How to spot fake Vibram Five Fingers

Buy only from an authorized retailer

• Authorized Vibram FiveFingers® retailers

Purchasing genuine Vibram FiveFingers® products ensures that you avoid wasting your money on poor quality products, or worse, having your personal and financial information compromised. Also, by insisting on genuine Vibram FiveFingers® products, you support fair labor and ethical business practices—responsibilities that counterfeiters flagrantly ignore.

Don't be deceived

Counterfeiters continue to refine their process to better deceive consumers. They utilize stolen imagery and text from our Web site and those of authorized retailers. They advertise heavily on Google and focus on high search engine rankings to confuse consumers. Your best defense is to stay educated and be wary of deals that seem too good to be true—they probably are.

How To Spot A Fake:

You know that "FiveFingers" products are counterfeits if:
• The url is a variation of "Vibram" or "FiveFingers." Hyphens, underscores, and declarations of "authentic" or "real" products are a dead giveaway.
• The "retailer" offers no contact phone number, or the contact number immediately directs you to voicemail.
• The "retailer" can't be found on our store locator. All authorized Web retailers of Vibram FiveFingers® products must have a brick-and-mortar presence.
• The product photography featured includes our boxes and collateral material--we don't feature packaging in our product photography.
  
• Brands not named "Vibram" are offering their own "FiveFingers" products. Vibram is the only company legally allowed to produce Vibram FiveFingers® products.
• They appear on eBay and other online auction sites. No authorized retailers of Vibram FiveFingers® are allowed to sell our products through online auction sites.
• Discounts are advertised. "FiveFingers" products being sold at discounts of 20% to 50% or more are almost always counterfeit.
• You see options for buying in bulk quantities with discount incentives.
• All sorts of crazy colors are offered that you've never seen on http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/products/products_footwear.cfm
• Fabrics and materials appear different. Many counterfeiters are using a Lycra® spandex-like material that has a thicker, less-elastic knit texture to it.
• The Web site or "retailer" posts confusing or poorly written product descriptions and low-quality or low-resolution product images.