It should not come as a surprise for you that there is a real hunt out there for the rarest sneakers online. Some sneakerheads want to update their collections and some buy limited shoes for retail. In this Guide we will concentrate around those of you who use sneaker copping as a retail practice to pay the bills and put the bread on the table.
First, we will take an in-depth view at various sites and apps that feature the most desirable kicks on the market. We will go through the conventional practice of copping sneakers using bots, but this time we will also feature information that will be helpful to get around some bot protection as well. And, of course, you will learn about the ultimate proxies that will help you get your coveted pair (or several) of shoes.
If all of the above gets you excited and you really cannot wait to find out how to get shoes for retail, let’s get started with the main issues: legality and safety of sneakers copping.
First Things You Need to Know While Copping Shoes for Retail
Let’s get some things straight from the get-go. Regardless of what footsites think about this issue, copping sneakers is a legal practice that is not banned by any of the federal or state laws out there (unlike, say, ticket scalping).
In some ways copping for sneakers resembles fishing, in a sense that a guy with the ultimate digital setup will be the first to chase and grab the ‘big fish’ in the pond. And, just like fishing, it can be a bit tedious and even excruciating but still super rewarding once you count the catch.
And, one of the best things about copping is that you can enter this business with minimum investments. Of course, your appetite might grow once you get a taste of it. But if you follow some good advice, you can keep your costs to the minimum until it starts to pay off. Also, it will help to learn some slang for sneakers here before you get heavily involved in copping.
While deciding whether to make a full-time gig out of copping is absolutely up to you, you should know that the level of required concentration can truly peak during the drops and restocks and that is what you should be aware of.
Having said all that, let’s now talk more about the ‘ponds’ where you can start your copping online.
Main Sites for Copping Shoes
From the perspective of buying sneakers with bots you can split the shoe sites into three major categories: branded sites, multi-brand sites and sneaker platforms.
As for the brands, the major names in the industry appear to be as follows:
1. Nike sites. Here people normally refer to Nike.com and the super popular Nike SNKRS app.
2. Supreme. The major site here is Supremenewyork with its weekly drops.
Multi-brand shops are usually called Footsites.
3. Footsites include Footlocker, Champs, EastBay and Footaction.
And the multitude of platforms where you can get sneakers for retail are as follows:
4. Shopify. This popular platform is used for a whole variety of shops including Jimmy Jazz, Bape, Kith, etc.
5. Demandware is the platform that hosts Adidas (in USA and Europe) and also Yeezy Supply.
6. Mesh. Websites here include the European Footpatrol and The Hip Store.
A little warning here: Some sites will not ship kicks to your location, so it can be wise to use a middleman in the country of purchase to deliver your sneakers to your door.
3 Ways on How to Cop Sneakers for Retail
Before we get into some specifics on how to get shoes for retail online with and without bots, let’s clarify on some of the most common terminology related to footwear releases.
First of all, you should be aware that there are two types of releases: drop and restock. Drop is a first-time release of a particular sneaker model and it gets announced prematurely by brands or footsites. And restock is a post-drop release of a model after a sold out. Restocks are normally less predictable and may not be announced aforehand.
Also, from the perspective of sales mechanics releases can be subdivided into two categories: FCFS (First Come, First Served) and Queue (or Raffle). With FCFS it is pretty much straight forward: you want to get your pair first and proceed with checkout ASAP. And with Queue or Raffle you will first get selected for further lottery and then the system will decide to award you a checkout or not. This is clearly one of the most contemporary mechanisms to help sites fight off hordes of buyers with bots.
Another thing that will definitely help you along your copping is Discord Cook Groups. Sometimes the membership in such groups of sneakers aficionados comes with bots that you buy from third parties.
1. Copping Sneakers Using Bots
This is the most frequent dilemma with budding sneakers buyers who want to know ‘What is sneaker botting?’ and whether to use bots for their copping or to be better off without them. The answer to this question is not very simple.
On the one hand using a bot can make your copping more efficient on the checkout, especially if you are buying kicks from the sites without raffles. With ‘first come, first served’ sites, you will be able not only to complete your purchase ahead of the line with manual entries on the checkout but you may have an opportunity to complete several purchases while being on the same platform.
Now, if you decide on using bots, you can proceed with some brand or platform specific options that should do the job for you. You can select from a variety of Nike, Adidas or Mesh bots out there, or invest in an AIO (all-in-one) bot that will claim to be a universal solution. Although, with AIO bots you have to be more careful since their application on some sites would be useless (e.g. users find that AIO bots are unfit for Nike sites).
The recommendations for using bots by some of our proxy users are as follows:
1. Nike bots: Better Nike Bot, Another Nike Bot, Project Enigma, Kickmoji
2. Adidas bots: Kodai AIO, AIObot, Prism AIO, NSB Bot, Wraith AIO
3. Supreme bots: Cybersole AIO, ANB Supreme Bot, MEKPreme, Mangopreme
4. Footsites bots: Ghost AIO, AIObot, Prism AIO, Kodai AIO
5. Shopify bots: ANB AIO, Trickle Bot, Prism AIO, Sole AIO
And again, these bots are given here as the most frequently used and are not our direct recommendation. Your personal experience using such bots may differ depending on a variety of factors from the quality of proxies you use to the drop settings you may have during a particular release.
Some of the bots (and bot resellers) tend to sweeten up the deal with exclusive access to Discord cook groups with communities of sneakerheads who can provide you with vital information on the upcoming drops and bot setup specifics, which can be a useful thing in itself.
2. Buying Sneakers without Bots
Another approach that is promoted by some sneakers aficionados is copping kicks without bots in the first place. In fact, the bots are viewed as ‘evil’ by such online communities.
These communities (appearing as apps) help you configure your sneakers preferences (brands, sizes, drop dates) to be able to get ahead of the crowd through an educated approach in buying rare kicks.
The main idea here revolves around preparing the members of such communities for the upcoming limited drops to be able to secure your pair though raffles where bots are almost useless and may not survive the bot protection.
3. Copping Sneakers with Proxies
Regardless of your copping sneakers for retail strategy, you will be definitely better off with special sneaker proxies. You can start using smart copping strategies with bots and without them when you deploy proxies meant to help hide your real IP and pretend to be a regular user in a certain geographical location.
Depending on the websites you want to successfully cop on, you will be able to choose from Nike, Supreme or Adidas proxies that will let you buy from one or several accounts without raising red flags on the part of the anti-bot protection systems.
Well, yes, you will definitely be able to try sneaker copping for retail without proxies, however, you will significantly increase the chance to buy your pair of sneakers with them. It is especially true, if you are copping from a different state, country or time zone of a footwear marketplace.
As for the best type of private proxies that you can buy for your successful copping for retail, the ultimate results are normally expected from residential proxies. These proxies will be perfect for copping from several accounts mimicking the behavior of some random users. You can also try using rotating datacenter proxies with sticky sessions, which will grant you enough time to complete checkouts. Your proxy use case can be different, and we normally advise our customers on the best proxy solutions for their particular situation.
How to Beat Sneaker Bots When Someone Else Use It
It may sound a bit paradoxical, but, yes, you can beat the bots with proxies while you cop sneakers for retail online. Here is how it is possible to accomplish.
1. Proxies running on multiple accounts. One way would be through buying a lot of proxies to be able to login from multiple accounts during the drop. You will be able to complete checkouts from various accounts, while increasing your chances of winning the raffle. You might want to consult your proxy provider and/or test your proxies before the release. Read this article on how to test proxies if in doubt about your pool of IPs.
2. Browser Autofill. Another tip on how to cop shoes for retail fast is to fight bots in the areas they claim to be ahead of you. Bots are good and speedy checkouts because they automate the form fill out process. You can do it as well by using the settings of your Google Chrome browser. Go to Settings and Autofill to enter the shipping address and payment details for faster checkout.
3. Copping on more protected websites. Also, it is quite obvious that competing against bots on sites like Footsites and Yeezy Supply can be tough, so you can attain higher chances of winning where anti-bot systems are more severe. Consider copping sneakers on Shopify-based stores to increase your buying efficiency.
Сopping Shoes for Retail With PrivateProxy
Account managers at PrivateProxy have vast experience in consulting our customers on the best proxy solutions for their copping strategies. So, if you ask yourself: “How do proxies work for sneakers?” and “Will your proxies work in my case?” do not hesitate to forward these questions to us directly and we will take care of you.
Over the past ten years we successfully supplied residential and datacenter proxies for all kinds of copping missions. Our tech support will be always at your disposal 24/7 to resolve any technical issues related to your IPs in a timely fashion. So, relax and think about what excites you the most: a new rare pair of kicks for your great collection.
Frequently Asked Questions
Please read our Documentation if you have questions that are not listed below.
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What are the best proxies for copping shoes for retail?
Normally, residential proxies should do all the work you expect from high-end private proxies. In some cases, you can opt for rotating residential or datacenter proxies. Your proxy pool for copping sneakers entirely depends on your buying strategy (number of accounts, bots used, etc.) and, therefore, we strongly advise you to contact your proxy provider before you deploy proxies during the release.
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Are your proxies compatible with bots that I already use?
Yes, our proxies support all bots and configurations. In the event of doubt, please contact our tech support team prior to the release to make sure that you bought the right IPs for the mission.
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How to cop shoes for retail fast using proxies?
In order to increase your chances of winning in your copping mission you need to follow the advice of setting up Autofill in your browser settings to speed up the checkout process. Also, in case you are using bots, you should also consider copping with high speed connection and/or even sneaker servers. In any of the cases above you will require high quality sneakers proxies from such providers as PrivateProxy.
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Is it OK to buy all my proxies for sneakers from one provider?
Once you have completed a number of successful missions with proxies from the same provider, you can safely move all your proxy business to such a provider. From the technical and economical perspective this could be a very wise decision.
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