The Official Common Projects Thread

[Viral]

Is there a market you guys recommend to sell CPs? I have two pairs I may want to move.

Thanks.

throw them up on the B&S section - although the forum seems to have low traction for CPs. I have a pair BNIB of white achilles mids for sale and have only had a couple nibbles in about 8 months.

 

[troika]

You can post them here for visibility.

I've also had luck with ebay. I really do hate grailed though, way too many scams, and they don't protect you at all

 

[nsubrmnn]

You can post them here for visibility.

I've also had luck with ebay. I really do hate grailed though, way too many scams, and they don't protect you at all

Wow really? More so than eBay?

 

[bbconair]

The full collection is usually about 150 different styles, so I doubt anyone has all of them.
They are also pretty strict about photos taken in the showroom, I shared one on my IG once, and it took about 15 minutes before i got an email to delete the post.

do you know if the grey suede achilles low (grey upper and sole) is part of the core styles? they've had it for a number of seasons but i can't seem to find it for FW2020 (or SS2020)

 

[Lovemybed]

Thanks for the tips. I’ll post on eBay and in here.

If anyone is interested I’m selling;

Brand new with box and dust bag, Size 45, Tournament Low 5188 black/white

Worn 2x, With box and dust bag, Size 45 Achilles Super mesh beige

 

[troika]

Wow really? More so than eBay?

I recently got scammed as a buyer on grailed, and they offered 0 protection, told me to go through PayPal directly. Luckily it was able to be resolved, but it took several months!

I've also had to open a number of cases through ebay, both as a buyer and seller, and they've been resolved quickly and fairly. I take photos when I pack the box and ship, and if it's a really hype item that is likely to get scammed, I take a video.

 

[Jappuli]

Hello!
I am a long time lurker, but now I wanted to ask some help from you here.

I recently purchased pair of Achilles Low white from Caliroots, which is an official reseller listed on CPs homepage. I think the ones I received are in fact fake when I compare them to my 3 year old Achilles Lows (or my new black/white ones). I made an imgur album with pictures as comparison and I'd like some ask if you agree with me that the ones I received are fake.

Link to album:

 

[tropics]

I think you’re being paranoid.

 

[Yohaan93]

Hello!
I am a long time lurker, but now I wanted to ask some help from you here.

I recently purchased pair of Achilles Low white from Caliroots, which is an official reseller listed on CPs homepage. I think the ones I received are in fact fake when I compare them to my 3 year old Achilles Lows (or my new black/white ones). I made an imgur album with pictures as comparison and I'd like some ask if you agree with me that the ones I received are fake.

Link to album:

These look legit to me.

i think the boldness / texture of the gold text might have changed over the years. The thickness of the heel patch is due to heel drag taking away material on your old pair.

I think the rest of the issues you addressed are simply manufacturing variations which is quite normal for handmade leather shoes.

The fake ones i've seen have a different toe box shape (much more bulbous) and the coloration of the shoe is inconsistent. They don't seem to get laces right either. These have none of those problems.

I also HIGHLY doubt a reputable retailer like Caliroots would sell you a fake pair.

 

[Jappuli]

Thank you for the input!

After reading your thoughts, I was thinking maybe I was just paranoid and got the shoes out of the box to have another look. I started doing some research on CP replicas and found out they are very close to the real ones nowadays. I ended up in finding Reddit post where someone is inspecting the Chinese fakes and another of a lenghtier review on these replicas. These fake ones carry the same boldness of the font. I did some more reading, and how people describe them is that they are very good replicas, but with distinct chemical smell to them.

I went on a bit of a corona shopping spree, so I have purchased 4 Common Projects this year. All of these CPs have the same font gold print as my old ones, so seeing the bolder text in these made me suspicious. What made me think something was wrong in the first place was the very strong chemical smell that took over the whole room after I first opened the box. Even after spending time out of the box the smell is still noticeable and actually makes mee feel bit nauseous if I smell them too close. None of the Common Projects I have had ever had the same kind of smell.

It is very hard to capture the comparison of these shoes on my phone camera, but these just don't have the same look and texture of the leather as my other Achilles Lows, and the overall "feeling" i get from the shoes is different. The final reason why I think these are fake, is that every pair of CPs I have had, have completely murdered my feet when they are new, but these don't seem to give the same kind of effect and they are overall too loose.

So what I am suspecting is that these shoes are a return, and the person who did the return swapped the shoes and someone inspecting the return who is not too familiar with the shoes can easily be fooled by good quality fakes. I am asking Caliroots for replacements, if their customer support could miraculously do that.

 

[Grolubao]

Thank you for the input!

After reading your thoughts, I was thinking maybe I was just paranoid and got the shoes out of the box to have another look. I started doing some research on CP replicas and found out they are very close to the real ones nowadays. I ended up in finding Reddit post where someone is inspecting the Chinese fakes and another of a lenghtier review on these replicas. These fake ones carry the same boldness of the font. I did some more reading, and how people describe them is that they are very good replicas, but with distinct chemical smell to them.

I went on a bit of a corona shopping spree, so I have purchased 4 Common Projects this year. All of these CPs have the same font gold print as my old ones, so seeing the bolder text in these made me suspicious. What made me think something was wrong in the first place was the very strong chemical smell that took over the whole room after I first opened the box. Even after spending time out of the box the smell is still noticeable and actually makes mee feel bit nauseous if I smell them too close. None of the Common Projects I have had ever had the same kind of smell.

It is very hard to capture the comparison of these shoes on my phone camera, but these just don't have the same look, feel and texture of the leather as my other Achilles Lows. The final reason why I think these are fake, is that every pair of CPs I have had, have completely murdered my feet when they are new, but these don't seem to give the same kind of effect and they are overall too loose.

So what I am suspecting is that these shoes are a return, and the person who did the return swapped the shoes and someone inspecting the return who is not too familiar with the shoes can easily be fooled by good quality fakes. I am asking Caliroots for replacements, if their customer support could miraculously do that.

Looks dodgy to me personally. These days it's so hard to buy knowing with confidence that is not fake

 

[troika]

Looks fine to me @Jappuli

@Grolubao every time you've posted on this forum, it's been to trash common projects after being dissatisfied by setting your own expectations through the roof. Please find something else to do.

 

[Grolubao]

Looks fine to me @Jappuli

@Grolubao every time you've posted on this forum, it's been to trash common projects after being dissatisfied by setting your own expectations through the roof. Please find something else to do.

You know about free speech don't you? If you don't like it, don't read it

 

[OccultaVexillum]

Yes but you're being insane.
Why in the actual **** would a retailer with 20 years experience like Cali Roots be selling fakes?
They would place the wholesale order, CP would ship their order directly to them, they would list and sell those items.
Saying they are fake is just being unhappy with what you received, in which case just move on and buy something else.

 

[Jappuli]

I have worked around 10 years in e-commerce and part of my work is dealing with fraud. I am quite an experinced fraud detector, and because of certain reasons, I am a very detail oriented person. So instead of doing something I should be doing, I have been comparing these two shoes and found out few reasons that are a tell that ones I received from Caliroots are fakes. Maybe I'll write more about it when I have more time, but here is an easy tell:

When they produce the cheap knockoff, the cut corners because their point is not to make exact copies, they just want to make best they can with as little time as needed. That means the differences are easier found in places that are not fully visible.

In genuine Achilles Low, there is an "unnescessary" detail on the tongue of the shoe. The stitching is a little bit rounded, like there was a dent in it. This detail is not present in fakes, the stitching is straight (and if you start counting, you can see that the sitching in general is lazier, with less stitches per cm), as you can see in this comparison picture:

So yes, Caliroots sent me fakes.