Side Stepping the Sneaker Scramble: Unconventional Routes to Your Perfect Pair 🔥
As a sneakerhead myself, missing out on sneaker drops can be a frustrating and disappointing experience. Whether it's a sick collab or a hyped release, it feels like the odds are always against us. You can spend hours refreshing pages, joining raffles, and waiting in virtual lines only to get nada, while bots and resellers snatch up the limited quantity right away.
For me, it was a particularly disappointing drop that didn’t go my way last year, which made me look into UA sneakers for the first time. Honestly, ever since then, I’m having a hard time getting as involved as I used to be with the retail game.
UA, or unauthorized authentic, shoes are basically top-quality versions of popular sneaker releases that are either made in alternative factories (with the same materials) or are simply units not approved for wholesale by the manufacturer. While some may turn their noses up at the idea of buying a UA/replica, for many sneakerheads, it's become a way to get their hands on hyped kicks that they might not otherwise be able to afford or get their hands on. As well with as the quality of UA shoes continuing to improve, and in some cases like with Nike Dunks – surpassing that of retail, they've become an appealing alternative for those who don't want to miss out on the latest releases.
Like many, I first turned to the thriving in popularity r/Repsneakers subreddit. There, I found a community of people who are all about sneakers game and replica kicks. The subreddit is a place where people can share information about the latest replicas, ask for advice on where to find the best replicas, and review the replicas they've copped. After reading countless articles, I was convinced and pulled the trigger on a pair of Travis Scott Reverse Mochas from a seller called Coco. While the quality of the final product absolutely blew me away, I was less than impressed by their payment methods, shipping times, and overall customer experience was meh.
Doing further research, I unfortunately came to the conclusion that none of the “middlemen” on the list of established sellers (Monica, Uncle Lin, Kickwho, DDkicks, UAbat) actually offer anything substantially different, mostly leaving you forced to pay through PayPal friends and family (no buyer protection), or straight up bank transfer / crypto. Yikes.
Several months later, I saw a friend of mine in a new pair of Sean Wotherspoon Air Max 1/97 and couldn’t help but ask him where they were from (knowing that brand new pairs are quite hard to come by). This is the first time I was told about Drip Locker. The price he initially told me sounded slightly expensive for UAs but after he told me he’d managed to pay via Apple Pay right on their site and subsequently get pics for approval before shipment, as well as easy and up-to-date tracking, I knew I had to give them a go.
The model I decided to test out were a pair of Travis Scott Black Phantoms (I know, I’m a sucker for any Travis collab). I paid using Apple Pay on my iPhone (made sure it was a secure gateway, which I can happily say it was), and immediately received an order confirmation email. Since I forgot to specify that I wanted to receive QC photos prior to shipment, I messaged the support via Instagram and was surprised to get an answer within the hour that they’ve added a note to send me photos on my order.
Five days later, I received these photos to my email and wow – everything looked perfect. While I kind of had some doubts, they might “bait and switch”, the shoes which arrived at my door, they were exactly those from the photos and I couldn’t be happier.
Sure, they cost me about 20 quid more than the usual Reddit seller but I didn’t have to write in broken English to WhatsApp numbers and remind sellers about QC photos multiple times after ordering… To me, that kind of convenience is very worthy of their small mark-up.
Since then, I’ve gone on to order in total seven pairs from them (I have a problem but they also had a Black Friday sale, sooo…). Only one had a slight issue, which they were VERY quick to resolve. Yes, these guys even have a UK returns address for any problematic orders.
I don’t think I’m going back to other sellers any time soon. For models I miss out on retail for, they are my new go-to.
Another thing I love about Drip Locker is their wide range of models. While some sellers focus on certain batches of certain sneakers, they seem to stock the best of everything and frequently update their Instagram and TikTok with new releases. I'm someone who appreciates both vintage and modern sneakers, and there are very few grails I haven’t been able to find in their collection. From classic Nike Dunks Lows to limited-edition releases like the Travis Scott collaborations, you’d be hard-pressed to not find what you’re looking for on their site.
I highly recommend Drip Locker to anyone looking for high-quality UA sneakers and excellent customer service. Whether you're a casual wearer or a sneakerhead with a passion for collecting, drop the preconceived notions on UA and give it a go.
If you decide to try them out, feel free to use the exclusive code “DRIPBIBLE” for 10% off your first order with them. That basically puts their prices on par with Reddit sellers.