shopping and what’s the most expensive thing you have purchased from your 'hay days’?

[ The Variant Dealer "Mr Nike Air Force One" ] I’ve had big enough shopping trips to be escorted with security and I’ve had some shopping sprees where I couldn’t even carry all the bags back to the car and we even had a tough time fitting them in the car when we made it outside.

Onto the question about the most expensive thing that I have purchased… I wouldn’t say that the most expensive thing that I have purchased was purchased with money directly made from selling fake shoes because it was purchased awhile after closing my web site, but I purchased a home for my family. It wouldn’t be hard to purchase all of that with variant money if you stay in the business long enough.

However, altogether it was purchased with money from the variants and other more legitimate ventures that took place after choosing to move on from the variant business. If I never started the variant web site, I probably wouldn’t have what I have now, nor would I be able to do what I do right now. It would’ve taken a lot longer to achieve what I have achieved right now. I recommend to anyone that is trying to do something legitimate, stick with it. It takes a little more time, but the pay out is worth it in the end.

Don’t think that you need to sell fake shoes to make money. I’m not trying to inspire others to do exactly what I did.



[ SoJones ] I hear a few dealers out there are sitting on more than enough money to retire and the connects over in Asia are all sitting on multi-millions. Do you think those rumors are true?

[ The Variant Dealer "Mr Nike Air Force One" ] I don’t really specifically know a whole lot about the connections in Asia, but I do know that factory owners out there are definitely making millions. More than any sellers in the United States, that’s obvious. The business itself is huge and it definitely gets deeper than a few web sites in the United States. Remember that the variant business is worldwide.

I’ve always wondered how they get exact copies of shoes before they are released. It seems hard to copy a shoe like the Jordan 22s months before they even get released to the public, but somehow they manage to do it to every release. The answer to how they do it will probably never even be known by the people who sell them, even the ones selling them overseas. I once asked a supplier how they did it; he said “I think they steal them.”

All in all, I really can’t confirm or deny any rumors.



[ SoJones ] Well, SoJones has asked enough here. We know a lot of eyes will be wanting more but time is limited, so they will have to wait for a second interview from another seller. If there's anything you could say about the variant game that many people probably are not aware of today, that would shock readers, what would you say before this ending?

[ The Variant Dealer "Mr Nike Air Force One" ] I don’t have much else to say besides know exactly what you are buying and to educate yourself before buying things online. Remember, “If something seems too good to be true, then it probably is.” I hope to have opened some eyes with this interview and possibly educated a few people who were buying fake shoes when they thought they were authentic shoes



[ SoJones ] Thanks for taking the time on the interview! Those SoJones are the Hip Hop fashion trend setters and this is definitely an interview about that's hitting the mainstream Hip Hop Culture of America, like it or not. The Lifestyle of an infamous Nike Variant dealer! More stories coming soon.