How much do you think it costs to make a pair of Nike shoes in Asia?

You can buy Croc knockoffs at the "Dollar Store" yet Crocs still exists. Why? Is it purely first-mover advantage/brand or is there an engineering edge?

There are _some_ differences in quality, but I think they're pretty minor.

I recently visited the Philippines and a friend bought some knockoff Crocs at a market. The little rivet thing holding the strap to the shoe had the logo printed right on the exposed plastic, and after a few days, the logo was mostly scratched off. But my wife's Crocs that she bought a decade ago still look fine because there's some sort of sealant on top of the logo.

Is that worth an 800% markup? Probably not. But the knockoffs do cut some corners that the genuine articles don't.

I had a pair of knockoffs that were passable for limited purposes but certainly didn't pass muster as my primary shoe. I thought that the style just wasn't my thing. Then I got a pair of real Crocs and they very quickly became my go to for most purposes.

I don't know enough about shoes to explain why, but the difference in comfort level was huge.

Do Crocs bought today match up to those old ones?

I don't know about Crocs but brazilian flip-flops "Havaianas" never lost market share even though it feels so trivial to clone it.

The only two modes of failure of this sandal is "drying up" after a couple years and broken thong straps (yes, 3rd parties sell those as replacements..)

I guess they make sure they have cheap offerings and are always investing in design and marketing so no one can enter this market..

The material used by genuine Crocs seems to last much longer. My brother bought some knock-offs at the same time that I picked up a new pair. He wore through the soles in about two years while mine are still kicking after almost 8 years of near-daily use.

You can get the genuine ones for $18 to $35 on ebay depending on the color, so while I'm sure you can save some on clones it's not worth it for the durability and comfort.

knockoff crocs suck. i have them. why ?

i have them. knockoff crocs suck. why ?