The Guide to Spotting Fake/Counterfeit Vibram Five Fingers

I have some bad news: there are Fake, non-Vibram Five Fingers at large masquerading as our favorite five-toed shoes. These pirated copies are duping would-be VFF fans into buying low quality, black market goods, sometimes at pretty high prices. Buy…

ALERT! As many as half of the search results on Google for [Vibram Five Fingers] are fake five fingers retailers and MANY fake five fingers retailers are utilizing Google Ads to hawk their counterfeit wares!

Updated daily with new listings of fake retailers — in addition to the fakers gaming Google Search results, they are also actively using Google Ads to hawk their fake product. If you see any fake fingers sites appearing in Google Ads on this site, let us know immediately so we can block these ads from appearing!

I have some bad news: there are Fake, non-Vibram Five Fingers at large masquerading as our favorite five-toed shoes. These pirated copies are duping would-be VFF fans into buying low quality, black market goods, sometimes at pretty high prices.

Buyer beware!

Imitation Vibram Five Fingers — Say it aint so!

The graphic adorning the top of this post is a collage of many (though not all) of the Vibram Five Fingers fakes that are being hawked over the Internet. These imitations are being marketed not only as legitimate “Vibram Five Fingers,” but also under other brand names such as “Mupuk Five Fingers” or “Tefta Five Fingers.” These are not the real deal! Left to speculate, I can only assume that these forgeries represent “third shift” (or “gray market”) production from China that is making it’s way to virtual storefronts like eBay, but also cropping up on other, ostensibly legit websites.

I’m sure Vibram is actively trying to stop these deceptive practices in their tracks—Update: Vibram has posted this notice at the top of vibramfivefingers.com (screenshot); also, they’ve got a section of the site that speaks to the fakes (Go here). However, with international law being a can of worms, speedily shutting these guys down will take time. The only surefire way to protect yourself from fakes is to be informed.

How can you spot a fake?

Production quality and materials

Fortunately, across the main three categories of fake Five Fingers, there appear to be some common, easy-to-spot discrepancies in production materials.

For example, you’ll note that many of these fakes use a material for the upper that has a certain shimmer or sheen (a silky quality) to it (see image at right). It seems that these fakes are using some sort of neoprene material for the upper.

The strap material is also more glossy as compared to the matte finish you see with regular KSOs or Sprints. Also, some of the strap buckles on knock-offs appear to be using metal — this is not normal!

It seems these knock-off Five Fingers usually don’t reproduce the design features the same as real Vibrams. For example, one fake appears to use a Flow upper with the Sprint strap design.

Know the product.

The authentic Vibram Five Fingers models and colors have been exhaustively covered on this site. In addition to familiarizing yourself with available colors and models over at VibramFiveFingers.com, you can glance over the Vibram Five Fingers category or check out the KSO guide or the Classics guide. Take note of available colors and styles (designs). For the latest news on upcoming models and colors, check the news.

Also, familiarize yourself with the known fakes. Here is the above collage in a much larger image format so you can examine the fakes up close (Right click and open in a new window).

Buy from legit online retailers!

The BirthdayShoes Store lists out many (but not all) online retailers of Vibram Five Fingers. Realize that in the United States retailers are only allowed to sell Vibram Five Fingers online if they have a brick and mortar store. Ever wondered why VFFs weren’t on Zappos? It’s because of this policy. To my knowledge, there are no brick and mortar stores that exclusively sell Vibram Five Fingers! By extension, there should be no online retailers who only sell Vibram Five Fingers and no other products — except for VibramFiveFingers.com, of course! In 2013 this policy changed and Vibram began allowing pure-play online retailers to sell Vibrams (like Zappos).

If you’re on a website that is selling Vibram Five Fingers to U.S. buyers, look for a physical address. If the site indicates it will be shipping you the product from some place around the world, raise an eyebrow! If said online retailer appears to be only selling Five Fingers (and no other products), this is a red flag!

Outside of the U.S., as far as I can tell, Vibram Europe keeps close tabs on their distributors and retailers of Vibram Five Fingers. Simply look for signs of legitimacy on any online stores. If you’re concerned a specific site may be fake, check the domain via WhoIs.net. If it’s owned by, hosted from, or otherwise operated out of China (often denoted by a .cn somewhere in there) direct your mouse to the “X” button on your browser!

Beware funky pricing.

This is a bit simpler in the U.S., but if you see some crazy pricing (e.g. “$185 $80 — 57% off!”), get suspicious! VFFs rarely go on sale as the demand for them is so high. UPDATE August 2012: This sorta isn’t true any more. Once Vibram caught production up to demand, it seems that we’ve seen the advent of sales on legitimate FiveFingers and sales sometimes up to 50% off. Seriously. It’s usually on the stuff that is either being discontinued or colorways that are being killed off to make way for new styles/colors. These days, we try to make a habit of alerting readers about big sales on FiveFingers (and other minimalist sales). We do this via the occasional sales blog posts but more deliberately to email subscribers. If you’re interested in getting these very occasional alerts (weekly), subscribe by email!

Poorly written sites.

If the sites have a lot of bad grammar, this could be a tell.

The Vibram branding.

Four different fake Five Fingers that each illustrate a different

Four different fake Five Fingers that each illustrate a different “tell” that they are fakes, though the last is the most convincing (and deceiving!).

All authentic Vibram Five Fingers are going to have the Vibram yellow octagon stamp on their sole. Additionally, any “Vibram” branding should be yellow (and not white or blue or some other color).

Meanwhile, if what you’re seeing looks like Five Fingers but has no Vibram branding, odds are you’re looking at a fake! That said, presence of branding as in the case of the last fake-Sprint VFF does not guarantee legitimacy. In these cases (so far seen almost all in the Sprint configuration), you have to fall back on the general tips like materials used, unusual color combinations, strange construction, apparent legitimacy of the retailer’s website, etc.!

Ebay.

Many of these fakes are making it onto ebay. Reality is that no legitimate retailer of VFFs is allowed to sell Five Fingers on ebay! So apart from one-off ebayers trying to unload a single pair here and there, be very suspicious of ebayer resellers who are selling five fingers! This forum thread is attempting to put a stop to them!

Specific, Known Fake Five Fingers Websites

I refuse to put live links to these sites as the last thing I want to do is help them out in the eyes of Google.

Here is a list of known fake Five Fingers retailers:

  • 2bshoes.com
  • 45fingers.ru
  • 5f1ngersh0p.tk
  • 5fivefinger.net
  • 5fivefingers.com
  • 5shoeuk.co.uk
  • 2010-five-fingers.com
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  • 5fingersale.org
  • 5fingersfootwear.com
  • 5fingershopping.com
  • 5fingerssale.com
  • 5fingersshoping.us
  • 5fingersstore.com
  • 5fingerstore.com
  • 5fingersuk.com
  • 5fingersvibram.in
  • 5fingersvibramshop.com
  • 5toeshoes.biz
  • 8ive-00lerero.tk
  • 8starfitness
  • abroadshop.com
  • acevibram.com
  • adidas-kids.com
  • airkickse.com
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  • airmax09.com
  • airmaxonlyshow.com
  • airsjordan2010.com
  • airsportsshoes.com
  • allegro.pl
  • allvibramfivefingers.com
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  • ardike.com
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  • outletsky.com
  • ostyler.co.nz
  • passionsstore.info
  • pickmbtshoes.com
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  • popfivefingers.com
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  • powertrade.biz
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  • vibramofficial.com*
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  • walkbarefooted.com
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  • womenvibramfivefinger.com
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  • wowofivefingers.com
  • x-vibramshoes.com
  • yesvibram.com
  • yoursbag.com
  • yygo.org
  • zhengshi-trading.com

now of, please let me know!

Note 1: many of these sites have put “vibram” in their domain name — this is a red flag!

Note 2: The vibramfivefingersstore.com has illegally copied the BirthdayShoes.com banner graphic (the grass and my poor feet!). I explicitly do not endorse this site! The vibramofficial.com site has also stolen the BirthdayShoes 5-foot logo without my permission. I explicitly do not endorse this site either!

Note 3: In each WhoIs case, there are indications the sites are operated out of China.

Note 4: In the case of vibram-five-fingers.cc, they are commingling known fakes with real product. No legit retailer would do this!

In the end, if you keep these tips in mind when shopping for Vibram Five Fingers, it’s highly unlikely you’ll find yourself buying imitation or fake Vibram Five Fingers!

Why this matters.

In the end, the reason to call attention to fakes is to prevent would-be fans of Five Fingers from paying a lot of money and buying a product that isn’t designed or manufactured to the specifications that make the product great — and outside of the neoprene issue, virtually every person who has reported they bought fakes has echoed a common thread — they’re not up to the same quality as the real deal (1) and (2) they often don’t fit right or have other issues.

A separate problem is that different materials materially change the design of the shoe. A solid example of this is that as any Flow owner will tell you, neoprene dramatically changes the feel of a pair of Five Fingers. Meanwhile, these knock-offs have no recourse or warranty should the customer be dissatisfied or find production.

All of this says says nothing of the simple truth that these imitations are being manufactured and sold by a “retailer” who is blatantly defrauding people — yes, it is fraud when you hold yourself out as someone else (and borrow the reputation of someone else) in order to profit.

So it’s important to inform others about fake VFFs to prevent customers from being duped and ultimately kicked to the curb, dissatisfied with what could have been a foot freeing experience. That’d be a tragedy, don’t you think?

H/T to witchkitty for her help on finding more fake retailers!

LISTEN UP COMMENTERS (Update August 2011):

You know the old saying, “If you have to ask …”? In virtually every single comment below asking “is such and such site legit,” every single one has been fake. If you have to ask about some site you found, guess what: it’s almost certainly hawking fakes.

That said, I appreciate all comments alerting me to suspected fake sites that aren’t on this list. I am constantly updating this list for new sites. BUT most of the time I’m only discovering new sites via comments, so please do let me know if you’ve found a suspected site that isn’t on the list — but you’re probably better off assuming it’s fake (and letting me know) by saying “I think vibramfivefingersaregreatat50percentoff.com is fake.”

This helps keep me sane (1) and it will prevent you having to wonder further if the site you found is fake (2). Thanks!

By Justin

Justin Owings is a deadlifting dad of three, working from Atlanta. When he's not chasing his three kids around, you'll find him trying to understand systems, risk, and human behavior.

658 replies on “The Guide to Spotting Fake/Counterfeit Vibram Five Fingers”

Kent,

Yeah those look like the same ones in the topmost collage — definitely the most convincing of the fakes, but still fake. $89 for Sprints is also a “tell.”

Will add that site to the list of fake VFFs. Thanks!

I had to go to the vibramofficial.com site to see for myself. In addition to selling their fakes for $137.00 they have a “latest news” section with where they refer to the Vibram “Fimgers” Sprint.
If I could I would flip them the Fimger!
Losers!

Because Vibram has their manufacturing in China it makes them very susceptible to fakes, and maybe by the very suppliers that they use. I was in the plastic molding business and it was a common complaint that Chinese manufactures would run their product Mon-Fri, and then produce the knock-offs Sat-Sun with the same equipment. They just seem to be changing materials, and mixing designs for the Vibram knock-offs.

It would be interesting if someone here would buy a pair of FakeFingers and try them on in a video, so we could see the difference, what the fakers are doing wrong and what they get right.

Unfortunate, indeed, but not surprising in anyway. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right? :p The internet as only exploded the amount of counterfeiting of consumer goods.

The one thing this post does for me is make me think how cool it would be if Vibram explored the possibility of customization that is similar to Nike ID.

While this is annoying and a bit concerning, it’s also a sign that VFFs are continuing their push into the mainstream! Knock-Offs! What’s next, an iPad app?

Great Article! I almost bought a pair of fakes on ebay. I was a little suspicious of the pricing ($59 for the look-alike Sprints) and very unique color scheme. I’m glad I waited and purchased some KSO Trek’s from SummitHut. Great company! Great People there!

Crazy how many have been sold and all the positive feedback the buyers have gotten.

I do agree some of the color combos look great but what a bummer.

Some color combinations are really cool! I totally agree that offering fakes for $89 advertising them as authentic is completely unacceptable, but knowing that you are buying a knock-off and paying half that price incl. shipping I think it’s a good deal, I think I’m gonna get one pair of those super cool Black-Grey-White KSOs. I saw a review of the fakes in the forum and they don’t seem to be so bad quality after all.
Authentic VFFs are really expensive, especially here in Europe.

Did you know that you can go on ebay and “report” products for being knock offs? There is a “report” button in the right hand column that allows you to. If you almost bought one of these knockoffs – please report it for being so!

Even more reason to buy VFFs in person at a legitimate retailer if at all possible. Not only will you avoid a fake, but if you are new to VFFs you will get fitting help and get to make sure that the very pair you buy fits well and has no manufacturing defects.

This is sort of funny – there’s an ad for tradetang.com on this site, advertising the fivefingers for like $20. The way ads are displayed it kind of looks like an endorsement. Unfortunate – I don’t know if you can control those ads so it doesn’t appear.

Yeah – I have blocked them now on adsense but it might take a bit of time to propagate the change, so I’ve added an “alert” atop the adsense spot until tradetang.com goes away. Jerks.

I have tried to buy FFV at glauke.com. Fortunately I paid with paypal and got my money back after they charged me 2x and never shipped the shoes. Beware!
Then I bought my first pair at REI…

Yeah, definitely digging some of the color combinations. But VFFs are one of those things that I’d really want to try out in person anyways.

Y’know . . . All this talk is making me wonder if my first pair of Fives might be knock-offs. I ordered them off Amazon. They’re brown/brown (an ‘official’ color combo), but I’ve always though they fit differently then my other pairs. They also started falling apart rather quickly, the soles are much floppier than on my other pairs, and the strap is much longer.

Interestingly tough, if indeed they are fake, these are my favorite pair of Fives to run in. The flimsy-ness of them just feels better when running.

Funny.

Maybe the foot is the hero here, not the VFF’s.

(For other activities, I prefer the more ‘solid’ [real?] Five Fingers.)

@peter

sounds like you have the treks. different materials, different fit, different feel.

How much did you pay?

I don’t think amazon would sell fakes.

back@noah

No, they’re KSO’s. I paid around $80, I think.

They’re probably real. They came in a proper Five Fingers shoebox with the right literature enclosed. They ARE a bit different though. Maybe they are just from an earlier manufacturing “wave”.

@Peter,

They did make a brown/brown KSO — so maybe you have one of those. You might also have a pre-2mm EVA midsole KSO, which would make it flimsier.

It’s unfair to label Tefta for example as you have as they clearly mark theirs Tefta.

Hopefully Vibram will take note and hugely drop prices. No one would bother with the cheap fakes or alternate brands if the VFFs weren’t so absurdly expensive.

What quality are you talking about? The knock offs will probably be of better quality than the real Vibrams!

Rip my “real” Classics and the money wasted

@Alex,

Re: Tefta — I’m not sure this is any different. If Tefta is legally licensing the Vibram moulds for their products, then you’re right. If not (and I don’t think they are), then they are just another fake Five Fingers version that is just branded differently. From an intellectual property standpoint, it doesn’t make much difference.

To that end, one clever forum member labled Tefta’s “Theftas” — Again, if it’s a legit, legal five-toed shoe, then please let me know!

Justin

im from australia, theres only one retailer in my area and they are priced at $200AU which is about $185 US.
thats why i went looking online.
the official vibram page is similarly priced and most of the US retaliers you mention here wont ship overseas.

I think they are Kenny – but when you’re dealing with international law (and let’s face it China doesn’t have the best track record for respecting IP law), I’m guessing things can be a bit hairy.

I currently own four real pair of vibrams and decided to pick up a few fakes just for shits and giggles. I paid 35 a piece from a guy on ebay so not really a loss if they fit remotely similar. I wear a 41 in the classic and sprint so thats what I ordered even though the sizing chart is off by 1/4 of an inch on the knock-offs. The color schemes are what got me. If vibram would adopted brighter colors besides mostly earthy tones they’d be even more of a hit. I should get them this week sometime and I’ll post pics and a review of what the DL is on these guys as opposed to the originals. I got the black/yellow, blue/white, and the red/black KSO’s.

I bought a fake pair of black KSO recently. I am a new to this style/brand of shoe. I can not say I dislike them even though I now know they are fake. I would need to try out a real pair to give them a proper review.

I thought I would share some observations regarding spotting a pair of fake KSO as mine are fairly convincing.

1) The straps on fake KSO are often threaded backwards through the harness slits in both ads and upon receipt (correctable).

2) On most fake KSO the material containing the harness slit on the buckle side of the shoe does not extend as far along the footbed in the direction of the toe.

3) The material surrounding the entrance for the foot is double stitched on real KSO and commonly single stitched on the fakes.

4) A pair of fake fivefingers often comes in a shoe box labeled “M116C SPRINT” regardless of what is/was being sold.

I was thinking of posting a comment similar to Alex’s, in that if Tefta is making their own five finger shoe why should it be labeled as a fake, but I don’t actually know the law on intellectual property… does anyone know if it is illegal to make a shoe or other product similar in design like that, as long as it isn’t exactly the same, and is labeled under the companies name?

I’m no lawyer, particularly not as it pertains to international law. Generally speaking, however, law exists in various forms around the globe to protect intellectual property. In this case, the IP at stake is:

– trademark (Tefta’s logo is confusing given the similar to Vibram’s yellow octagon — in the U.S. this would not be legal)

– sole mould (Tefta’s looking like a near rip of Vibram’s — in the U.S. this would not be legal)

– general design (same as prior)

Basically, if someone outright copies your invention, you have legal recourse. This gets complicated in international law, but in the end, just b/c a company is copying 95% of your design and putting their OWN logo on it doesn’t mean it’s not a copy. By way of analogy, if you designed and built a brand new type of vehicle and someone else copied 95% of your design but called it something else, it’d still be a copy, right?

If Vibram employed American workers here in America to produce their shoes this would be less of a problem. I could care less how much they are ripped off by the Chinese. They deserve it.

I would love to see fake KSO Treks and Flows from China 🙂 I wanted to get a pair of Treks here in Spain but they cost 180eur, that’s insane.

@ Justin – when you put it that way, it really clicks, at least in my mind. They really are way too close in design for one to say “oh cool, other people are making toe shoes!” I really would love to see more companies take the idea and run, creatively, in their own direction, though.

@Ando… My longest foot measures 10 3/4″ and I ordered KSO 42M. They were hard to put on initially but fit like a glove. Acquired through tradetang for $20.43 + $31.00 shipping Shanghai to US.

@Booch… You want to see some creative/crazy styles? Go to alibaba.com and search “vibram five fingers” scroll down and you will see a red shoe with a zipper running down the center, click on the “similar” link next to it.

You should add mbt-lami.com website. I bought a pair of VFF on this website and I’ve just finished to read your post and discovered that I’ll receive a fake VFF … It’s a shame. I lost money.

Thanks.

perhaps just scratching surface:

adidas-kids.com
airjordanshow.com
airyeezykicks.com
aliexpress.com
barefootevolution.com
buyyourshoes.com
christianlouboutinmy.com
dealspl.us
dhgate.com
discountchristianlouboutinshoes.com
discountvibramfivefingers.com
dressugg.com
e-uggs.com
finger-shoes.com
fivefingers-sale.com
fivefingersshoes.org
fivefingerstore.com
fondshoes.com
goodprice4u.com
groupshoes.com
handbagcom.com
handbagspop.com
iloveeshop.com
inkicks.com
inuggshopping.com
ioffer.com
kickssalon.com
martorder.com
mbtshoessaleonline.com
mbtshopp.com
mbtshoppes.com
mbts-mbtshoes.com
mbtstar.com
mbts-us.com
microusbadaptors.com
modselling.com
my5fingershoes.com
qcdeals.com
relytrade.com
searchbeltal.com
sellshoppe.com
sellvibram.com
shoeinstore.com
shoeseasybuy.com
shoesforsales.com
shoesmbts.com
shoesrunning.com
shoesshoponline.com
shoesyahoo.com
shopmoncler.hk
superstarkicks.com
thevibramfivefingers.com
timberlandshow.com
tootoomart.com
topnfljerseys.com
topsexyheels.com
uggdress.com
unbootssale.com
uudiscounts.com
uugs-bootsonline.net
vibram-fivefinger.com
vibram-fivefingers.net
vibramfivefingersonsale.com
vibramfivefingers-outlet.com
vibram-fivefingers-sale.com
vibramnewshoes.com
vibramshoe.com
vibramshoessale.com
warestrading.com

Yes they are fake I ordered a pair out of curiosity. The crazy thing is the box and the little booklet that comes with it is the same as if you got real ones. On the the shoe the sole is a hard rubber. It has All the markings in the right places and the same as real ones. The foot bed is made of some cheap yellow stuff that is not soft.The toe pockets are way short and they do not fit al all. The fabric is cheap and once you stretch it, it does not retract back to the original form. Bottom line if you don’t see the color you want on vibram official site then it is fake! Enough said.

Well, I got my new “vibrams” in the mail today and the post that Dane Walker made was dead on. Box and tags were spot on. I would say that the sizing is spot on to real Vibrams for the sprints but as was posted before the toe pockets are too short. I can get them on but they only go halfway down my toe and make for an awkward feeling. Bottom line is only buy from their website and leaves these fakes alone….even if they do have cool colors.

If the fit was the good I would love to buy some cheap fivefinger-like shoes from china. Since when did barefoot runners become shoe snobs anyway?

In that situation, it would really be more of a “are you ok supporting a third party, illegal manufacturer” — not so much shoe snobbery. But that will be something different people have to answer on their own.

I bought a pair of KSO and Sprint from http://www.vibram-fivefingers.de. Standard pricing. Site only in german. Prompt delivery. Great runners, delighted with them.

I’m pretty sure they’re real but I don’t have anything to compare them to. A site opened a week later here in Ireland called barefoot.ie. They also appear legit. Would like your opinion tho.

I was just about to buy a pair of KSO Trek on topvibram.com. :/ Anyone know how their sizing matches up?

I see this as a wake up call for Vibram to produce more shoes at a more reasonable price.

I’ve been screwed! I knew this was to good to be true finding VFF’s online after my local REI was out of stock. Has anyone had trouble with the shipping from China? I at least want the fake ones I spent my hard earned scratch on.

http://www.vibramfivefingersonsale.com are useless!!!!!

I hadn’t seen them mentioned by anyone, as a supplier of fake VFFs, so didn’t think too much more about it – but thought it was safest to ask around before actually placing an order.

I found them by searching google, and they used the Vibram logo (black/yellow hexagon) and the same font for ‘FiveFingers’ so I was thinking that they would be OK. (They also have the PayPal logo on them, so I thought ‘well, either way, I’ll be covered?!’)

They said that they shipped to the UK, and converted the prices into GB£, so I created an account to price up the shoes that I am looking into getting, and the shipping costs for them.

However, it all seemed a bit too easy…if you know what I mean!

Now that I have decided that I don’t trust the site, I can’t find a way to delete the account, and the online support team are USELESS!!!! I have been on to them for nearly an hour, and they haven’t helped me at all!!!

Vibram – sort them out!!! How can these people use your name and logo like this?! Disgusting!!!

Has anyone here had experience with the Make Tracks guy selling Vibrams on ebay? Judging from his feedback he seems like some kind of VFF concierge?

i am currently waiting on my fakes coming after purchasing on ebay (through paypal though so should hopefully get my £40 back). it was after i bought them that i noticed Vibram don’t do black/black sprints in a size M44 which is what i ordered. in doing the research i also see that if the price is anything other than the price on the vibram site then they seem to be fake. Wish i had known that earlier.

it’s hard to control ebay but i feel that Vibram should be doing more to prevent all the ‘vibramfivefingersforsale’ sites because some appear to be genuine (even down to being sponsored by google…). loads of folk must be strolling around in fakes thinking they have the real deal.

sort it vibram

2650gary has a bunch of fake ones up on ebay now. I’ve reported, messaged him and all his buyers. He actually responded to me and said they were fake but he wasn’t hurting anyone.

I accidently bought from Vibram5FingersShop.Us. Before I came to this place and saw people were selling fake ones. Darn it! I bought one of their shoes and I never got an email saying my transaction was approved or my tracking number for my package is. I’m kind of scared that my credit card will be taken and they will steal money from me. They made me go through this other visa verified thing and enter the last 6 digits of my social security. I bought these http://vibram5fingersshop.us/views/Vibram-Men&s-Fivefingers-Kso-Sea-Colour-41.html
are they legit or are they really gonna be fake chinese made ones? :[

I got an email saying they charged 464.32 CNY at some chinese website http://www.MOFTOWN.net. 464.32 is about $68.

I tried to order a pair off of http://www.vibram-fingershoes.com on 5/8/2010. I entered my credit info and tried to proceed with the order. The third party program said i had some kind of protection on my card i needed to activate. I clicked “no” and it said my transaction was declined. Now the site is gone. I just contacted my bank to get a new debit card. This happen to anyone else…they havent tried to charge me yet but this scared me

I called vibram today, bc I ordered 69.99 (72.50 w/ tax) I was charged and never got any shoes!!!!! A scam is what vibram told me, and it’s quite a common site bc it looks so legit! He had heard of it before and so I called and ordered some KSO’s from vibram over the phone. They were nice and I didn’t have to pay shipping.:)
beware of this site: vibramlife.com they are fake and steal your money!!!

Vibram does not allow any “authorized” retailer to sell FFs on Amazon, ebay or any other such site. You must buy directly from a retailer.

Retailers can’t keep them in stock and Vibram does not have enough inventory to satisfying demand. If you see them on sale, buyer beware.

Remember, there is more to making a purchase than price. Its the small family owned retailers that believed in VFF before anyone else did. We took the risk with an unknown product, we wore them, ran in them, we educated our customers, we helped spread the word.

We love Fivefingers and know them best.

I bought from vibramfivefingersonsale.com but haven’t received the shoes yet.

After I found your site I tried to get in touch with the seller, after various emails and a phone call- the lady hardly spoke any English and was not helpful at all- she said that I couldn’t cancel the order because the shoes were shipped already.
She also claimed that they were selling originals and not copies.
Now I have to wait for the shoes and have a look at them, I am hoping to be lucky and not to have bought a fake pair, but I am almost sure that I bought knock- offs.
Anybody any experiences with this online store?

I ordered a pair of KSO’s from Vibram5FingersShop.Us about 6 days ago and still no information on if its shipped or a tracking number. I emailed them several times and when I said why is it taking so long they said “They were out of stock on that shoe” I emailed them back saying why was I not informed of this at checkout and I would like to cancel my transaction. They all of a sudden said “We just got the shoe you ordered in we will ship to you asap with a tracking number” It has been 2 days since I gotten that email and still nothing. When they emailed me back they have extremely bad grammer and wrong spellings. Such as replacing You with “U”. and spelling Glad like gald. And wrong capitals. I just emailed them if they don’t give me a specific date when they will ship it or anything I would like to cancel it. Now I’m waiting for a reply.

I just bought a pair of mens black KSOs from one of the major retailers on vibrams site. They look exactly like the pictures except that “Vibram” is stitched on the upper side of the left toe (as it appears on other colors of the KSO). But when I look at pictures of the black KSO I don’t see the name. Also, even though the label on the bottom is yellow, the “Vibram” name on the sides is white. Real ones?

I also purchased from http://www.vibramfivefingersonsale.com (2 pairs), and received COMPLETELY different shoes than I ordered. When I emailed the service account, they said they were sorry for the inconvenience and suggested I try ordering again! SCAM ALERT! Completely disregarded my request for return shipping information. Since the original address is in Chinese, there’s no way I can return them!

Not sure if this is possible, but for those who have received fake items or nothing at all, can you contact your credit card company and file a claim and get a refund or stop payment?
Also, what about the FTC? Can’t we report these fraudulent websites? I just hate these people are getting away with using trademarked names, logos and photos and ripping people off.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

Saved me!!! It thought one of these sites was more than suspicious! Thanks for listing these. Makes a big difference!

Hello,

My gosh, I don’t believe I’ve truly been conned, if only I discovered this site earlier. I guess the desperation of purchasing the shoes got the better of me!

This site is deffinately phoney right?
http://www.fivefinger-vibram.org

It just looks so legit though!!

I purchased a pair of KSOs just yesterday I received confirmation email from two other orders I didnt even make when I looked back on the contact site there was no bloody contact number just a query box!!

When I looked on the domain WHOis as suggested it was a person from China.

I spoke to my bank and queried about the extra online protection software they have through online store checkouts to pin in your password as confirming that it is a secure site, he said it was… so I am confused now?!! ;(

He said my order was pending but couldnt see any sign of the other orders for now on my account! He said since I already authorised the payment then I cant do nothing about it! but I mentioned that this site mentioned it to be a phoney site.

What to do,what to do? just sit here with much distress!!!

Just received my pair of KSO, but worried they could be fake as the build quality didnt look too great for £100.

Some of the fingers were still stuck together, the glue can be seen between the sides, its also on the fabric and vibram logo is missing on the right toe.

Does anyone know if this is legit ?

Got them from:

http://www.direct-designer.co.uk/

which appeared on the google adds for this site.

TOTAL SCAM ALERT!!! I was also scammed by the http://www.vibramfivefingersonsale.com website. I also bought 2 pairs. I am a female and wrote down the exact shoes I ordered. I was sent 2 pairs of Men’s phony fivefinger shoes. When I wrote to the customer care section, they wrote back and said I got what I ordered and why don’t I just order some more…They are based in Hong Kong. There is no address to return them to. They say wait until they write back and they will send you contact information because they want their customers to be completely satisfied, but when you do write, forget it, they will never refund your money or replace your order. Be very careful when ordering so you don’t get scammed.

In addition to my last comment, I thought the site http://www.vibramfivefingersonsale.com was legit because they allow you to use paypal for payment. When I received the completely wrong shoes, mens instead of womens and the wrong size, I contacted the company. They said I got what I ordered and told me to go ahead and order more. I have had no luck with their customer service since my first contact. I contacted paypal to file a complaint and they told me there is nothing they can do. Now I am out $123.00 (2 pairs of shoes)…I feel like such a heel!!!

I think I have been had. I ordered 2 pair from Vibramlife-I see that it is on your list. I am out $150 and have yet to receive anything…knock off or not.

I don’t even know where to begin to see if I can recoup any losses. Mostly, want to make sure they can’t access my account to make more “sales”.

I considered myself a savvy online shopper. But this website looked so much like the real one, I thought it was legit. Only after I had made my purchase, was I led to a screen with misspellings and a bogus looking order #.

Urggg!! This angers me so much. How can these scammers sleep at night?
What can we do to stop them? I wish I were a hacker and knew how to hack into these websites and bring them down!!
Or maybe if I was a spammer, I could send them tons of spam to overload their server.
Hmmm, ok, so I’ll settle for using the Contact Us section on their website and sending them insulting comments. I know it doesn’t really help, but it makes me feel a little better 🙂

I bought a pair of Vibram Five Fingers Sprint Gray upper,clay bottom Womens 39 0005 from vibramfivefingersonsale.com. I was send a mens size 40 0002. I told them they send me the wrong pair. They said that was what i order, but my invoice says i ordered the womens Sprint . That was to bad for me and I should order again and pay again Also, I do believe these are fakes. They did not look right They are send from China Only $58. Do not buy from this company.

I should of looked up this before I ordered too. Order a pair of KSO from http://www.fivefinger-vibram.org. I printed up my reciept and have not gotten anything since. I have sent them over 7 emails without response. Guess I am out of luck. In the mean time, I did find a pair of real pair of KSO and I love them. Now I just guess I will wait and see if I get a response.

beware these knock off sites not just for the quality of the vff, but some questionable transaction practices. i was desperate to find some kso’s in my size tried one of these “vibram” sites attempted to purchase & was redirected to some weird page regarding my credit card. let’s just say it DID NOT seem right so i cancelled the process but i’m still nervous & i check my account daily, so far nothing. just beware there might be more at stake then some crappy knock off’s you’re stuck with

Yeah, I ordered a pair of Mens KSO from fivefingerstore.com only to realize after my purchase that this was a fake sight. They did charge my credit card for the correct amount and they did ship out my order. I have not received my order but I am tracking it and it should arrive either today or tomorrow. I’ll just have to wait and see if I got what I ordered. Hopefully they will still fit me and be fine anyway. Either way, I got scammed and I was pretty pissed about it at first. But from reading these other posts, I’m going to call my bank and cancel my card and get another one. I don’t want to take a chance on getting ripped off again.

5fingershoes.org
WELCOME IN VIBRAM® FIVEFINGERS® AUTHORISED STORES OfficialFiveFingers.org (opps spelling error!) This company must be new, all their customer reviews were written on May 15/16 of this year. Payment is through Paypal. On the company’s “About Us” page it just talks about the shoe, not who the company is. I wonder if Paypal will stand behind the customer or company if there are any problems?

Is TheShoeMart.com a reputable retailer for Vibram Five Fingers? They sell other shoes and apparently have been in business since 1956 (so they wouldn’t sell fakes, right?) Thanks in advance!

p.s., I really want to get a pair of Performa for just casual wearing (I <3 my grey and pink KSO’s!) and they seem to have a good deal in terms of free shipping and no tax.

I wish I found this site before I ordered 4 pairs of VFF from Vibramfivefingersonsale.com. The shoes were shipped to me complete wrong size and colors. I can’t send them back because there’s no English address on the box. Even though I paid through PAYPAL, they told me there’s nothing they can do to help me, since they only guarantee buyers from Ebay and not from a store website. Besides, the payment from Paypal went through my bank, and there’s nothing the bank can do either. You’re warned, DO NOT BUY from these guys, even if they are partner with PAYPAL. I find it’s wrong for PAYPAL to work with these crooks, but what can I do now?

Beware I was also taken in by another fraudulent seller of counterfit Five Finger shoes: VibramFiveFingers2sale.com (located in China)
I confirmed this with the corporate office of the legitimate Five Fingers company (in Mass).
Not only do they sell a fake product but they do not honor their return/refund guarantee policy!!!
They will not give out a return address.
If you also have had similar experiences please report it as I have.

To everyone who got scammed by the crooks in China selling fake VFF:

Paypal advised me to contact IC3.gov (www.IC3.gov) to report these organizations. According to Paypal, you can also try to get back some of your lost money. Good luck!

Here’s another, think I just got ripped off, and am trying to stop them from shipping anything.

finger-shoes.com

Came up under google, price was about accurate, ordered kso treks. Pissed now as I wanted them for a hike I’m doing in June, and now I think I’f screwed. Paypal as always was superb in helping…they didn’t…but I did receive an email that I have recourse via written letters, so maybe I’ll get my money back before the end of the year.

Hi i ordered some from finger-mbt what do i do now that i know they’re fakes do i cancel my credit card or what??

Well I have both the real thing and the fakes, and I can tell you the real VFFs are made with better quality rubber, the sipeing on the bottom is closer together, and the stitching is much better. but the fakes are not uncomfortable, the rubber is thicker, and ther cloth on top is different. So beware as always if it is cheap it is probebly fake.

ive been ripped off! crap i wish i had known about this website and problem before. I ordered from fivefinger-vibram.org. Yeah i got some shoes but its the sprint rather than the flow that i have ordered. Emailed them about the problem and they just reply with nonsense cuz its from China!! Seems like im stuck with them now. Wonder if my credit card company can do anything about it. Dude… im so pissed.

The quality of Vibram’s could be better. The mesh upper of the KSO model started ripping apart after six months. So I bought the Flow model and after two months the sole is ripping apart and the neoprene has torn at the toes. Just how much worse could knockoffs possibly be?

ughhhhh…before i even knew fakes were being produced I bought a pair on vibramfivefingeronsale.com…anybody else have any experience with this website and have any solutions/advice?

http://www.vibramfivefingersonsale.com/

I’m not sure it they are legit, but they sent me the wrong shoes, they seem to pass the tests listed above, but they are simply not what i ordered. I’m only out $60 so i’m not to pissed. I did find a retailer that is legit and in the US. ZBsports.com I found an online coupon for 10% off and I got them for under $70 which is below retail and I’m hopeful that they are the real deal. I have a local place that stocks them that I can compare them to, I was wondering if anyone has heard of them? 0001002 is the code i used, they do stock other types of shoes and clothing. Happy hunting

I purchased, on purpose, a pair of fake VFF’s sprint, black men ……. the fit is verywrong comparing to the real VFF’s

I then reported to Ebay thae product as being fakes …..

Ebay replied after investigating that everything was fine …

I contacted Vff’s in Boston and they told me that there was not much they could do at this time ….

In conclusion:

Buy only from VFF’s authorized sellers, that way you know you will get the real product.

buyvibram.com also sells knock offs, I just checked, the site seems to have been shut down… no wonder my heels are being chewed apart… off to a LEGIT store to replace my fakes. Thanks to all for the information!

Yup yup, I was duped too! I was just searching for how to make a complaint to vibram because my shoes started falling apart the 3rd time I wore them, when I discovered that I’d actually bought fake ones from vibrameshop!

Going to have to put it down to experience I guess, stitch them up and use them until my real pair arrive (if they last that long).

They looked convincing, and all the tags and boxes and logos are right but then I looked at your guide above and now I can see how they’re not genuine.

Thanks for the detailed and informative post. I’m a legitimate Vibram retailer, and I take this stuff very seriously. We love the 5-Fingers, and I hate the idea of somebody having a bad experience with a product they thought was legit. I love the “poster” graphic you have at the beginning of the post. Would it be possible to get a printable version of it that I can print out for my staff?

Has anyone ordered from vibramonly.com? i ordered a pair from there so i can see the difference between real KSO treks and $55.00 KSO treks. Their processing seems to be super slow. So has anyone ordered and actually received shoes from them?

Following Chris’ lead above, I reported and contacted a few fake sellers:
“dfmlfanghe” (tons of fake) emailed me back a bunch of crap in broken English (basically hostile), “tianhao1019” too (said something about american jealousy? incomprehensible..)But “sunshinelover2010” asked why I said the shoes are fake, I forwarded this site and also Vibram’s official announcement, and he/she wrote back to thank me and said the listings will be taken down.

another way to find out … the straps they put them opposit !! dont buy from

http://www.vibramweb.com/

vibramfivefingerssale.com
vibramfivefingersshopping.com

I wish I would of saw this web site!! Cause man … even knock offs … these shoes are rad !!

it should be said that the real culprit here is google. they allow these fake sites to run ads on their sponsored search results even though they have been warned about these chinese sites. the same chinese group is also doing this with other footwear brands. google gets over 90% of its revenue from sponsored search. You have to ask yourself how much of that revenue comes from these chinese running up the costs of advertising for legitimate businesses. this situation is very bad for consumers, yet google does not care because their cash register rings every you click on one of those ads.

I found this page via a page side advertisement on Facebook.

http://www.made-in-pt.com/product.asp?classid=992

The page has a link to a Facebook account at the bottom, and the page owner is out of China. The colors listed, names used, and materials all look wrong. Some have the yellow Vibram octagon, some have white, or black octagons. I’m going to report the ad on Facebook.

I wish I would have thought about fakes before I ordered from fivembt.com a few weeks ago. These things are nowhere near the quality of my real KSO’s. Sadly, I paid via PayPal and they say I can’t create a complaint due to some BS about not adding buyer protection?

I ordered a pair of KSO Trek from vibramfivefingerssite.com and received a cheap copy with no kenguru leather (some strechy material instead) and sole that lookes more like regular KSOs. Don’t be fooled like I did.

Wish I would have seen this page before ordering from vibramfivefingeronsale.com

Got the shoes, obvious fake, incorrect material, horrible fit!

Tried to contact website through email listed for returns. They wanted to negotiate a discount and will not provide return address stating it would be to expensive for me to ship back!

After contacting my CC company I was refunded the full amount. Anyone want a pair of knock-offs?!

I just received a fake pair of kso treks. the bottom is about right, maybe stiffer than normal pairs, but the top is definitely not kangaroo leather, its some sort of synthetic.

what is a real website to buy real running vibram shoes? All of the website i ahve been looking at to buy are i guess fakes, from what people have said. 🙁 which website is actually a real place for vibram?

Hey everyone,

I just bought what I think are vibram 5fingers from this website:

http://www.2010-five-fingers.com

it operates out of china – should I be concerned that my shoes are fake. They were priced correctly for $80 and then, because I live in England, the exchange rate made them arounf £55.

I recently purchased a pair of VFF’s on Amazon. I couldn’t find the model/color/size that I wanted in stock anywhere, so I payed a premium price and ordered from Amazon, the actual vendor is called Comet Shoes.
The shoes haven’t arrived yet, but after reading about all the fakers and knockoffs out there, I am concerned and curious if Amazon is selling legit VFFs. To make matters more complicated the Vibram website now has the model I wanted back in stock!
I’m considering ordering directly from Vibram and returning the pair from Amazon when they arrive, but even with the disparity in price after shipping costs I’ll just break even after waiting for a refund from Amazon… Any suggestions?
Thanks

I got my KSOs from a retailer I found on the Vibram site, I feel for those who have been taken in buy the fakes.

I did find this site when I typed the wrong URL in.

vibramfive-fingers.com: This has many warning signs, all models are the same price, bad spelling, and a disclaimer that shoes ordered will not always be the same color as shown.

For the guy who suggested that Vibram should make their shoes in the US. That is a fine idea, it is just that the shoes would probably double in price. Sad but true.

I made the mistake of ordering a pair of KSO Treks from http://www.fingermbt.com. What they sent me is a fake pair of KSOs. I’ve contacted http://www.fingermbt.com and requested arefund but have not had a reply. Like many of you on this Forum Paypal say they are unable to help as the transaction was not made through E-bay. Wish I’d read the info on this forum before ordering! Another lesson learnt!

Man!!! Can’t believe I didn’t check this site out before I purchased a pair!!

Got them from http://www.fingermbt.com – they haven’t arrived yet but I saw the name on your list at the top – totally gutted as I have wanted a pair for ages and have just saved up the money – £65 after postage, which is about $100 i think.

Will I be able to return them and buy a real pair???

I’m amazed the number of these fake sites. Are there fake sites for Nike, Adidas, etc? If you ever want to sell Vibrams legitimately on the web, good luck finding a domain name!!!

Update to yesterday’s comment.

I immediately phoned direct banking to see if I could stop the order going through, to my delight, http://www.fingermbt.com hadn’t taken it yet.

I cancelled my card and immediately ordered from a US store (named in your section as one to trust), they will deliver to a friend in Tennessee and she will forward to me here in Glasgow, Scotland.

I am excited about wearing them although my girlfriend thinks they look quite freaky 🙂

Thanks to all contributing to this page and helping us beginners.

Bought a pair from Vibrams and one from a fake fivefingers site in your list. The fake one is better quality than the real deal. I felt angry at Vibram for selling me a shoe of such poor quality. The strap broke after running only 15 miles on trails.

I am happily back wearing regular trail shoes. Threw both the fake and Vibram pair away.

http://www.vibram.us.com FAKE!!!!

Bought 2 pairs of shoes from them acme in the wrong box, wrong sizes, wrong colors, and wrong sex my wife got mens?? tried to contact them for a refund got no response so used WHOIS.NET and called the number on there listed they gave me the run around and then the official vibram number LOL and when i called the official vibram people they were pissed i gave them all the info and they were super helpful…so hopefully i helped take down an illegal pirating ring today.

everyone who has accidentally purchased fakes:

call your credit card company, and process a chargeback! You have been defrauded. Show these retailers that they cannot lie and win. Once a few chargebacks have been processed on these accounts, the credit card companies WILL put the smack down on them.

NOTE: one requirement is usually that you return the product to the seller. This is not possible in my case: the return address was in Mandarin.

But EVERY one of you should try- it will help the fight in the long run! Your CC company should give you a temporary credit TODAY, and finalize it after they do an investigation.

I purchased a pair of FF Sprints from a site that was not the main Vibram FF site. Before receiving them, I found your website and read up on the tips for spotting a fake. I got mine yesterday and I can’t find any of the specifics mentioned here as being ways to spot a fake. They came in a box marked W116C (not M116C, as mentioned in one of the posts). The shoes themselves are also marked W116C. Is this a clue that I should be aware of?My straps are single stitched and I can tell you that the quality of the stitching is a bit disappointing, but in pictures on the REAL Vibram website, it looks just as crummy. They have the Vibram logos where appropriate. They fit perfectly and feel great. They came with Vibram tags on one of the shoes, with a sticky label in the top of the box and a booklet in the bottom of the box.

They were $65. They came from China and they fit that mold for being fakes, but everything else looks ok to me.

I feel bad that I may/may not be contributing to a company being copied, but in all honesty, the cost of these shoes is pretty crazy.

Thanks.

I accidentally bought a pair of counterfeit ones and thought they had just taken my money, so I bought a pair of authentic ones a few days later at Summit Hut. Side by side you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference. They were probably made in the same factory as the authentic ones, side by side. The authentic ones are made in China as well. Time will tell if they wear as well.

darn, I just got a pair of fakes! Toes are slightly shorter than my real pair and I wore them out one time on an errand and the threads came right out on the big toe! I asked for a refund and they asked me to take a picture of the shoes, lol, I guess I won’t be getting any refund. I really don’t know what recourse I have. I purchased with a credit card, will they help me? This is my very first and hopefully last internet scam, if I don’t count Frederic Patenaude, which was a borderline scam.

I got a pair of black KSO from a local retailer. They do not fit anything like my sprints. Last 3 toes are way too long.
I hope these are fakes! These are terrible. Are they supposed to be that different in fit? Are they supposed to have the Vibram logo on both shoes?

How can I be sure? I think I’ll call the main office in Massachusetts to see if the retailer is legitimate.

Watch out- I bought some Vibram Fivefingers on ebay- from 2650gary, and they not only destroyed my feet, but they fell to pieces. Now- I’m out of luck. Only by your fivefingers from reputable retailers.

VibramFiveFingers never has my size in stock. It seems like production is kept low to keep prices up. How about adding a shift or another crew of low paid Chinese workers to keep us running. I have had a pair of size 48 KSO style for about a year. I love them but would like to try some Treks but no dice..always sold out. I don’t think you need to beat more production out of the workers….open a factory in Miami..lots of out of work people in south Florida…

the official vibram site has a section that helps you spot fakes. one of the ways to tell if an online seller is selling fakes is if the company DOES NOT have an actual brick and mortar store front. vibram requires all their authorized sellers to have actual stores.

also, none of their sellers are authorized to sell on websites like ebay.

and as for the websites that show pictures of real looking fivefingers, they most likely stole the pictures from the real vibram site.

My husband unknowingly bought me a pair of fakes. I had told him I wanted an earth tone color so he had ordered me Mauve Gray but what arrived was a bright royal blue with bright yellow in between the toes. The toe guard area is very bulky and not seamless and a little annoying. The shoe also looks like it was being designed as a KSO but it was unfinished and wahlah, a Classic! They even came in a KSO Vibram box albeit all bent up. Very poor packing and shipping. We didn’t send them back for a refund because we figured they’d keep the shoes and never refund us. I will use them as lake and puddle shoes and deal with it.
They are very poorly made but they do have all the authentic looking Vibram labels in all the right places.

I see that http://www.vibramyes.com comes up as a fake site on your list. Interestingly they have managed to get an advertising popup on Facebook.
Even before I checked here I was a worried about them because they have no contact details other than via their website.

I just made and order on vibramfivefingersfr.com and I’m now trying to cancel the order. I’ve also cancelled the credit card I used.

I’m very annoyed with myself as I buy a lot on-line. I noticed this site was in China but as I buy stuff from Chinese vendors on eBay all the time I thought nothing of it.

Still, I wish Vibram themselves did a better job of selling their products in Europe. The spate of counterfeit sites is very damaging to the brand and European customers are ‘forced’ to buy from the .it site. Not to insult my Italian friends but even the legit Italian site has English grammar mistakes.

Clean up your act Vibram, you have a great product but your distribution (at least in Europe) is letting you down badly.

Is seejanerun.com a legit dealer? I can’t find them on the Vibram site.. maybe because its a website and I don’t have a state to go by? I can’t find Bikila’s anywhere!! 🙁 except this site. So, I’d love to know if I’ll be getting the real thing. Thanks for any help you can give!

The problem with listing legit sites only is that if people find a fake site and google it, nothing will show up saying “hey this is a fake site!” By listing them out, they get indexed — I actually see a number of people coming to birthdayshoes searching for coupons to these fake retailers, so they are then alerted to the fact they are trying to buy fakes.

Fortunately, vibramfivefingers.com DOES have an alert on their home page now about fake merchandise. Unfortunately, birthdayshoes.com — by simple fact that birthdayshoes.com doesn’t sell VFFs — ranks poorly on Google searches as Google assumes most people looking for vibram five fingers are looking for product to buy.

It’s a real conundrum.

OK, so I have 3 pairs of legitimate Vibrams (KSO, treks, bikilas). That said, I have to wonder seriously if I care about knock offs or not.

I don’t like the idea of someone getting ripped off (Vibram the corporation or consumers either) but if a consumer wants a cheap($$$) toe shoe, given the quality I have experienced with legitimate Vibrams, I’m not sure there would be a big difference.

After all, we are mostly talking a minimal experience, which means minimal materials etc.

So are there any REAL problems with the knock offs? I’ve seen the KSO’s with 6 toes.

Unless you are planning on killing Monteygo Montoya’s father, those shoes probably wouldn’t work for a lot of people.

But what about the other knock offs?

Are the soles separating from the fabric?
Is the die turning feet blue or grey or camouflage?
Is there lead paint in the toes?
Cancer causing carcinogens in the built in sole air freshener?
Did they use dead kangaroos to make the brushed leather? 😉

Other than trademark and possibly patent issues (if its even possible to patent something shaped like a foot, thinking back to rubber stickers of the band Little Feet that looked something like toe shoes) is there really a problem here?

Thank you, Birthday Shoes, for saving me from purchasing fake Vibram Fivefingers! I got real KSOs from REI today and I’m loving them.

@Brett,

You write:

“Other than trademark and possibly patent issues (if its even possible to patent something shaped like a foot, thinking back to rubber stickers of the band Little Feet that looked something like toe shoes) is there really a problem here?”

The problem here is twofold:

1) Your comments about quality control differences between authentic VFFs and knock-offs fail to account for one key difference between the two sources: legit Vibrams come with legit warranties. If QC is a problem in a pair you get, you send them back (or take them back to the retailer) and get a new pair. You don’t get that with the fakes — so when people buy fakes thinking they are legit and then try to get them replaced, all they hear is crickets chirping, which leaves them disappointed and frustrated — and without even knowing why. That’s a big difference.

2) There’s a huge difference between buying fakes that you know are fakes and buying fakes believing you are buying the real thing. You’re viewing this from the perspective of awareness — you know fakes, so you think “what’s the harm?” Most people who find these fake sites have zero clue they are looking at fakes — why would they know differently? The sites hold themselves out as legit, with all the right logos, imagery, etc. Why would they suspect anything? When they buy the fakes, they are then defrauded — just like you’re defrauded by a con artist.

To me, that’s the big deal here — people are being defrauded.

@Bianca

seejanerun.com is a legit website. you can find them on the official vibram website if you use the zip code 94506. they have physical stores in California and in Idaho.

buyfivefingers.com = fake

usual request for pics and refusal of refund. they actually sent me a pair of nike knock-offs first. obviously, this clued me in. after many email exchanges, they have refused to acknowledge my requests for a refund. I even offered to ship them back to china. they actually suggested I try selling them myself. they insisted on sending me the right(fake) pair even after I pleaded with them not to. I will be seeking re-embursement from my cc company.
I checked vibram’s site before the warning. There seems to be a real problem with availability of these(genuine) shoes.

@Justin

That makes sense and I agree with you. For those that think they are getting authentic Vibrams, I do see the problem.

For those that just want toe shoes, and know the difference it would appear to be a case of buyer beware.

I’ve had personal professional experience trying to track down and stop black market products myself (consumer electronics).

Its been my experience that most ‘functional’ knockoffs, ergo the products that work pretty much the same as the real thing with possible substitutions in some materials as opposed to non-functional knockoffs where the widget is supposed to be one thing and really isn’t (in this example, maybe you think you are getting toe shoes and you end up getting toe socks with spray on rubber on the soles or something), in the functional knockoff situation, its been my experience that one or more of the factories or managers of the factories making the original often time gear up the factory to make knock offs too, selling them out the back door to their own distribution chain without having to pay licensing fees, taxes, insurance or share in margins.

Plus, since the original brand name holder paid for the tooling, the marginal cost for the factory to run another batch of knock offs is cheaper too (no debt to pay down from tooling, R&D etc).

Given the demand for Vibram five finger toe shoes, and the lack luster communication from the company (they have a facebook page, but only seem to staff it irregularly) and given their problems ramping up production to meet demand (as compared to the phenomena that was Crocs comparatively who also had to deal with functional knockoffs), It doesn’t surprise me that Vibram is having problems with knockoffs.

They seem to have this message that they are only focusing on building more factories (2 coming on line last winter) and everything else can wait until they get their production act together.

I understand the motivation to try to focus on one thing at a time, but in manufacturing that just doesn’t cut it. You have to staff up and ramp up a team to cover multiple areas quickly, otherwise someone is going to eat your lunch, take your sales, and show your customers that a rubber sole with toes is a rubber toe with soles and a premium price of $80- $125 isn’t justified because off name supplier ABC can get you basically the same thing for $16-$60, not only a single pair but even bulk deals.

Its not the type of thing that kills a product or a business right away, but over the course of 2-5 years, it definitely can. (I’ve witnessed it and with a bigger name and more popular product than this one.)

Bottom line this is a really cool and super functional new product, and people want it. I witnessed the sale of 5 pairs of shoes last week by people that heard about Vibrams from myself.

The word of mouth is working to spread the concept, but soon, and very soon that word of mouth is going to point people to the best price and the available supply of functional product regardless of whether it came out the front door of the factory and was scanned and tracked to the point of sale, or whether it went out the back door of the factory and was sold at a discount through some knock off website.

This is a good article for pointing out some of the perils with the knock off products and as you mention raising awareness that what you may think of is a Vibram product may be a knock off, but the real issue here is more likely a Vibram USA corporate issue and not a consumer issue. 🙂

There’s a reason why I don’t work in consumer products any more. The Chinese manufacturers that were knocking off our products weren’t too keen on my investigation of their activities. After they paid of HSB, Deloitte & Touche, and quite a few others they tried to have me hushed up the old fashioned way. (by making me ‘disappeared’)

I got lucky, went on the lamb and turned corporate whistle blower for the US government.

My point is that the odds are pretty good that the people behind these knock offs are going to win no matter what.

I personally have no product loyalty. I have 3 pair of Vibrams, my family has a little more than double that. I’ll wear, walk, run in what ever works, whether that is a hundred dollar pair of soles from an Italian company manufacturing in China and selling through a US distribution arm via manufacturers reps who don’t return phone calls to the retailers in my area, or wether its a $150 website that bought a bunch of knockoffs from the same manufacturer, who sold off the products that didn’t make it through the QC checkpoints or if its an online kit that teaches me how to build my own invisible running sandals from old tire tread for $5.

If Vibram wants my continued business, its up to them to get their act together, get their business tightened up on a host of different levels, and get the products out at a level that meets demand band balances out the supply-demand-price equation. 🙂

I bought a pair of fakes the othert day. (Red and Black) only cost be $60 from Singapore. The packaging as crappy, the box was smashed up. And the customs agent wrote “Gift” on the duty check box.

However with that said, They are great. Sturdy, comfortable, and everything I expected and more. Iver had them for a few days, wore them at the office, took them out dancing, did some Parkour. No complaints.

If Vibram would make a Red and Black pair of KOS i might have spent the extra money and bought from them. But that seems to be the major issue. limited colors. And also very expensive. I just cant justify $120-$160.

I’m so thankful Vibram is posting on their site the ALERT, BUT…

I found it too late.

I’m glad I found this site. I ordered from http://www.vibramfivefingersusa.com. I don’t see them listed, but feel that I might have made a HUGE mistake…

Any information you may be able to share with me on this site would so be appreciated. So upsetting 🙁

I reported one of the sites on the list to Mastercard. This was their answer:

“Thank you for contacting The MasterCard Fraud Protection Center regarding the suspicious or fraudulent website listed below. We will forward this information to the appropriate department for further investigation. If the website is found to be fraudulent, MasterCard will take the necessary steps to delete the website address to ensure it is no longer accessible. Please also feel free to contact the Federal Trade Commission to file a claim regarding the company at 877-438-4338 (phone) or http://www.ftc.gov (website). ”

What should be done is to report these sites to all paymentprocessors like VISA, Mastercard, Paypal. If they are banned from the most popular means of payment they become useless.

wwwDOTvibramwebsiteDOTcom(Couldn’t type the address in for some reason…)

I ordered from the above and I am now trying to claim back through Paypal – they have asked for an experts opinion to verify that they are fake which I then have to fax to them… Thanks for the support Paypal!

I have emailed Vibram direct also to let them know.

I bought mine from vibramfivefingers2sale.com and they told me with out me asking that there products where the real thing so I didn’t hesitate but I guess I got screwed. Is there a way to shut these web sites down

I’m pretty sure I just bought a pair of knock offs. Too bad I didn’t see this site earlier. Hopefully they don’t fit too terribly bad. 🙁

Oh no. I think I too just bought the knock off. They came from one of the sites you listed, pickmbtshoes.com. They are in Singapore as it turns out, though no where on the site does it say that (that I can find). Free shipping. Great price ($50 for KSO). But the shoes don’t seem to fit right. Is it normal if my small toe does not go into the corresponding pocket on the shoe? I sorta doubt it. I wish I’d known about this site before I’d ordered. Here is their policy on returns:
“Once the items were retured, we will credit your original method of payment, excluding 25% re-stocking/processing fee and US$30 return fee. All shipping costs associated with the return of goods are the responsibility of the consumer.” $30 plus $12.50 plus shipping costs to Singapore means I am screwed.

I want to add, too, that the sizing on the pickmbtshoes.com site was slightly off by one size from the Vibram site. Also the color choices at pickmbtshoes were other than on the Vibram site. I wondered about these at the time. Next time I will realize something is wrong. I have to take these fake KSOs off now, my left toe hurts.

I bought a pair of fake ones!!! , I didint expect them to be fake,
after 6 uses@! they are ripping apart on the stiches, REALLY BAD QUALITY, they product comes in a nice box, etc, i send an email and no reply and now I see the URL domain is not existing anymore!!
I paid $67 for this product, a piece of $%^#!!, is not the same!! DO NOT BUY

Well…..

Several months ago, I ordered two pair from discountvibramfivefingers.com. In response to my enquiry about slower arrival than promised, I got an email from someone in China (I’m inferring from syntax and phrasing). I’m supposing, then, my shoes are fakes. They weren’t THAT much cheaper, so I’m a bit bummed out.

ON THE OTHER HAND, both pairs have stood up reasonably well (I’m fairly tough on shoes), fit well, and have been comfortable. I managed to find a pair at REI that the snooty REI clerk deigned to allow me to try on (even though they were being held for someone else). Yes, they were a bit nicer. Probably they are more durable. I will be more careful in the future (though I won’t buy from REI; at least here, the clerks really are insufferable). BUT…..I really can’t claim that the fakes were awful. I wouldn’t even be willing to say that the shoes are bad, or clearly sub-standard. In fact, I really like them.

The bottom line (at least by my lights): there are fakes and fakes. Lumping them all together is, in my opinion, a mistake. The MAIN reason not to buy them is probably not the quality, but rather the fact that one is contributing to a culture of corruption, and the continued labor abuses for which China is so well known.

Thanks for putting the site up, and thanks to all the careful and helpful commentators.

I read the info on this website AFTER I ordered unknowingly a pair of fake shoes on vibramfivefingercheap.com (Vibram, sorry about that). I considered prices on average European websites excessive, above €100 for an average pair of KSO.
They didn’t have the bikila in size 44 (for running, the real model) and asked me to propose another model or give for a refund. All my e-mails were replied promptly on the next day in “Chinenglish”. I sent a whole list of KSO models that were ok when I found this site. I sent an e-mail to ask for a refund, saying I wanted the bikila shoes, which they ignored. I got the shoes delivered 3 days after! If it weren’t for this website I would have thought they were original.
I will sent them a notice, knowing that it won’t change a thing. I only got ‘half’ scammed.

As mentioned in other comments, you can see they are not finished perfectly (not an even fit, pieces of cloth I had to cut on the inside and one big toe lacking a little bit of space, but they’re not bad either. They’ve changed the octagonal color on the sole from blue to original yellow.
But I find the €50 I spent expensive as well for a fake pair and they are making a lot of money on counterfeit wares. You can even find some models for 13 to 15 Dollars.
As a running fanatic my next pair is going to be a €129 pair of original bikila shoes.

“Fakes”, intentionally representing a copy as the original, geniune article must be dealt with severely. Other companies that produce product under their own name that resembles/replicates the “original” design to some extent- usually at a lower price- absent any patent infringement violations, that’s called competition.

ditto. I bought a pair of Bakilas from shoeeasybuy.com. They arrived from China two days ago. I ran in them once and the mesh started to unstitch itself across the top. The bottoms are already starting to separate, too…ONE RUN! I am so furious.

I’ve bought a pair of fake vibrams from dealextreme too. They look remarkably genuine. Even got the vibram tags and booklets.

Compared to my genuine vibram however, these fakes one does fit that well. Running for too long and chaffing will occur.

i bought a pair of kso from dealextreme, knowing they were probably fake. they’re great, comfortable,true to size, and the price was awesome. I will buy atleast 4 more pairs for family members, again from dx. I honestly don’t give a crap about vibram’s loss, because although i live near italy,they didn’t bother to open a store in the region, so due to customs and not being able to try the shoes on, i would probably have to pay 3x their price should i miss the size when ordering from the italian site. For that i can buy 10 pairs at dx, with no aditional postage or customs. There’s no beating that. And yeah, i also don’t care what they’re called as long as they work, and dx’s ff’s work.

I purchased a pair of KSO’s from REI. I feel pretty confindent they are not fakes 🙂

That said, while I love them, I am dissapointed in their durability. I already have two seams coming apart after only about 3 months.

My wife unknowingly purchased a pair of fake KSO’s. Next to mine, it is very difficult to see any differences. I would suspect they are actually made at the same factory.

Having said that, I think a big driving factor here is the price of the shoe. The shoes are seriously over priced. I would think if the shoe’s were not being marked up so much, there might not be as many issues with the fakes. The driving reason for people purchasing the fakes is to find a cheaper price.

$125 for a KSO Trek? really?

I bought two pairs of KSO’s online. I have owned two pairs of authentic KSO’s previously. When I realized the items were knock offs , I called my credit card company and disputed the charges from the two sources in China. I won’t pay for an item that cheats the buyer and the proper owner of the intellectual property. Often the criminal element diversifies into counterfeit sales since the penalties are almost non existent. Compare this to a narcotics rap and you can see why this is mushrooming. Oh, and I’m keeping the fakes. Let them see how it feels to get screwed.

A small review :

I’m the owner of one legit pair and 4 “counterfacted” ones, bought from dealextreme.

Main differences :
#1. The knittings. On the real ones, the knits are “doubled” on the upper of the foot instead of the fake ones.
#2. The width of the attach which holds the upper of your feet (sorry, I can’t remember how it’s called in English !). On the fake ones, it’s a little bit thinner than on the real ones.

A part of that, the colour associations are not really the same than the legit ones… BUT the soles and the size are exactly the same, the colors used too… but not in the same combination as the real (= all the provided colors exists on the “real” ones, the soles too, etc… but it’s like kinda puzzle, if it makes sense to anyone)

My conclusion : they’re manufactured “low cost” (=i.e. the kintting on the uper side, wich is not doubled, the attach on the top of the foot…) by the same people, using real Vibram soles, and mixing them with “chutes” of fabric !

For my part, in regard of comfort, they’re the same ! The Vibra sole of my conterfacted ones acts exactly the same than the legit ones ! I don’t sweat, even after running, they don’t “smell”, I can wash them in my washing machine like the legit ones, etc !

Gosh this is a good site., too bad for me I found it too late. Got sucked on a low price free shipping and branding .. at vibramofficial.com Now I got it and its a fake! the sole looks so authentic I still can’t tell but the cloth and and leather is pleather ! I’m so pissed Cant bother shipping back to China! I will now buy official one for City Sports for vibramfivefingers.com Crap… Thanks for this infor. Pays to search around !!!!!!

If only I discovered this site earlier !! I have just bought a pair from eBay, now i know they are surely fake ones. If some want to send me the originals to Argentina, i will pay you. THX 🙁

Serves Vibram right. These have been out for 3+ years and they still can’t meet demand. They are playing us like chumps.

So, I am interested in purchasing a pair of the TrekSport. However, I cannot find any store in my area that sells them. The website “travelcountry.com” is selling what appears to be true Vibram TrekSports. Does anyone know anything about the credibility of this website? Thanks everyone.

Is vibramfive-fingers.com a fake site.

I ordered a pair from here for my son. They came quickly and he loves them, but a little of the stitching is loose in one place. It isn’t anything I can’t fix, it just makes me wonder.

Rose

Sam: I contacted Vibram last month & asked them if Travel Country is an authorized retailer. Their response was “Hi Jess,

Thank you for your email.

Yes, Travel Country is an authorized retailer. I can certainly understand your concern, given the recent increase in counterfeit websites.

I hope this helps!

Thanks,
Rick Thomas”

Their shipping is very speedy, too.

I found this site after purchasing fake Vibram’s from http://www.vibramfivefingersaustralia.com.
I was obviously drawn in by the lower pricing. They are absolutely identical to the pics on the official website. They come in Vibram boxes and with all the tags and brochures..
The alarm bell only went off when the stitching fell apart after the first run.. I purchased from australia and was easily misled by google advertising. This fake site was one of the top picks in the search results.
Very dissapointed and will try the suggested avenues to try and get my money back.
I don’t like my chances though.

re: vibramfivefingersaustralia.com

Jai Harper any luck in getting your money back?

Bugger, if only i had come across this site before i purchased the KSO myself.

I ordered mine on friday 24th sep, since then then have sent me an order number along with EMS tracking number.

Ive called the bank, but they cant do anything until the payment has been authorised, even after i requested for them to stop the payment.

A lesson learnt the hard way!

First: these shoes are WAAAAY overpriced. Way. Over. Priced. I think they sell duct tape in a variety of colors with which I can fashion my own `barefoot shoes`. Second, if you’re gonna buy fakes, buy CHEAP ONES, since all fakes are CHEAP fakes(quality-wise). Under $40. There is no excuse for paying $40+ on FAKES, because after the $40 pricepoint you’re just buying the name.

Has anyone else noticed that people selling fakes are using the collage of fake 5 fingers that Justin created as part of their advertising?

@Justin,

I’d seen one on Ebay,but it’s gone now. I had reported it. Not sure if Ebay actually took it off or if someone bought the item, but when I find another I’ll be sure to put the link up here.

grrrr…I wish I’d come to this site first, having just been stung for £45 via http://www.vibram.us.com. turns out the money went to somebody called Liu Ji (or Ji Liu), presumably a scam originating from China.

and the worst part of it is that I thought my payment was secure via PayPal. even though I logded a dispute with PayPal within their 45-day limit, because I then went on holiday I had no way of knowing if the goods had turned up (or were waiting at a mail delivery centre) and so PayPal judged the dispute to be ‘resolved’ since they hadn’t heard from me after 20 days. needless to say, emails to [email protected] have also gone unanswered… 🙁

I wish I had read this site before I purchased. I just got a pair of junk from newvibramshop.com I’ve never owned a pair but they just didn’t look quite right for the price. Leather is fake. Beware!

Is Mountsport (www.mountsport.com) a legit vendor for fivefingers? I just ordered the Bikila from them. They had the Bikila listed for $74.99 with $30.00 promotional discount code and free shipping. I basicly paid $44.99 for them. After the fact I started to think about how cheap I got them and started to question whether I just paid for knockoffs. I started to search around and come upon birthdayshoes.com. Can someone help me to determine if http://www.mountsport.com is selling legit five fingers?

Rafael

THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!! To whomever is responsible for taking your time to provide the public with this, many-many thanks! I have only recently heard about these, and how wonderful they were. I saw someone wearing a pair locally, and decided to really start digging because I wanted a pair. Well, it turns out I have a fake pair coming from somewhere abroad (bought on ebay before seeing this) but they were pretty cheap. I now know this to be a huge red flag. But, so many thanks for this site because it spells out a huge variety of sites selling fakes – and how to spot those fakes. I almost bought from a couple of these different websites when I decided to just look around a little bit more – just to make sure. So grateful to have come across this site though. Even though a bit more expensive, I will definitely purchase a “real” pair from a real authorized retailer now. I’m so excited. I wish any local stores around here carried them so I could try them on for fit, etc. I just hope their sizing is true. I guess time will tell! It’s so hard to know how to proceed for sure, but I do think I “need” some of these!

Sorry for rambling – but thanks for the time taken to share this very valueable information!

Bottom line…purchase your VFF’s in person. There is a reason the pricing is where it is…supply and demand PLUS quality of product. If the price seems too good to be true, it is.

I live down the block from travel country and buy all my camping gear from the store on 436 in Altamonte Springs. My girlfriend and I both bought a pair. I wore mine really hard and tore a part of them. I brought them back into travel country and they replaced them without asking any questions. I recommend them to anyone who is looking to buy fivefingers.
You can see us wearing our shoes in Cambodia and Thailand on http://www.ronnieaffee.com. Scroll down on the homepage.
Fantastic shoes

Here’s what I received from Mount Sport:
Dear Ronnie,

Thanks for your email.

The Vibram Five Fingers shoes we sell is real.
We are selling the parallel import goods direct from factory.

Please free feel to contact us for any enquires.

Thanks!

Regards,
Mount Sport

2010/11/19 Mountsport [email protected]

Name: Ronnie
E-mail:
Telephone:

Comment: Are these real vibram Five Fingers or knock offs? I read a site stating that these are knockoffs on this site.

Thank you for your help,
Ronnie

Hi!

I ordered Vibram fivefingers flow yesterday from this address: vibramfivefingers-it.com.
Do you mean that they are gonna send me a fake vibrams or are they gonna send me vibrams at all?

Now I think I was stupid and I wasted my money.

I own a pair of the real ones. The best place to buy them is either right off the vibram website or go to gazelle sports. I went to the store and baught them because i dont trust anyone off the internet after reading this site.
@Rod I’m pretty sure the ones on that website are fake. Real vibrams dont make them with shoe laces, reals are all vel-crow.

another way you can tell if they are real is going to the real vibram site and finding stores around you that are arthorized to be selling their product, Hope i helped. 🙂

i cant wate to get my five fingers. i am asking for them for christmas from my paents and were going to get them from a well known and highly rated camoing store in town so im not woryed about them being fake but the sites about fake five fingers fraly helped because i was going to origanly get them from the internet so thanks a lot you savd me one.

DAMN IT!!!! I wish I saw this before I dropped some coin off of findingfivefingers.com. Well, now I know what to look for and where to buy legit VFF’s. I guess I’ll wear the knockoffs out and get a REAL pair soon.

This sucks.

I love my Fivefingers and have two pairs, however its frustrating that I have to pay almost twice as much for a pair in Australia as I would do if I could buy them direct from a retailer in the USA.

Why Vibram – isn’t about time that you rewarded your loyal customers here in Australia with a drop in price? Alternatively let us buy online from a US retailer!!!

So what’s the big deal about a cheaper version? I am interested in these shoes for Pilates, not running. Why should I pay $100+ for shoes for Pilates?

Has anyone noticed that Facebook is promoting all of the counterfeit sites and not one link that I’ve clicked on taook me to Vibram’s website. No wonder Facebook is worth 5 billion and they don’t provide a single service or product. Shame on Facebook!

Unfortunately like many of you, I got mugged before I came to this page. I got fake vibrams for 80 bucks. That’s what happens when you get cheap and impatient. The shoes were all sold out, except for this site that had them all in stock:

http://www.vibramfivefingersit.com

Please add this site to the list.

I just ordered off of newfivefingers.com and havent heard anything after ordering them. They didn’t charge my card so I canceled my card just in case. I then proceeded to order a pair off of the official site. If in doubt just call the number off the vibram website and have them validate the site. The lady I spoke with sent me a list of official sites and was very knowledgeable. Hope this helps someone else.

http://www.vibramgo.com is another fake site. In addition, amazon.com has some sellers that are selling what are most likely fakes: http://www.cometshoes.com and Footwear Headquarters (neither are listed as authorized sellers on Vibram’s site). Many buyers have complained about the quality, pricing is not right, and pics look like poorly scanned images or images lifted from the official website.

Man, i got duped too, i ordered vibrams from vibramfivefingersit.com and haven’t received them yet. But i see now that they are fakes that i have paid $70.00 for. After my purchase they sent me a really cheesy bad grammar email confirming my purchase. When i emailed them the day after purchase to try and cancel the order they responded with a bad grammar email again to say that they were shipped.

http://www.vibramfivefingersschuhe.com is not on the list, and the whois points to a “lucas Paul” living in germany, but with a yahoo.com.cn email adress, the last bit making it a bit shady…
they say they import them from the official shop, and are not too cheap, so it’s not an obvious fake, but still cheaper than what “safe” vendors offer.
the pictures also look legit, but i am not sure if this is to be trusted. the german grammar is not always perfect, but also not that bad that you are immediately reminded of a fraud site.
does anyone have suggestions?

I may or may not have been scammed… However I note that all the fakes so far are based off the Classic, Sprint and KSO lines.

Have you noticed any fake Bikilas out there? I’m hoping not!

I ordered and purchased the Vibram Five Fingers 2010 New Mens Bikila Blue Grey $140.00 $52.00 Save: 63% off online with http://www.topfivefingers.com on 4th of January.
I used my VISA card which I was worried about because they had not send any email confirmation or order numbers to me after I ordered. However, I checked my bank account 3 days later I ordered and they charged CNY (Chinese currency)503.46 ONLINE SHOPPING CENTER BEIJING on my card account. I contacted them a couple of times asking for canceling my order Vibram Five Fingers 2010 New Mens Bikila because I now know they are selling FAKE Vibram Fivefingers products,
and delete my account information on their website http://www.topfivefingers.com/account.html. That website does not have any phone numbers or business address.
But, they have not sent me any business response yet.
What is going on with their customer care responsibility???
I did not know that the website belongs to some company in China and also they charge me $20 for the shipping fee!.
If I would have known about it, I would have absolutely not ordered it by their online shopping website.
I do NOT want to receive any FAKE product from China, especially food materials.
I can not trust them and have any confidence in their material so far.
I am so freak out that they still have not responded to my request messages.

They responded email recently like this:
no,we are http://www.topfivefingers.com
not http://www.topfivefinger.com

I can not stand them who are selling Fake products!!!

“Because Vibram has their manufacturing in China it makes them very susceptible to fakes, and maybe by the very suppliers that they use. I was in the plastic molding business and it was a common complaint that Chinese manufactures would run their product Mon-Fri, and then produce the knock-offs Sat-Sun with the same equipment. They just seem to be changing materials, and mixing designs for the Vibram knock-offs.” I am with Mark, on thinking that the knock offs are coming from the Vibram factory. I also believe that’s what you risk by having your stuff made where it can get ripped off.

i recently oredered a pair of bikilas from 5fingerstore.com. they had the flow name written as flower and they were 78.89. of course i saw this after i ordered them…

all i can say is perhaps Vibram should take into account that the reason there are so many Fake suppliers many of which are priced cheaper is because the original are too expensive I think there very cool looking shoes and are supposed to be very comfy but i would never pay over 80 for a pair of water shoes I realize that there are several types and the price of a regular running shoe is around the same but I think some of their pricing is way out of line

Not all fakes come from online retailers.

Right — Vibram’s website says it does not allow any retailer who is online only to sell VFFs, nor does it allow any retailer to sell on eBay in any case.

But, the Vibram site does say that of course, individuals may choose to sell their VFFs on eBay as a one-off sale (one pair at a time, sold by an individual who bought the pair for personal use).

There are many people selling “one-off” FFs on eBay. The item descriptions usually say they are selling because the shoes are the wrong size.

Be aware that some of these one-off sellers on eBay are NOT selling authentic VFFs. One pair I bought like this was authentic, another pair wasn’t. Browsing through the eBay one-off sales of VFFs, many of the photos appear to be of fake FFs. (And many photos are obviously taken of shoes in someone’s living room, for example).

Some of these one-off sellers may know their shoes are fake, some may not. Beware.

Hi all – I am a(legitimate!!!)retailer of FiveFingers in Switzerland. I knew there were fakes out there, but am amazed at the number of fake websites! One sure way to spot fakes is pics taken of the shoes on the box and/or with tags on them – Vibram NEVER does this.

@Òlafur – definitely fake!

@Jonathan Groen – I’d stay away from http://www.vibramfivefingersschuhe.com – some of them are fake, but many “look” ok. So you don’t know what you’ll get.

Here are a few European websites for fakes – I know some of my customers have looked on your website as well, so here’s a way to warn them.

http://www.vibramfivefingersswitzerland.com
http://www.vibramfivefingersdeutschland.com
http://www.vibramfivefingersschweiz.com

Unfortunately, these fakers have been able to reserve very real sounding domain names for themselves – like the ones above. I’ve seen that these exist for many countries – with same design, etc.

If you buy from a legitimate dealer and are not happy with the quality – return your FiveFingers. That’s part of our service and one reason you pay more!

Okay I found this site directly after reading the counterfeit notice on Vibram’s website and I am paranoid that mine are fake. I got mine from a retailer who is listed on their retailers, but the VERY FIRST picture on Vibram’s website that has “counterfeit” in big red letters on the bottom of a black sole… that is EXACTLY my shoe! I have a black-on-black Classic Vibram with no foot strap.

Am I just being crazy paranoid or should I go back to that store and have some words with them?!

First off, I would just like to point out that most big name brands do have knock-offs. The reason being is becuase these brands are way to expensive. I am a college student and my friends and I do not have 100-125 to spend on shoes. Would we like to buy the real thing yes, but if we could but identicals for 30-50 I’d like to say my money! Instead of point out fakes maybe you should spend some time writing an article on how companys rip people off. Can you honestly say these shoes are 60-80 dollars to make so, you have to make a porfit? NO, they prob cost about 10-15 dollars if that! So will I buy shoes that are bascailly the same for less money? Yes,yes I will. The idea of this article and you being so offended by knock-offs is materialistic. I suggest you get off you high horse. “You” are the reason America is the way it is!

The site http://www.shoes-five-fingers.com probably is also a scam … wait, strike the probably …
Bad grammar, bad server connection, WhoIs points to a Hungarian address and best of all: try reading it in Dutch! Weird, clumsy translation larded with Italian and Hungarian (?) words.
Can’t imagine this being the real thing.

Bummer though, even IF you can get VFF’s in The Netherlands they cost you an arm and two legs … what’s the point of owning running shoes when you have no legs left?

@Vibram: please look into your pricing policy, I can’t imagine you haven’t earned back some (all) of that R&D investment already. Having you shoes produced in China only adds to the need to reconcider your pricetags.

Understandable that you dont want to buy ‘imitation’ versions of the shoes…However, considering the price of a pair of ‘legitimate’ Vibrams, who can blame the makers and the buys of the imitations? Yes, you/company should be rewared for your great idea and innovation, but to sell a pair of these for over 100USD is ridiculous!
Unfortunately if comes down to money and greed, and Im not talking about the imitation makers… as even if imitations eat away at Vibrams sell market by 50% or even more…The major interest holders of Vibrams have more than made a enough for a comfortable life!
So dont stress too hard about ‘imitations’ people 🙂

So I feel like an idiot but I just ordered my vibram fivefingers off of one of the websites someone has commented on here. My question is … what do I do now? I haven’t received them yet. Please help. These were my birthday present from my husband. 🙁

I’m afraid I’ve stepped into a scam too.

The site is fivefingersshoesoutlet.com and seems very similar with the other ones described here.

I’ve cancelled my credit card to avoid eventual additional charges. I’ll see if I receive anything, even a knockout.

I’ll update you in about a week.

Can anyone verify if vibramfivefingersoutlet-us.com is legitimate? I really want a pair of the blue/grey camo KSOs but Vibram have apparently stopped manufacturing them.

i totally got ripped off by one of the fake stores online and now own a pair of crummy shoes that don’t even come close to fitting. i have no recourse as the website is gone and the invoice has no contact info on it. i guess thats what i get for buying online when i don’t know what i’m doing. i will look for a brick and mortor store for my next pair when i recover financially from this pair.

As I was saying before fivefingersshoesoutlet.com is a scam site.

Due to the impossibility to buy Bikila LS anywhere, I ended up ordering from them for $75. Too good to be true but woke up too late.

I’ve unexpectedly received the shipment with shoes of the wrong color and horribly wrong design. Anatomically incorrect, funny laces, bad rubber on the sole … and many more.

Can the moderator please add the aforementioned web site to the list?

All this info should be on the Vibram site to prevent the fraud.

@fakesarenotthatbad

Are you kidding? These fakes are terrible. They are passing them off as real and the quality is inferior.

Beware, do not buy any VFFs on ebay unless you contact the seller to see where they got them from. People do not even realize they have been duped and then they are reselling the fakes they purchased. Do not buy any VFFS from a Hong Kong, Singapore or China based seller, as they are definitely fakes. Watch out for interesting color combos not ever offered by Vibram and report the listing to ebay as fraudulent. We need to band together and fight against the fake sellers.

I found vibramfivefingersreview.org, which is on the list. Soon after finding it, they changed to cheapchinawholesale.org. I just sent them an email to them to see if it was a scam. It probably is, especially considering everything is 50% or more off and there are lots of weird color combinations…

I have another possible scam site for the list: vibramfivefingers2011.org – the pricing looks way too low, it was registered recently in China and the registration details are very poor.

Thanks for alerting us, it’s important to raise awareness of scams.

Wont it be easier to go to the main site and check which sites are authorised to sell these? I just bought some Black/white/black Speed/Ten inch feet. It was real confusing with the shoe size because over here in the UK its done differently. I bought mine from http://www.baselayer.co.uk/

This site did come up under the official Vibram site as a authorised seller. If not ive been scammed too.

If your so worried about fake VFF Stop being lazy people and go to a store like REI or other sport stores and purchase them. The iternet has made us Americans fat and lazy hopefully you will run off some pounds once you go out and purchas the VFF.

newfivefingersshop.com

I would like to know if this is a real vibram online store with real vibrams. it would be great to know because u know everything about vibrams. and on this website they are $66 for Bikila’s so im not sure

Buying from the Chinese counterfeiters can also leave your credit card information in dodgy hands.

OMG! it was too late reading this site.. i already made my order for three pairs in one on the site posted here that selling fake vff.. but my question i used credit card would t be possible for them to hack my credit card account and use it??? since you said they are fake site…

Ruth,

They may not need to “hack” your credit card account. You already gave them all the information they needed to charge merchandise to it.

Almost all Russian sites, for example:
vibramfivefingers.ru.com
five-fingers.ru
45fingers.ru
are selling chinese fakes. And they don’t even hide this fact.

I ordered fake KSO trek from china. I do not know what are the differences, before I ordered but I ordered whilst I am knowing that is a fake. It is only 93SGD(74USD). the materials are not as good as the genuine ones but I already expected that.

I dont mind to pay 160SGD(125USD)for the genuine KSO trek but our local dealer’s stores are selling at 250SGD(200USD, the price that I can not afford. It is 100SGD(80USD) more than the price they sell in US.

Not only stores in Singapre, but also in japan, Australia,other SEA countries. I do not know why they are selling so much higher than the stores in US.

I think that if they are selling the same price as in US, they will make more sales than by now.

Hopefully, they reduce the price to the same price as in US.

I don’t think I saw this website on the list here, I’m speechless as to the size of this list. But as I was poking around here it looks as if some Vibrams are fake and some shown as real. For example the Magenta Bikilas are shown as two kinds light and as peach and orange? They have the reflection marks on them but I’m perplexed at the two descriptions and the amazing price.
Is this site for real?

Hope someone are able to help me please:

I want to buy Vibrams after reading about them here, but in my country (Norway) they’re not easy to find.
I found one online store, selling beige smartwool Vibram Classic, but the insoles are black in the pictures. Aren’t they supposed to be yellow?
I don’t see them pictured here on birtdayshoes…

Very grateful if anyone could tell me whether I should buy them or not!
🙂

Ok, have owned several Vibrams, and wanted some Vibram Speed, so went online and ordered. When I got my receipt I thought it was dodgy, and http://www.vibrambikilasale.com is dodgy. I have ordered from Vibram before, but when I searched for the speed, I went to a legit looking website. I have cancelled my card. At best I can hope for knockoffs, at worst I have donated my money to a criminal.

What do I do if I bought shoes from a fraud site?

I bought from fivefingerclearance, those bastards.

I cant return them because their return policy is ridiculous.

I feel stupid for buying on impulse.

Has anyone had any experience with fivefingershoessale.org? It is operated out of China so I’m suspicious…

Are all you people stupid and not read the article? You keep asking “is ____ real?” when you can clearly determine that after reading all the information they were so nice to post here. It’s so obvious… get a brain!

There seem to be more fakes than reals. Vibram should simply have a section on their website that lists the legitimate seller’s websites only. Then we could look things up there without guessing.

how about vibram outlet .com- is there any such thing for real- is not having a telephone number for a contact suspicious (china)thanks

I have read through a great many of these posts feeling yes, you are right – all counterfeit goods are simply wrong; in fact it is hard to take any other viewpoint (although I’m going to

In short, I fail to see why on earth Vibram cost so much for what they are. Even when a pair of top Asics may not even be as good for your feet as barefoot running, they probably can justify the manufacture cost a little better due to the materials used, the energy to mould etc etc. FiveFingers (and their poor counterfeit half-brothers) are essentially as complex as a pair of beach shoes, flippers without the fin or verruca sock with toes. Even though I desperately want some, I’m stuck. Fake or Real? “No question!” I hear you say. Well, I am cursed. I am a monster of a man (apparently) with size 31.5cm foot on one side and 31cm foot the other. After getting inspired about barefoot running, reading Born to Run etc etc, I decided to take the plunge. My last pair of trainers cost me £80 (that’s what, 100 of your US dollars?); so when I was presented with £120 for a pair I was shocked, but hey – they’ll probably last for years (with no cushioning to compress – the main reason to replace trainers) – I can keep going in them; what an investment.

I looked up my size on the official Vibram site, but apparently Quasimodo sized feet, which I appear to possess (albeit Asics, NewBalance, Nike seem to recognise that monster feet people still like to take the odd run) are limited to one or two of their range. Great, “Any version you like, as long as it’s…”

Now, what really annoys me is that I contacted Vibram to see about getting some of their shoes in my my size since they NEVER (I repeat, NEVER) have my size available on their website – it is as if the 48 is there to shame people of that shoe size. I looked forward to their apologetic reply with hopefully a voucher to get something off the shoes, but no. Nothing. To date, I never received a response.

On the other hand, contacting one of the fake ones on eBay I got an immediate response and an offer to looking into larger sizes for me! Excellent customer service seems to have gone to China along with our manufacturing industry.

Well, I have to admit, it is great to hear the brand loyalty – Apple have earned it, as have many other customer-driven companies. I don’t like seeing people getting ripped off. But right now, I’m the one who feels ripped off and it is the counterfeit-peddling Chinese who offer a service that Vibram can’t. My sense of justice hopes that you succeed in shutting the crims down, but my desire to use this product (while I still have knees) hopes that I can get in an order before you do!

With the competition out the way, Vibram will have even less motivation to please it’s big footed customers or reply to inquiries. Perhaps they should take a lesson out of their counterfeit producers book and ask themselves, “How come they can sell these for as little as £35 ($50??) and we have to charge the earth”? despite the “superior quality” that everyone assumes.

For me, the question is; “When and where can I get a pair of 31.5cm Vibram KSOs other than from China?”

Many thanks.

I just ordered 4 pair from vibramfivefingersale-us.com. I figured the reduced price was due to last years colors. Has anyone ordered from this website and have you received the shoes?

Can anyone tell me where I can find moderately inexpensive, but still legit, vibram speeds? I really want a pair for a trip soon, but I can’t find any that aren’t like $150.

Sorry to add to the wall of comments already present……..but

I have just bought two pairs of KSO in black / orange from vibramfivefingersmart.com the shoes have already been shipped through EMS and payment taken (from my CC) through yourspay. Does anybody please have advice on what my options are?

I am hoping they are real, but not convinced. I already have a pair of speed, so at least I have something to compare them with, if they arrive!

Hello All,

I have recently purchased two pairs of KSO in black / orange from vibramfivefingersmart.com. I have a horrible feeling that they are fake, unfortunately payment has been taken (from my CC) through yourspay.com and I have been informed that they have been shipped through EMS.

Does any body please have advice on the options I may have? I am hoping the shoes are not fake, but not holding my breath. Fortunately I have a pair of (genuine) speed, so at least I can make a comparison.

Thanks for your time!

Selling Fake items with no return policy
ATTENTION PEOPLE: Hello everybody, From my experience, Please be informed that all products sold on http://www.pickshoponline.com are FAKE and service is terrible, seller does not abide with the return policy and customer is left unanswered!! Please share.

I ordered 3 pairs of NIKE AIR & my total cost of purchase was 135EUR hence was entitled for Free shipping. But still I paid for delivery and when I contacted the seller he refused to refund it.

On delivery of items I immediately noticed that the product where far from NIKE – they were FAKE with hard plastic bottom rather than AIR.

Besides, 2 items were sent with the wrong size and the 3rd items was sent the wrong version & wrong size.

Return policy states that “As to quality problems or mistaken version, please take photos of the items and send them to us. We take full responsibility if quality problems are concerned.” – so i took the photos and sent them via email. Seller has not replied to my email – he has not provided the delivery address to return the items… let alone if he’ll we making the refund! SO BEWARE!!

http://www.vibramfivefingerscenter.com/

Anyone know if this is a fake?

It seems pretty damn good if it is. I haven’t ordered from it and I may still not but I’m trying to buy my boyfriend a new pair of these and I’m trying to go as cheap as possible for real Bikila’s.

The best I’ve found is Moosejaw has a 10$ off coupon right now for filling out a survey and you can apply that.

That site looks pretty damn legit though

Here is another one
vibramfingersshoes.com
after I place the order I realize something is wrong after some research I realize I just paid for a fake one : (

There is a web site called barefootshoeoutlet.com that sell only VFF’s at 59% off offering a further discount if you buy multiple pairs. Also free international shipping and no actual info on where they are based. Sounds very troublesome for me as I have been stung twice with fake VFF’s and I still don’t own a legit pair. It is a very good fake site.

Apologies that site is barefootshoesoutlet.com, I forgot to add the s to the shoe in the previous post. Thanks.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
for this posting about fraudulent/fake sites. an amazing resource. you saved me. i was about to buy from one such site, saw a red flag, googled, found you & this post, and was saved.
You Rock!

Just bought some amazing KSO’s from a very professional and real looking website, with none of the tell-tale signs. They arrived (from China) but in the correct box, with all the correct labels (my friend has a pair she bought from her local triathlon shop so I had real ones to compare with) – they totally had us fooled……. but then came a second pair I hadn’t ordered … a pair of speeds I think, but very obviously cheap and shoddy and without the box or labels. I decided to email vibram dierectly and ask – 3 days later I got a response – FAKE.
I was quite disappointed, no-one likes to be duped, and now I have to go through the hassle of sending them back, getting visa to try and get my money back for me, and going out and buying new ones for full price from a shop – because I tell you what, with over 500 sites on that list selling fakes I’m not risking it!
I know some of you are thinking ‘if they’re that good, then why send them back – I ask myself the same, but I can’t, within my morals, support the fake industry – if they sold them as ‘the same as vibrams’ or ‘as close to vibrams as you’ll get for half the price’ then I’d keep them. i’m just not going to put up with the lying!

I want to buy a pair of KSO, but the branding is confusing, especially looking at this website and vibram website. Some of the feedback posted and reviews with pics shows the vibram branding(the one near the big toe) either on the left side or right side, but there is some that has it in both sides.

So guys which is which? The pics got me really confused. Can you englighten me which is real.

(This is for KSO.)

vibramfivefingers.com = the real deal (one of a handful of legitimate websites with “vibram” or “fivefingers” in it that is legit).

The other you mentioned has been added to the list.

@christian,

This page is being updated all the time — but only when new sites come to my attention (I’m typically not actively scouring the net for new sites — so if you find one, let me know).

If I had to guess, I’d say this list is only 50% of the sites out there … that’s a pure guess, but it sure seems like I’m only scratching the surface of fake sites out there.

i ordered from fivefingerusa.com and supposedly they are being shipped but they are still in China after a week now. How is nobody doing anything about these fakes? man i wish i had done a little research first i dont know what i was thinking

I wish I had known about your site before I bought mine from china. Yes, they were counterfeit and I gave them away to someone who couldnt afford a pair. I then promptly bought some from citysports and was very pleased with their service. Thank you for keeping people informed of fakes.

So I bought a pair from vibramfivefingersale-us.com. it has been over 3 weeks, yes they are being shipped from china. at this point i don’t care if i get knock-offs, which it seems like I obviously am, I just want any pair, or something to show for what I paid.

When I process the tracking # it says that the origin post is still preparing to ship…
I have emailed them with no response.

Doh.

Can anyone suggest anything that I can do???

Thanks

Hello Dean (08/05/11). I am in the same boat. Purchased from vibramfivefingersale-us.com and the order has been pending (preparing shipment) since July 29. Yes it has been 3 weeks for me also and I realize now that I was probably scammed. The problem is that you do not know the product is coming from China until you have completed your purchase. The funny thing is when I tried to log in to my account on the main page….the account no longer exists. I am usually pretty good about not getting scammed as I am always cautious. But…guess they got me this time. I am going to give it a few more days then try to dispute with the bank. May not have any luck, but it’s worth a try.

This website is very suspicous. On the website it says that their products are %100 real, and to beware of fakes, their products are fakes. The logo on the bottom of the shoes are not yellow, are said to be on sale (which they rarely go on sale since in high demand), and don’t have any contact info besides an email. This is not safe but they are very good at making counterfits.

Anybody heard of sale-fivefingers.com? Are those a genuine? Bit scared now, after all those warnings, cheers Stef

Instead of going on and on about sites that are NOT genuine; can you create a list of GENUINE sites I should try if I want to get a pair? This would be helpful for readers as well!

Wow. I can’t believe how many there are.

Phil, according to Vibram their dealers MUST have a brick and mortar store — and they are all listed on their website.

Back to my fake Vibrams…

I ordered 3 pairs from
vibramfivefingersale-us.com

I received one pair and an email that said the other two pairs are out of stock, so I guess it not a total scam cause I did get one pair, however there web site was down when I tried to change my order as instructed, and yes it has take 3 weeks to get my one pair of shoes.

I was recently turned on to VFFs, and I finally pulled the trigger and ordered a pair directly from their website yesterday. I got my confirmation email, and out of curiosity, I used my phone to pull up the website and logged on to check the status of my order. Imagine my surprise when I was informed that my account didn’t exist. Turns out I tried to log on to a fake website, but until that happened, I had no idea such counterfeit websites existed. I was very worried I ordered fakes after all, but I’m pretty sure I got it right the first time.

Fake website: http://www.vibramfivefingersshoes.org (don’t think this one is on your list)

Site from which I ordered:
http://www.vibramfivefingers.com

Please tell me I ordered the real McCoy!

Has anyone heard of http://www.vibramfivefingersbarefoot.com site? I ordered my vibram sprints on this site for 60 and when i tried to input my order number it said it didnt exist and i also tried to call there service number and it was disconnected. Can someone help me if they know anything about this site?

thanks for your work. as my first black/black women classics died last month in their 3rd-year and my old retailers stocks seemed to be empty I bought from another retailer – not thinking enough before ordering! got them today. branding copies are perfect, materials strange and when I tried them on, it was not the right feeling. I guess, that people not knowing the real fivefingers-feeling won’t notice and be prevented from the greatest shoes ever made! Even I still doubt. as I don’t want to blame wrongly, I ask you: does “carcoal” exist as an authentic color? and if yes, can it be that the material of the carcoal-model is quite different from the black/black-model? if no/no, I’ll be glad to send you the site for your blacklist! thanks a lot!

hey i found some vibrams that had weired looking mertial and they were $200 WOW I WAS LIKE WOH!! THEY ARE FAKE

I bought two pair of authentic VFF at a local store today. Why anyone would buy shoes on the internet is a mystery to me. Especially VFF shoes that must be tried on if you have never worn them before. With chronic back and leg pain what I wear on my feet at my nursing job makes a difference in a great day or a horrible one. If it’s cheap it IS cheap:)

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

hey it’s me again and i wanted to say i went to a store in the mall and there was a store there that said they sold vibrams and i went in and the vibrams there were so fake they had the outrages prises $300 for vibrams really well what ever you do don’t go there.
WHAT EVER YOU DO!

I recently got tuned into the VFF shoes. I ordered a pair of KSO’s off eBay and received them 2 weeks later. Wish I hadn’t done that now after reading the article. Went to my local shop, River Sports, and purchased a pair of KSO’s today. Side by side the first noticeable difference is the Vibram logo on the large toe, the eBay KSO has a black logo, the River Sports KSO has the yellow logo. The second difference is the sole, the eBay KSO has a much thicker sole in the forefoot and heel, the individual toe cuts in the sole are slightly off, and the Vibram logo is glued slightly crooked. The third difference was the loop for the instep strap was run differently on the eBay KSO. The last noticeable difference that I saw was the fabric, the mesh was the same, the stitching on the eBay shoe is single stitch at the opening with no elastic, the fabric on the eBay shoe almost felt like neoprene.

Now with that being said I have officially worn both of these shoes. The eBay shoe while being heavier soled worked better for traction on a metal trailer while pulling the cable out of our winch. I did notice that they held more heat and where the heel sat in the shoe I started getting a blister after about 2 hours, noticed that while pressure washing the driveway. That was all yesterday. Today after purchasing the KSO at River Sports, I wore the shoes for 3 hours with no issues. I noticed right away the difference in movement. I am definitely a VFF convert regardless of the fakes.

Just to clarify what everyone has said, buy the real thing, go to your local shop try them on, and try to stay away from the fakes.

I bought a pair of Speeds awhile back without suspecting anything until recently I order a pair of KSO’s. They didn’t feel or fit like the first KSOs I bought. I know realize that the speed and the 2nd pair of KSO’s are fake! The speeds were almost a perfect copy. It’s amazing how good the counterfeits are. No wonder they were so cheap.

Justin:

Thanks for the site! I bought a pair of Bikilas from a legit site (TravelCountry.com) without having heard of the dangers of internet ordering and now realize how lucky I was.

A comment was made previously about threeathlon.com looking shady. Their site is very professional looking, with relatively few misspellings, and they even have a Facebook link. However, they give no land address and 2 out of 3 resellerratings.com comments call them counterfeiters (http://www.resellerratings.com/store/ThreeAthlon).

They show up huge in Google hits, so it would sure be nice to hear definitively about their legitimacy — about whether the resellerratings comments are valid or mudslinging.

Thanks!

bought my first pair of KSOs off fivefingersuk.org through a google sponsored link last week.

only now am i realising that its not legit and the company isnt responding to my emails.

I appreciate now that they are obv fake and indeed were well below other prices. Pissed now that ive wasted money on fake goods and unsure if they will even come

ive ordered on my credit card….any chance of gettin money back?any one had any such experiences?

quite dissapointed as I online shop alot and so was ignorantly trusting to google sponsored links…annoying that there are so many fake outlets and it is so unclear where to order from

hi I guess ‘http://www.fivefingershoe2011.com/’ a fake too?

I almost made payment but decided to do it the next day as I’m lazy to get my credit card out of the bag. Then I received an email from the site telling me bout the failed payment and it looked quite unprofessional. so guess its not authentic afterall?

Bought a pair of classics from the legit shop (according to this site). Looks ok but they have top vibram branding on the right shoes too ?

I was scammed by fivefingersbar.com…I see they’re in your list and I’m so glad you’re doing this, but is there anyway we could help take these sites down?! What can I do?

I think vibramfivefingersuk.us is a fake site. Instead of receiving my shoes, a cheap bracelet from China arrived!

I ordered 2 pairs of Bikila LS from the myvibrams.com website about 9 days ago and have not heard anything from them ever since they charged my card the $154 for the shoes. I’m hoping that i didn’t get duped on this one, should i just wait another couple days or maybe a week before giving up hope of ever receiving the shoes?

Hi, I’ve ordered a pair of VFF at vibramshop.de. They arrived 14 days later and they look quite good. I can’t say if they are fake or not. They are sent from Hong Kong.

Do you think they have the ability to make fake Trek LS already? there are some for $85 on ebay… I’m so tempted! but also very wary. Full price is so much, but worth it, I know.
Just trying to get a deal.

I recently fell victim to a Chinese fraudster at http://www.vibramfivefingerus.com,I wish I had found this website sooner 🙁
Not only are the footwear made of inferior materials, the sizing is so far off, I can’t wear em. 🙁 Only thing I can’t figure yet, is how my browser went there instead of the real web site, since I have been there before.

I bought some bikilas and the box label had BLKILA instead of BIKILA so I this should have been the first sign that they were fake when i got them and now I am disappointed that I wasted good cash and I wouldn’t do the same to others in the process of getting rid of them.

So in the trash they go cos they’re about as useless to me as the box it came in.

Just got off the phone with Vibram and they said a reputable site to order from is http://www.travelcountry.com. The Vibram rep assured me it was 100% legit.

Just thought someone might want to know.

Also, their kangaroo leather is a by-product of animal control in Australia. They do not kill ‘roos to make their shoes.

Just a follow–up to my last post: I called Vibram back to double–check if http://www.travelcountry.com was legit and the second rep also confirmed it was a legit site to order from.

Thought it might be helpful for those of us who live in the Great Northern Midwest Expanse of Nowhere Near a Retailer. 🙂

Honestly – I cancelled an Ebay order after almost buying fakes now I’m thinking I may as well get them. Why? Because I live in Korea and I’ve contacted Vibram more than once trying to find out how I can buy some authentic Vibrams and they just ignore the query. Then they also went ahead and stopped shipping outside of the countries that they sell in (for the official sellers). I got hold of one American store that said they wouldn’t take returns – under no circumstances. So nevermind that these are difficult to fit and I’m in between two sizes on the Vibram size chart, I may have to pay the high price and have shoes that don’t fit. So Vibram has pretty much projected that they don’t want me to buy their shoes. While at the same time the Chinese sellers on Ebay have always given me good service and the seller on Ebay was willing to give me express shipping for free and had no problems with exchanges (and never ignored emails). Makes you wonder who should be getting your money…

I got my fakes from dealextreme.com. They don’t use Vibram trade marks, logo’s or any misleading stuff. I knew what I bought for $31, shipping included. Fair deal.

i met a guy selling vffs locally (malaysia). he said he got them from a factory in china when he was there. claimed to be vffs factory. btw, he’s a police man. he said he normally sells online, but since he lives close to my office, he agreed to meet. i also said i need a size fitting.

so i bought a bikila. picture >> http://zone5.com.my/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/IMG-20111203-00158.jpg (it got wet just now, hence the dirty looks)

notice, no branding on top. however, there are branding on both outer sides of the heels. the box looks right. my fren have a kso he bought from the states, so i could just compare the quality, seems right too.

tried searching the net, but couldnt find any photos of bikila with same color schemes, which is red with darker gray, rather than light gray as in vibram’s site (plain area between straps and toes).

need clarification if this is fake or not.

is there anyone up there know theshoemart.com sell fake or real vibram fivefingers ? please give me an answere
thanks

hey,
i think it’s a false… you have a google add on your site from actionsports.com, it looks like some weird green sprints without any creases or anything on the sole, just flat

So . . . I don’t know what to do. Bought black/orange KSO’s on sale for $69.99 on http://www.Cheap5Fingers.org. Hadn’t seen this site. They arrived. They LOOK real, but I have no idea if I would know the difference. I’ve never seen “real” ones in person before. There is no phone number on the site–FISHY, I know–but I only realized that late in the game. They claim they are genuine (of course). Any help!? Thank you!

R

Oh rats. I should have known. I ordered 3 pairs from fivefingersbar dot com. I only got them there because my size / color combo not available at the official vibram shop. So my invoice shows a MRSbai company in Bejing. One pair of Jaya are so off size, they are funny (I wear 36 but these are easily a 38). A pair of Komodo Sport have a tiny foot opening, I can barely get my foot in. The Bilika LS fit well, but the finishing around the toes is dodgy, and my feet sweat like crazy in them. Note that the boxes & labeling look genuine. Honestly for the $40 I saved, I should have just waited till I went to the US.

So what is the official yellow stitch branding on the top of the shoe for the vibram kso’s in all black? I have legit camo, and remix’s tht were bought from vibrams site but I’m looking on eBay and I am seeing some with both right and left yellow “vibram” stitching. And I see some tht have only the left shoe with the yellow stitching. And the vibram site shows the all blacks with one shoe that has no stitching on one of them but the other colors have both so I’m a bit confused. Please help or message me answers. Will be greatly appreciated.

I bought a pair from one of birthday shoes recommended retailers. I compared mine with the tips on spotting a fake. Mine seems authentic but the shoes has no tags on and there isn’t a book inside the shoe box. I hope it’s because the shoes were returned to the store because of the wrong fit and they forgot to put the tags and book back into the box.

@Denise,

If you bought them from a Bdayshoes recommended retailer I assure you they aren’t fake — these guys have no reason to sell fakes and everything to lose if they did (blackballed by the industry, loss of revenue do to litigation, etc.).

How about reporting shoes being sold as “Barefoot” counterfeits, since this is also a deceptive marketing technique, to get beginners to erroneously believe that they get the same benefits of true barefooting with “barefoot” shoes.

2 years later & I’m just reading this… There’s a remote possibility that I purchased a very good pair of knock-offs. I will say though, I haven’t been at all disatisfied with my product – indeed, I will be going into my 3rd season with the Five Fingers that I currently own. Interesting that when a declared value was placed on the package passing through customs they were only valued at $20. I’m not surprised though, Ariat charges top $$ for their product & doesn’t (usually) pay more than $40 per pair (depending on materials used). The price we pay for price-setting, and lots of glossy advertising.

I fell for it! I just bought a pair of vibram flows from an ebay seller; this is before I read anything about vibram counterfeits. After wearing them two times I am convinced that they are fake. I contacted the seller telling them that they hurt my feet and they said they would give me a refund if I pay shipping and they are still new with tags. I can put the tags back on, but I’m still risking their decision to accept return or not. I reported the seller to vibrams but I’m wondering how I can get my money back. Should I try the seller or reveal them to ebay as a counterfeiter and try to get a refund through them? Has anyone successfully gotten their money back for a fake ebay vibram recently?

@justin Thanks for your reply. I’m certain that mine is authentic as I compared them with my friend’s china made ones. Was annoyed initially when I received mine without tags and a booklet but I have since resolved the issue with the lovely seller. 🙂

Do check out http://www.gmarket.com.sg and search for “vibrams” Gmarket is actually a lovely site selling all kinds of Korean products but the Chinese sellers have started selling their fake goods in there! They advertise their vibrams like the real thing!

Can you tell me if Riversportoutfitters.com is a fake? I only ask because they sell for WAY less. I ordered my husbands from Moosejaw and he LOVES his grey/camo KSO’s. Of course, working in steel toes 12 hours a day, he starts singing “Heaven, I’m in heaven” when he puts on his VFF’s, lol. But riversportoutfitters has a huge clearance on VFF’s and at a great price with ALL sizes, BUT NO RETURNS!! Hmmmm

another fake?

i found a pair of bikila on craigslist they looked a little questionable and i couldnt find the color combo on the vibram site, i did find the color combo here

http://www.topvibramfivefingers.us/

and im pretty sure this site is selling knock-offs so im guessing its safe to assume the CL ones are knock offs since this site has the same color combo ?

im a start up business on facebook and im trying to branch into supplying the best fitness clothing and footware. In my searching i found many wholesaler sites selling what are clearly fakes. But on saying that i hve found one that i am very unsure of. The website is

http://www.5fingersuk.com/

Id love to stock the genuine vibram five fingers and if anyone could tell me some names of vibram five fingers wholesalers id be forever greatful!

thank you
charieen.

there are FAKE. and there are ‘grade A’ imitations.

grade A imitations are ‘unofficial’ products that comes from the same factory as the ‘original’. they have the same materials, workmanship and quality. you might even got with the same packaging. they are sold through non-official distribution channels. meaning, in this case, not through vibram.

though u might notice a few differences like no branding embroidery outside or on the insole. they are normally manufactured after the official working hours at the factory. factory owners do this to earn more. this is a normal practice in china and indonesia. not sure about elsewhere. although officially it is illegal, but most people don’t care.

only if you really know the product you can tell if its purely fake or grade-A product.

Just wanted to alert people of a fake retailer offering VFF’s at discounted prices. I noticed they were not on the list. You might want to add them to the list. It’s http://www.cheapvibrams.org. They even say they’re the official Vibram online store. Didn’t know any better and purchased a pair of KSO’s from them. Just got them today and yes…they were original fakes. They look like the real thing with proper branding and all. Only difference was the materials used. The upper material is like a neoprene material, glossy and shinny like. Really disappointed about it. Silly me for not doing a bit more research. Anyway don’t make the same mistake i did and avoid this retailer.

fivefingersshoesz.com comes across as fake also. one site said its run out of china. it is also giving unrealistic pricing, as in 64.00 instead of 100.00. i know you have a site close to this on your list but you have an N before the Z. so i dont know if they just changed a letter so that your site wouldnt come up when you look up their store.

I wish I would have known this before I bought a pair of “FiveFingers TrekSports” off of ebay. They were ripping at the seems within 3 months of me getting them, and looking at them now and reading some of the descriptions of the knock off FiveFingers, mine were definitely knock offs…The upper was made of a Lycra sort of material as opposed to the coconut carbon and the material between the toes was the same as the mesh on the top of the foot. They even came with a factory error; the rubber on the inner side near my big toe was slightly separated from the upper. All of these things in conjunction caused them to be ripped apart…like a geriatric prostitute.

Other than that, when they were alive and well, I enjoyed the feel of barefoot running (which I already did at the cottage), but without the pine needles and stone bruise! I’ll definitely be buying some LEGITIMATE FiveFingers soon (possibly the new Spyridon LS’s).

TL;DR – Unknowingly bought counterfeits off ebay and they sucked. Getting legitimate ones now.

Daaaaaaamn! I wish I had read this before I ordered mine. I ordered 3 pairs! Three freaking pairs! Oh well, hope their not too bad quality. I ordered from Fivefingers4sale.net.

I wish I would of known this beforehand as well. I bought my daughter her first pair on ebay, and they did not hold up at all. Sure, she wore them everyday, I wore my authentic Sprints everyday, and they are still in great shape. Hers tore apart with in a few months, about 3.

Sadly I hadn’t seen this site and bought a pair from threeathlon.com…..what a joke!! Total knockoffs!! I’ve plastered their Facebook with comments, links and pics hoping to prevent anyone else from making this mistake!! Love this blog!

I purchased 2 pair of VFFs on fivefingers4sale.com. Had not viewed this site or the list of fakes/counterfeit VFFs. That said, placed the order and thought I was going to save a little. Checked my online bank statement and saw that 2 charges from a company in China were pending. First charge was for the original total. Second was for $1.80( transaction charge??? )
Anyway, did a search of the company and what do you know! The 3rd search result was this website leading to the fakes page. Sure enough fivefingers4sale.com is on the list.
I contacted the fraud dept. w/ my credit union and was advised to wait for items, attempt to return and file with Visa. Good idea, so I wait. Hold on. Received an email from the pay site YourSPay that was used to process my payment.
“We are the online payment platform, and we are glad to inform you that your following payment have just been refunded by us. It will be arrived at your bank account in about 10 to 30 business days which also depends on your issuing bank’s refund cycle.” The amount refunded does not include the $1.80 interestingly enough even though it is from the same “company”.
I am going to notify my credit union of this and contact Visa as well. In the day and age of instant pay, there should be instant refund. 10 to 30 days seems a little excessive to me. I suspect they are pocketing the transaction fee??? And using western funds for short term investing before they actually refund anything.
It sux that we have to put up with fraud and counterfeiting. I realize “buyer beware” is the norm (and my own attempt to save a little money has bitten me in the rear) but it shouldn’t be.
I hope anyone else who has had this happen to them will be lucky enough to receive a refund and that even if they do they will still contact their issuing institution and implore them to follow up on fraud so that it could be slowed if not stopped all together.

Thing is, If a US business wants to have a manufacturing plant in China, they must have a partner in China. Thus, giving up all their trade secret and design. Chinese can then sell it to other people the same shoe. Boeing, nike, etc all suffered because of this..

Hi all, for those who dont care about brand names or dont like the idea of paying more for less.
Ive now tried both original KSOs and Bikilas, and ‘ebay’ KSO trek sports.
originals i’ve ran in for approx 150km,
‘ebay’ pair i’ve used for approx 25km.

Basically the ‘ebay’ pair has a slightly stiffer bottom sole, and does not have the leather part of the original treksport. Also the mesh upper is not used but the original lycra-like upper of the KSO is used. The stitching is also not as symetrical/clean as the original, however doesnt seem to affect fitting and hasnt frayed/fallen apart yet.

Actual running and walking in the ‘ebay’ treksport feels fine and no different from using the original KSO, apart from slightly less feel due to the extra stiffness of the outsole.
I got them for 55aud of ebay, which imo is a somewhat reasonable price, actually id say 50usd would be a fair price for the original vibram models!

I definitely think Vibrams are a great innovation and design, HOWEVER, they are defintely not worth anywhere near the 100usd avg price tag!! As one wise poster from some site said “vibrams are pretty much glorified sandals/slippers with toe pockets!”

Heres another one for you vibramfivefingersbar.com they sent me the shoes in. the wrong size and now you can’t get them to return emails to return shoes. Now I’m stuck with fakes in the wrong size!

Just to let you know I have and will continue to buy and use fake 5 finger shoes. They are as well made as the real thing and last as long. They all made in the same factory, why pay more for the ‘real thing’?

hi all

just recieved a new pair of bikilas from javari.co.uk
it was a amazon linked site and so think its legit.

however recieving them this morning they feel completely different to my first pair of bikilas and now im wondering/concerned which are fake (if any).

the new ones from javari feel thicker/sturdier in the sole but the upper material feels thinner.
the old ones feel silkier and a little softer/smoother, but not as tight.
the velcro strap is one piece on the new ones, where the old ones have stitching wear it looks like the velcro is sown onto the strap.
the back heel tab is wider on my new ones from javari and the sizeing is under the upper by the top of the foot as opposed to on the side of the inside like my old ones.
and finally the yellow vibram logo on the sole is molded into the sole where my old ones it looks glued in.

i did have suspisions when originally recieving my old pair but as they were so comfortable i didnt really mind, but now its got me thinking- have i been raving and loving a fake product giving me a false impression and is the difference gonna disappoint me as im sure like everyone…. you always prefer your first….

can anyone help?
which pair are fake?- if any?

@Leon,

It sounds like your latest pair is legit and your originals were fake — javari looks legit (I think) and the description of your second pair of bikilas sounds right- first pair sounds like fake KSOs.

Here’s ANOTHER one! vibramtoeshoes.com. Selling all styles for $40-$60 a pair. And that site comes up 1ST on GOOGLE search (vibram five fingers sale)

Hi there,

Thanks for all the info. I was about to purchase a pair of Vibram FiveFingers KomodoSport at http://www.threeathlon.com but something does not look right ($74.99 – $15.00 discount). In addition, there is not a mailing address for returns or a secure checkout. Is this one of the fake five fingers retailers?

Thanks.
Ale

http://www.vffbase.us/mens-vibram-fivefingers-bikila-ls-shoes-grey-green-cheap-price-297.html

Wow these guys almost had me. These look nearly identical. A few discrepancies with stitching and the rubber on bottom is chunkier, but wow. I was about to purchase when i thought to myself the checkout seemed like a shady offshore site, and then proceeded to find myself here, where I was flabergasted at how much these things are faked. To be honest it sort of put me off. I really hate to spend a hundred + $$ on a pair of shoes. If i can’t find a deal I’ll just have to wait patiently till the shoes are duplicated in quality form.

I nearly bit over on threeathlon.com just now.

and then i noticed that they spelled standard as “standart”…and use GSPAY…

I was almost sure I had found the last place that carried NOS original Brown KSO’s

So I searched a bit and found your site. Thanks for the service that you are providing.

Thanks to this blog, I dodged a bullet twice I was going to buy vibrams from a site which looked like a simplified but very similar site to the proper vibram site (had “us” added to the end of the address) They were selling all Vibrams about 3 to 40 dollars cheaper with free shipping explaining they were supplied via china which allowed for discounting. I literally had my card in hand and decided to wait a day to think it over in that time 2 things happened…I read this blog and found a store that was having a spring sale that was an official retailer…. The one question I have is How come since these are definatley fake but claim to be legit why cant Ebay shut them down? ??They require sellers recarding STAR WARS figure to say so in thier add..Why not the same for them?

Just a small point…Ive heard tell that one should always assume vibrams on sale are fakes..NOT SO!! Many official retailers discount thier merchandise for various reasons..If you keep your eyes open and use some common sence you can get some great deals.. Look for store wide discount sales during season change and special events. I’ve found right now is the best time because as the stores recieve new stock and styles they wish to move the older SKUs quickly..also smaller store that have limited stock space and require it for new product often have amazing deals!! Novaks in London Ontario (listed on Vibrams site) had a clearance of all 2011 stock and I picked up a pair of trek LS for around $70 then a few weeks later they had an aniversary sale and all shoe stock was 40% off so I bought the komodo ls. Do a little footwork (no pun intended) and some research on sites like this and you can get the “real deals”

Wow I almost bought a fake Vibram from VFFbase.us!!!

Thanks for spotting them for us.

I dont like buying shoes that are fake; I have never had great experience with fake shoes – they either wear out easily or become uncomfortable in a matter of days. They are not worth the “discount” because I will have to buy anew one again.

Where in Australia can we buy authentic vibram shoes? are there any stores in brisbane?
What are some authentic websites?
Thank you

I was going to order a pair of Classics from O2Gearshop.com for a sale price of $58.95. The site says that they “ship after 5 – 7 business days”. I called to inquire and the man on the phone said that they order directly from Vibram and that it takes that long to get to their wearhouse and that when they arrive they ship that day. Is this a fake Vibram seller, too???

Has anyone used this site?

http://www.vibramfivefingersale.com/

I just tried to buy a pair but got an error message on the payment screen (supposedly). I’m hoping it didn’t go through. The error message has chinese characters on the page which of course made me start panicking!

This is another fake company
……. Threeathlon.com………..!!!!!!!!! becarefull i just got scam for this asss……holes…

Why I didnt see this web page before,

I just offered in a fake site, I am from Mexico and here we used to use a Mercadolibre.com.mx something like ebay.com and after I offer they send me to http://www.quiero1.com.mx and there they show some fake VFFs.

you cango to

http://www.quiero1.com.mx

and click on “CALZADO” in the left side of the page and it will appear “VIBRAM FIVEFINGERS” and after that you can see the fake VFFs and all of them have the same cost “1,100 MXN” mexican pesos.

I have a original VFFs that I bought in Houston, I found the store in the offical web page. but I wanna get a new ones so I offer there but I didnt know that they were fake.

Also at the official web page I found a mistake or discrepancy on some photos because I have a Black KSO and in some photos they didnt show/put the yellow VIBRAM brand in the thumb.

So really I appreciated this page thanks a lot.

Just got duped by a dodgy site, http://www.vibram-australia.net. They tell me their goods are authentic but Vibram US have told me it’s not real. Will try and get a refund but if not I’m planning to report it to my credit card company. If it’s not the real deal I’m not interested. So annoyed, was looking forward to getting some Bikila LS’s.

If vibram or other brands would just stop having their products manufactured in china then there would be no fakes floating around.

You know…. a good way to avoid all the “is vibramfivefingersfakesite.com fake or real” questions Is to follow Justin’s advice… Buy them in a store or from an official website of a retailer listed on this, or Vibrams’s site. Ive stopped looking online 99.999% are fake .. Im surprised there are still those who even have to ask if “http://www.vibramfivefingersschuheshop.com/” is legit or not

Buying originals if your not into second hand is quite easy, u just buy them from a vibram retailer. However, I have an offer to buy a pair of KSO Trek of a model called M346 second hand (but not used) from a privateperson. I cant find any information about this model which can either imply a fake or perhaps last years model? Anybody heard of model called KSO trek M346? Thank you for a great website. Carl

I thought this site based on typos and other website errors are a dead give away but they are top listing on Google.

I think fivefingersalementcom is a fake.

I bought a pair of Vibram Five Fingers at a shoe store in Salem, OR. The sizing is very different from my other shoes. I don’t see how they could be bought on line and fit properly.

Hi,

Here is a YOUTUBE VIDEO pointing out how to spot fake vibrams:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vImvgeOTcC4&feature=related

Fakes:
– white label on outer side of box, with a non-colour image of the shoe.
– no “Q.C” label anywhere on the box.
– KSO/Classic Model: Curved cuts on the sole (toe, ball of foot, heel) are much deeper than real VFFs.
– The velcro strap should not be continuous stitching towards the end, as you have the option with real VFFs to cut the strap shorter.
– Classic/Sprint: Stitching over back pull tab cuts through the tab, real VFFs are stitched under the tab, then the tab attached.

Hope this helps!

Hi, Checkout http://www.shoesshack.com just paid £46.00 a few weeks ago for a pair of red & black treks, thought they were a good US retailer. they were shipped to a friend in the US. the parcel turned up, sender from Liyang Street Li Shui City. Pretty crumby fakes.
When I bought them, I sent an email through the vibram website to check them out. Had no answer back from them,, Thanks Vibram!

http://www.fivefingersbar.com is another fake. I placed an order for 2 pairs of Bormio’s at $230. After placing the order i realized there was a $231.55 charge on my CC instead. Days later am told my order is out of stock & should order another product to which i declined & instead requested a refund. The customer service is so poor, all the email addresses they provide as giving feedback in 24hrs are a lie. anyway a month down the road after several reminders, they issue a refund, only that it was $29.68 less.

Has anyone purchased from travel country? They have the bikilas for 46.97 blue/yellow/grey color combination…

@Bryan ball i think its fake because icannada sells red and black “vibrams” which don`t exist or atleast there not on vff actual site.

Great just bought a pair myself for £55 from Vibramfivefingersoutlet.Co.uk then after more research I found this site, to find out that its a fake site. I emailed them straight away to cancel my order, no address or phone number found on the site. They have replied back to my email asking why and I will be charged 10% of I want a refund. But hopefully I’ll just lose the 10% and get the rest back.

I’ve been looking for some vibrams but i am worried there are more fake sites than lergit sites.
Can anyone help me and send me some sites that a real.

Thanks

Aaaaaaaaaaggghhhh, nooooooooo!!
I just ordered a pair from vibram five fingers outlet!!! Damn! £50 down the tubes! Should have known it was too good to be true! 🙁
Thanks for the heads up, man. Is there anything we can do to report this? They’re bound to have a file on these guys, right?

After seeing David’s message I emailed fivefingeroutlet myself to cancel and to try to get a refund. The goods have already sent now so it seems I’m out of options. I’ve had to cancel my credit card and change the passwords on all the sites that share the same password as the one I registered with them. I’ll post the details of the state of the shoes when they arrive confirming if it matches the facts above. Gutted!

Can I just say THANK YOU!! to whomever posted the warning on ebay about fakes. It made me run a search to see and I found this site. Another big THANK YOU for this web page also.

Hi Justin.
I bought a pair of VFF and later on, when I posted a photo with it on my feet, immediately I started receiving posts, telling me those were fake.
Now I found another website wich i thought was pretty legit, but, after reading your words, I’m not so sure.
http://www.vibramfivefingershoesstore.com/
Can you tell me if this is for real or not?
Thanks for everything.
PS: sorry about my writing. I’m portuguese and maybe there are some mistakes.

I was searching for a supplier of Vibrams to Australia because the cost of these in stores is crazy. Found out a local shoe store had some so I had a look, they only had KSO in black and wanted $180 for them. I was looking to get some classics and Bikilas.

I found two sites that had them and would ship to Australia.

http://www.vibramfivefingers2au.com &
http://www.fivefingersbar.com

I thought it was a bit strange that they advertised the use of mastercard, VISA, AMEX and paypal but the checkout would only allow for VISA.

So long story short, I am now waiting on my goods from fivefingersbar which I cannot seem to get any information out of them. I have a confirmation of my order number and payment from them (credit card charges to provie it also).

Any advice on what I can expect?

another one, this time ripping off Australians. Whois says they’re Chinese, so I say don’t trust the genuinity.
buyvibramaustralia.com

Some more fake sites:

5shoeuk.co.uk
vibramfivefingersstore.co.uk
vibramfivefingers-sales.co.uk
vibramfivefingersstockist.co.uk
fivefingersuk-cheap.net

my boyfriend fell victim to fake KomodoSport vibrams, I think from the http://www.vibramfivefingersoutlet.co.uk/ store.

The advice – if it looks too good to be true then it probably is – seems sensible. His shoes have since fallen apart, the reflective strip has peeled off and the rubber has come off the bottom 🙁

Another way to spot a fake site is to read their ‘help’ or ‘about us’ section, if it’s written in poor/bizarre English (e.g. http://www.vibramfivefingersoutlet.co.uk/privacy.html) then it’s probably not legit

Tara

P.S. Great site, thanks for all the awesome reviews and for posting this section on fake Vibrams – I’m astonished these companies are allowed to continue, there are so many of them!!

Question for David)David I would like to find out if you received your shoes and if you did are they fake? I’ll appreciate your answer very much!
Kiera

This looks like a fake to me.

everfree.co.uk/vibram-fivefingers-spyridonls-m4152

I never saw such colour scheme on the original site.

For anyone who hasnt read or chooses to ignore the cardinal rule with Vibrams (they dont sell on EBAY and if the site is not listed on Vibrams’ site as a legit reseller) You CAN get your money back. if paypal was used submit a claim right away and it will be refunded in 7 days of submitting it or EVERY major credit card company provides purchase protection against fraud. Give them a call and they will handle the rest, fraud is a form of theft and your legally protected and WILL get your money back. If you do nothing other people will fall victim to the same site.Every complaint is another step closer to having them shut down

Hallo,I’ve purchased on 09/08/2012 a pair of five fingers on the website amazonbuyvip.This website should be serious and they say that they sell at a special cheap price just a few items in each campaign (mine was Lizard & Five fingers)for advertising a brand which is well known only by people who can usually afford buying its products.I didn’t think to receive a fake but I think I have received fake shoes they are not comfortable,they don’t fit (it is terrible trying to wear them they hurt a lot expecially fingers).Moreover shoes are small (it is my feet number but terribly uncomfortable,they look a couple of numbers smaller than what they should).But what is weird is the made in Vietnam.I know that Vibram has no official firms there.Can you please advise if I bought a fake?

I saw some fakies today. Not sure how to tell the guy. He had some the other week that looked weird but I didn’t get a look. Today I saw some others, they just look wrong, badly fitting, and when I double checked the black logo confirmed it.

Remember to keep newbies or any friends that show interest informed. It’s so long since we’ve been buying ours, we forget.

I just got a pair of fake vibram komodosports ls off ebay. They were using the “real pictures” and listing everything as real.
These are the green black version.
Fake attributes:
-The slider on the lace is a different plastic design.

-Velcro under slider is different material/color

-The supposed to be pleather material covering one side of the laces is a different rougher material. Sort of a smoked black color.
-The soles are stiched

-The green fabric between the first three toes are of a different material.

– The embroidered vibram stiches font is correct but the stitching is way too skinny

-Weighing weight difference from my real ones vs fakes in new condition. 7.1oz (real) vs 5.0oz(fake)

-Overall shoe feels flimsier.

There are probably other counterfeit aspects of this shoe I am missing out.
Beware!! Because once you realize the vibrams on your feet are fakes, it WILL mess with your inner chi as you run.

hello,
i bought a pair of at this web site.
http://www.vibramfivefingers3

i have a feeling is fake.
comparing to the one i have brought from a local dealer,

>the logo on the side of the shoes is much bigger.

>the top material look silky

> the logo at the sole is much smaller then the real one i have.

>Overall shoe feels flimsier

Thanks a lot for the website. I was waiting to try on a pair in a local store before ordering at a big discount from http://www.vibramfivefinger-sale.com/, then I found this site. Had a fun (in a sinister way) and informative experience reading through a bunch of the comments. Thanks again for the site, I’ll share on facebook. Good work!

Been shopping for the hubby a pair.

I didn’t see the below specifically listed in the “fake” list.
Do you know anything about these two

vibramfivefinger-sale.com
vibrambeststore.com

I placed an order 6 days ago on http://www.vibramsfivefingers.co.uk for a pair of £55 Vibrams. A foreign transaction (Chinese) went through my credit card for an amount different to the £55 I agreed to pay (£56.58). I haven’t received the Vibrams yet but I am not hanging around to find out if I will or if they will be fake – I have told my credit card company that I dispute the amount charged to my account. They have blocked my card and are now investigating the transaction as fraudulent. I have sent a message to the “retailer” to cancel my order and I will report back what the outcome is. I am hoping that I have had a lucky escape…..

Like Nicola above, I too bought what I thought was a bargain, until I received pay confirmation from a Chinese person through paypal! so I e-mailed them telling them to cancel my order as I believed the VFF they sold to be fake, I alerted my bank HSBC too, I luckily had my order cancelled and refunded. I’ll wait until I’ve been barefoot running for a while and my Vivobarefoot breatho’s have worn out, and can justify paying £100+! and try them on in the flesh!

Bought a pair of Speeds off of cheapvibramksosale.com
And they were too small, as I have had many real fivefingers in the same size before, thus I started to suspect they were fake. I emailed the Fivefinger Rep for Florida here is his reply:
Yes, those shoes are counterfeit, below are some ways to tell:

1. We just started shipping the solid black speed last week, the old one was black and white. No dealers have it yet.

2. It has the wrong color outsole, the real one is gray and black, not solid black.

3. The shoes came directly from China. We don’t have any dealers in China and approved dealers are not allowed to ship overseas.

4. It has a Bikila tag on the inside, but it is not a Bikila, it is a speed.

5. The type font for the sizing is wrong.

They were likely made using substandard materials and not on our lasts, which means the fit is incorrect. We have also gotten information that the counterfeit houses use child labor.

Counterfeiters are thieves, plain and simple. I encourage you to write a letter to your congressmen, urging him to stand up to the Chinese and to pass more stringent laws against this sort of thing.

vibramfivefingersoutlet.co.uk
this looks like another dodgy website as well
easy to be fooled as they are offering like 52% off deals
I admit I was caught once but hopefully not again

6PM.com sells vibram fivefinger shoes.Are they reputable? I know there are some fake web sites that sell them. Please advise.

Thanks, Kim

I JUST purchased a pair of the KMD LS from 6pm.com – thought they were too small so went to fit2run, an authorized dealer and purchased a size larger. Once I got home, I noticed major differences; I noticed the inside wall stitching was missing from the 6pm pair, print on the box was different, the tag tied to the shoes were of different colors, and embroidery on the shoes were different thickness and shades.

I found that odd, I thought 6pm would be trustworthy… I’m emailing VFF and 6pm about this to further investigate.

Thank you all for these insightful comments, and for the dude who has brought people together with vibram/barefoot running.

Palladiumfinder is a seller on eBay who is selling fakes.

Might I add the obvious? If they’re dirt cheap; not listed on the official site; Have terrible errors on grammar in the description; Are shipped from Chin then I`d bet my life that they’re fake. MY LIFE! Don’t be a mug, buy the real thing.

I’ll hopefully experience my first real pair tomorrow, if they fit. Fingers crossed they fit.

Received an e-mail today from Vibram regarding 6pm.com shoes… the person who responded to my e-mail said 6pm.com is a valid seller and assured me that I did not receive fakes. I think my first pair was fake but they held up well and I loved them.. my new classics are uncomfortable and I kind of hate them. I’ll try out the Alitza and see where that gets me!

Before finding this site I ordered a pair of Vibrams from what I thought was a legit UK seller, then I got the email saying they were being delivered from China “ding-ding” alarm bells. Even now I am still awaiting delivery even though the said they were delivered 36 hours later at 02:00am, fast delivery from China don’t even know if UPS offer that. Anyway the site is http://www.uk5fingers.org, looks perfectly genuine but I don’t think so as I have now emailed 3 times without reply

Well I have just went to my bank Fraud Team and they have confirmed my payment has went to Pejing, so I have just been scammed. I actually wonder if I will even recieve my fakes now. Please do not buy from http://www.uk5fingers.org

I’ve been a right tool and not realised there was such an issue with counterfeit Vibrams. I googled “Vibram Five Fingers UK” and the top result was:

http://www.vibramfivefingerukshop.com/

This seemed fine to an unsuspecting customer like me, and in my defense I think it’s a reasonable expectation to believe the top result would be an official website.

I proceeded to purchase a pair of Komodo’s from the official looking website. Now that I’ve received them they are clearly fake. They dont even have the full Vibram logo down the side. They say “ibram”.

I feel really stupid, as I thought I was quite wise to this sort of thing. Turns out I’m not.

Could Vibrams do more to combat this sort of thing? I’m sure if I googled, Nike UK, Adidas UK or Speedo UK an offical website would be the top result?

Hi there,
I tried to order on this site: http://www.vibram-fivefingersonline.co.uk/

I wanted to order the Komodo sport model which cost 76€ with shipping.
For some reason the order status is “declined” so I sent an email. Here is the answer:
Dear my friend
Thanks for your attention on our website!
http://www.vibram-fivefingersonline.co.uk/
I am very sorry to tell u ,
ur order #98562107 been not successfu
we donot have received the correct information for payment
u need make a order again
Looking forward to your reply
Best Regards,
C.S Department
http://www.vibram-fivefingersonline.co.uk/
2013-05-28
________________________________________
service6060

Siince there are many writing error I’m begining to be suspicious and I’m checking my account every day to be sure.

Let me know if this website is fake too.

Thanks.

Regards,
Sebastien

also barefootfingers.com is a fake site. Bought some shoes from there, they are fake, does anybody have any ideas that could help me get a refund?

Dear Confused – I’ve never seen FiveFingers go for anywhere near that cheap in Australia, they’re usually twice as expensive as in the states. Also Vibram never sizes as unisex, there’s always been M and F, also I’m not sure that Vibram have their own brand of socks, usually it’s Injini (sp). It’s hard to say, but contact them and grill them for some info, see what happens. Good luck 🙂

I think you can add vibramsuksale.co.uk to your list of fake sites who offer vibram five fingers for sale, but clearly don’t! I was given two different tracking numbers even after the item had apparently been posted!

They also quote 17track.net to track your delivery but always avoided stating the actual courier even when repeatedly asked.

Please spread this far and wide……..

Beware – I think this is a fake UK distributor: http://www.vibramfivefingerukshop.com
I ordered a pair from them weeks ago (on 2 day delivery) and nothing has turned-up, except that I have been charged by some Chinese company. They only sell five-fingers and after closer inspection I have found grammar errors. Silly me…

Hi! First I would like to thank you for such a useful information!!!! thefivefingers.co is in your list of fake retailers but they are still operating and looks like the real retailer of Vibrams! Why not block them? 🙂

@Andy, 02/18/12 @ 01:11
>http://myworld.ebay.com/soleanddesire [typo corrected]
>
>how abt this person? the person is selling not really cheap
>price but cheaper by a lil bit($20) in my country.help please…

OK, it’s been a while since this was asked, but I just received a pair of VFF Speed black/white I ordered there and they are legit. I already own a jet-black pair (see Vibram’s european site) that I got from an authorized dealer and they match in material, size and build quality.

Hi,
You write that zappos, which doesn’t have a brick and mortar store doesn’t sell the vibram five finger shoes. I am on the Zappos wabsite and I see many models in the Vibram five fingers brand. Please explain.

thanks

@Harry – great catch. This used to be Vibram’s policy but it (obviously) has changed — it changed sometime in 2013 if I recall correctly and Zappos does, indeed, sell Vibrams now.

is activinstinct.com.au legit? it looks to be but I haven’t seen it mentioned anywhere before and there are no reviews on the fivefingers…

is http://thefivefingers.co/ site a fake? I’m kind of confused about it, looks good and everything seems alright but it’s on this list and a comment by another user was kind of confusing. I’ve been trying to find the Trek LS and they “have” them. Any thoughts?

Was just looking at vibramsuksale.co.uk and thought it all looked to good to be true. Not just the price but the website is very convincing.

Glad I did some research!