Not Just Sneakers and PS5: Here's How to Find the Best Deals at StockX

If you've heard of StockX in the past couple of years, it was probably for one of two things: sneakers or game consoles. The online marketplace that catered to sneakerheads pivoted to game consoles when the PS5 and Xbox Series X launched with unprecedented shortages in the fall of 2020. As with Air Jordans, StockX was happy to connect buyers willing to pay steep markups on the consoles with resellers who were happy to flip their purchases for a tidy profit. But looking at StockX several months on, something notable has happened. There are still plenty of overpriced PS5 and Xbox offers you can browse -- and we still suggest you don't pay extra for those consoles. But StockX is now becoming a pretty great place to find potential deals on electronics, too. 

StockX says its mission is "to provide access to the world's most coveted items in the smartest way possible." So, think "eBay for cool stuff." But while eBay is a sprawling marketplace with nearly anything and everything, StockX has (so far) remained much more focused, keeping its shopping emphasis on "sneakers, apparel, electronics, collectibles, trading cards and accessories." The result is a much less overwhelming experience when shopping on StockX.  

The big differentiator for deal hunters, though, is that StockX has a handy filter that highlights products available "below retail." Whether you're looking at watches, handbags, electronics or -- yes -- sneakers, clicking that filter will automatically give you the options selling for below MSRP. 

Now, "below MSRP" does not necessarily equal "best price on the web," so we did some comparison shopping. As of the time of this writing, here's how some of the StockX deals compare to prices on Amazon: 

So, StockX wins across the board, but there's a catch: You don't get the stuff you take for granted at Amazon -- namely, free shipping. In fact, the shipping and "processing fee" when we went to buy the DualSense controller added another $19 to the StockX total -- $70.66, after sales tax. Still, that was about $4 less than Amazon at the end, and on a product where the price differential is more extreme -- like the G-Shock -- the StockX purchase still comes out way ahead. And, of course, Amazon's "free" shipping isn't free -- you'll need Amazon Prime, which now costs a whopping $139 per year. 

Verified authenticity

As an online marketplace where buyers are purchasing items from third-party sellers, the comparisons to eBay are obvious. But -- in addition to that handy "below retail" filter -- there are two big differences. First off, sellers don't have to write detailed descriptions or take photos of what they're selling. Instead of antiques and one-off items, everything on StockX is a commercially available item. 

Secondly, everything sold at StockX is new and unused. And unlike other online sites with third-party sellers StockX verifies the authenticity of each item before it's sold. All of the characteristics about the item (condition, packaging and so forth) are verified by a team of experts on staff and the company boasts a 99.95% accuracy rate with millions of items having already been checked by its team. That makes sense: A retailer specializing in collectibles wants to make sure there's not even a whiff of counterfeit items sneaking into the marketplace. That's a problem that has continued to bedevil Amazon. 

There's an on-going suit between Nike and StockX in which Nike is making claims against StockX about shoes being sold on the platform. We reached out to StockX for comment, and the company said: 

We take customer protection extremely seriously, and we've invested millions to fight the proliferation of counterfeit products that virtually every global marketplace faces today. Nike's latest filing is not only baseless but also is curious given that their own brand protection team has communicated confidence in our authentication program, and that hundreds of Nike employees – including current senior executives – use StockX to buy and sell products. This latest tactic amounts to nothing more than a panicked and desperate attempt to resuscitate its losing legal case against our innovative Vault NFT program that revolutionizes the way that consumers can buy, store, and sell collectibles safely, efficiently, and sustainably.  Nike's challenge has no merit and clearly demonstrates their lack of understanding of the modern marketplace.

We did note that StockX has a very low customer rating on the Better Business Bureau website. But company reps seem to be highly engaged with the complaints there, and -- here's the kicker -- the BBB customer ratings for both eBay and Amazon are also underwater. 

At the end of the day, if you're in the market for the admittedly curated and focused set of products that StockX sells, there are a lot of great deals to be had here -- certainly more than we expected after only encountering StockX's PS5 sellers. If you're willing to spend a little time looking through what's available and leave a bit of cushion for the shipping and processing chargers, it's worth adding StockX to your shopping list if you're seeking out a deal.