Philippines: April, 2010

That’s a Complete Croc part 2 of 2

Once we had all of our games purchased for the orphans, Mr. Hong Kong said he would swing us by the Croc “store” on the second floor on our way out of the warehouse. The store was more like a 30-foot by 12-foot stall. Crocs were piled everywhere. In fact, Tim inadvertently caused a Croc avalanche while searching for a pair in his size.

First, as a guy who made a portion of his living for twenty years creating copy-righted images, I am pretty hesitant to support the trademark-infringing grey market. Second, I have never really been a fan of The Croc. People who own them invariably tell me “Yes, they’re ugly, but they are so comfortable!” Me? I never hear anything past the words “Yes, they’re ugly . . . “

But those piles and piles of brightly colored plastic combined with those low, low prices proved too much for even me to resist. I found a pair of the newer generation Crocs that look decidedly un-Croc-y.

And then I became the not-so-proud owner of my very first pair of Crocs.

The question then was did I buy fakes or real Croc? Now, before you accuse me of wishful thinking, please realize that unlike strutting around in a convincing Burberry knock-off, there is absolutely no social cache in shuffling around in a pair of Crocs. I couldn’t care less if they are “real” or “fake.” Either way, I have on my feet what are quite possible the front runners for the ugliest footwear of our generation.

But with that said, I think –seriously- that I got myself a genuine pair of Crocs for about the cost of a gallon of gas.

It’s a little hard to say what lead me to this conclusion. The tag feels right, they actually came in a bag with "Croc" printed on it, the stamping on the bottom of the shoes looked legit. But beyond those tangibles, there was just something that looked and felt right about them.

And yes, all you Croc owners are right, they are incredibly comfortable. None-the-less, I am not completely comfortable when I wear them.

I don’t know what makes me more uncomfortable, knowing that in a small way I supported the Chinese grey market

or

simply the fact that I’m –sheesh- wearing a pair of Crocs.

-Jack

That’s a Complete Croc part 1 of 2

Recently, we were just over the border in China in the megalopolis Shenzhen where you can buy just about anything and everything. There are legal markets in the world and there are black markets. And then there is Shenzhen with it various shades of grey. Mostly light grey, but grey none-the-less.

In Shenzhen, when you see that US$2.00 Nike hat or those US$5.00 pair of Converse Allstars there are two distinct possibilities. One is that it is an unlicensed knock-off. This is definitely the case with all of the “copy handbags” and “copy watches.” If you buy a cheap Coach purse it Shenzhen (or in Hong Kong), it’s a fake.

But that’s not necessarily true of every cheap brand-name item. Here’s what sometimes happens: VanHeusen shirts gives an order for 10,000 shirts of a particular design. But the factory in China will actually make 15,000 and sell the extra 5,000 through its own grey market outlets. So that QuickSilver shirt you bought for a fraction of the regular price isn’t necessarily a fake. It could very well be from the exact same factory, made with the same materials, to the same specifications as the one on the rack at Macy’s back in Chicago retailing for $29.99.

The trick (if your conscience allows you to buy merchandise on the grey market) is to try to figure out the difference. It’s not easy. You have to really look for tell-tale signs and sometimes, in the end, you just have to rely on your intuition.

A few years ago colleague of mine was doing some pretty brisk business buying brand name golf equipment in Shenzhen and then re-selling it on E-bay for four or five times his costs. In the beginning, he was pretty convinced that he was dealing in the real McCoy. But over time, he became less and less convinced that he was brokering in the genuine article. Out of hundreds of customers, he never had a complaint. None-the-less, he has since scaled back his little import-export side business.