Gerry writes:

Justin Mupas holds up two identical-looking pairs of the Nike

The real Chunky Dunky pair, a 2020 collaboration with ice cream maker Ben & Jerry's that originally sold for $100, features Nike's signature swoosh in yellow and a cow skin pattern, an homage to the bovine face of the ice cream maker's packaging.

But for Mupas, who examines hundreds of shoes each day as a trained sneaker authenticator for the online marketplace StockX, the smell is a giveaway: real Chunky Dunkys give off the scent of animal fur. The fakes smell like factory glue.

Resale companies including eBay, StockX and GOAT have turned to sneaker authenticators to protect their trade, promising patrons that sneakers resold on their sites are certified.

While authentication videos have circulated around YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, some of the microscopic tells of authentic footwear are kept covert, hidden in the depths of companies' authentication centers around the world. It's the key to edging out competitors - and to combat counterfeits.

said Garry Thaniel, eBay's general manager of sneakers.

Authentication is

While human authenticators are a public face of the work, technology also plays a part.

Entrupy, a company that focuses on AI-based authentication, created an app that uses machine learning algorithms to verify items. Last year, Nike partnered with Customs and Border Protection to give the agency technology for the authentication of its merchandise at certain facilities, though neither organization said what the tool was.

Gerry adds:

To read the complete article, see:
As counterfeits rise, sneaker authenticators sniff out real from fake(https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/09/30/sneaker-authentication-ebay-stockx-nike/)