Sneaker copping is a practice of purchasing highly valuable or limited-edition sneakers, usually in high quantities, and at the time they drop. A drop is a limited release of sneakers, people that chase drops are called sneakerheads.
They consistently outperform ordinary buyers, and most of us have been in situations when the sneakers we were waiting for are sold out instantly. How they achieve this speed and quantities may seem somewhat tricky at first, but just a few essential things are all you really need to know to get started.
Sneaker proxies
You won’t be able to purchase more than a couple of pairs of sneakers or use automation with the same IP address. This is because sneaker sites actively limit the number of purchases and track users trying to bypass their rules.
For this reason, you have to hide your IP address and use multiple different ones. Proxies are the most reliable way to achieve this. They act as intermediaries for your connection by changing your IP address and making it seem that another computer is connecting instead.
For copping shoes, a dedicated kind of proxies came into existence – sneaker proxies. They are optimized to work with sneaker sites and have a selection of carefully selected locations. Providers usually test them before giving access to customers, so you won’t need to wonder whether it will work before buying.
Dedicated sneaker proxies are superior because their connection comes from regular homes and devices. Other types of proxies might also work, but you will risk being detected by the websites as they lack legitimacy.
Sneaker bots
Bots are software programs designed to automate various repetitive tasks online while imitating human behavior. Sneaker bots are no exception; they automate the tasks of monitoring and buying sneakers in high quantities. All you need to do is set up tasks, and the bot will accomplish the purchases for you.
Since little to no interaction is needed, the speed of the bot is incomparably quicker than that of a human. It results in sneakerheads armed with bots collecting all of the most valuable drops in mere seconds.
Sneaker sites are not happy with this action and do their best to tackle bots and deny the purchases. They created a number of strategies for this, but sneaker bots are also improving as a response. Such a cat and mouse game results in bots getting quite advanced.
We already mentioned proxies; without them, bots would be almost useless. But with proxy integration, bots also have plenty of other features aimed to mimic human behavior and exploit specific layouts and defense flaws in websites.
There are plenty of bots to choose from, and you should define your needs before you commit to one. If you want a flexible solution working with the most popular sneaker sites, go with the All in one bot (AIO).
Some aim to cop only a specific kind of sneakers, so a dedicated bot, like Adidas or Nike bot, is enough. Yet another group of bots target sites that function similarly, so we have Shopify and Footsites bots.
Reshipping services
Sneaker vendors not only limit the IP address that can visit their websites but also limit the shipping addresses they can send sneakers to. If a drop is happening in Germany and you are somewhere in Texas, the provider will deny your purchase.
Even worse, you might have an address, but the vendor will send only one or two pairs there. Such practice aims to limit the releases and target products for specific audiences, but sneakerheads are ready for this challenge.
Buying reshipping services will allow another company to accept your sneakers at their address and then send it to you. Such companies usually have addresses all around the world, and you will be able to choose the one that the vendor will accept.
Reshaping addresses are often based in warehouses at close locations with slight variations in their names. The downside is that some sneaker sites have blacklisted such shipping destinations. But the upside is that they can provide sneakerheads with hundreds of addresses in close locations.
Payment methods
Most of us have one or two payment cards at our disposal, and that’s okay if you are an ordinary shopper. Sneakerheads, however, need way more than that because some websites limit payment cards to one per account.
The purchase might not be processed if you use the same card in a couple of accounts. To bypass such limitations, use virtual cards from online providers. These are ordinary cards that do not exist in a physical form. Therefore, you can order almost an unlimited amount of them.
Cook groups
Most sneakerheads band together by discussing and organizing their copping in so-called cook groups. These communities are closed and require an invitation to a Discord or Slack group. The nature of the information shared there demands a bit of secrecy.
In cook groups, members share tips and tricks with one another on how it is best to use many of the tools required for sneaker copping. More advanced groups also share insider information about upcoming drops and coordinate actions between themselves.
Since many sneakerheads are copping for profit, expect to pay a joining or a monthly fee for the cook group. Some are scared by high prices, but it is a good investment if you are successful.
Most worthwhile cook groups are not beginner-friendly, so be sure to do some research on your own before joining. Get to know the tools and start monitoring hyped releases. Knowing a thing or two upfront will allow you to blend in and use the group more effectively.
Wrapping up
Sneaker copping won’t be a confusing practice now. Even more, you should be able to do it by yourself. Just prepare for every one of these actions before you start, and your journey will be a success.
