Yeezy 500 Real vs. Fake Guide 2025: How Can I Tell If It Is Real?

1. The Toe Box

1) The real Yeezy 500 is made with a mix of genuine suede, Nu-buck, and pigmented full-grain leather. The suede is medium nap so it is a bit hairy. To clean up the hairy edges, Adidas has color embossed the edges. You can see this on the eye stay parts and the ankle strap. The eye-stay underlay is a pigmented full-grain leather. The surface is uniform in color with a slight texture emboss. You can see it’s genuine leather by the texture of the cut edge.

2) The fake Yeezy 500 is constructed with low-quality, high-nap, belly suede. The surface is rough and hairy. You can also feel the leather’s substance is soft and spongy, not the firm high-quality suede of the real Adidas-made Yeezy. 

3) The authentic one is more round and short, while the fake one is more boxy, long and bulky. 

2. The Rear Side

1) The fake sneaker has a slightly different shape at the rear side, as the heel seems a bit more steep.

2) The fake Yeezy 500 sneakers have a much fatter shape if you compare them to the real Yeezys.

3) Comparing the fake Vs real Yeezy 500, you can notice that the mesh is a bit smaller on the real one. 

4) Lastly, the stitching dividing the mesh and leather parts is too visible, while the real one is hidden.

5) The midsole and the lower outsole should have the same color. Here the fake pair has its midsole a creamy color, but the outsole is more yellowish. However, if you spot a difference like this, it doesn’t always mean the product is fake. Sometimes it can be explained by differences in lighting in photos.

3. The Heel

1) The real Yeezy 500 sneakers seem to be wider on the bottom and the top sides of the sneakers, and narrower in the middle of them.The fake Yeezys seem wider than the real pairs.

2) The sews come too close to the border on the fake pair, which makes them appear untidy. The stitches are also too small in comparison to the real ones. 

4. The Outsole

1) The fake outsole unit is nearly identical. The tooling design for the rubber compression outsole is well duplicated. The color of the rubber is not correct, and the compound is slightly softer than the authentic.

2) The “non-marking” text should be distinct and well stamped, deep enough to make it easily readable. Apart from that, you can notice that the counterfeit has slightly more rounded and bold letters.

5. The Tongue

1) Looking at the tongue face of the two Yeezys, you can see dramatic differences in material quality and workmanship. 

2) The leather part on the real pair needs to be longer than the way it is on the fake. 

3) The lacing style follows a simple pattern:

• The left lace goes under the right lace in the left shoe.
  

• The right lace goes under the left lace in the right shoe. 

If your lacing style does not correspond with this pattern when you first unbox your sneakers, then you certainly have a fake product in your hands. 

4) The shoelaces should be well-structured and rather firm (not easily separated). However, they must also be elastic and stretchy. Of course, it’s difficult to do having just the picture, but if you are able to hold these sneakers in-person, this additional method will help you. 

5) Finally, the stitching needs to be neat, with every sew looking exactly like the other ones. 

6. The Size Tag

1) The most of the letters on the fake tag are smaller and thicker than on the real.  It is especially noticeable when looking at the “Made in China” letters, which are too small and too far from the edge of the tag. The real Yeezy 500 pairs have their “MADE IN CHINA” text looking thinner.

2) On the fake Yeezy 500 size tag, there is a lot more space between the month of production, the slash, and the year of production.

3) The product code letters at the bottom are fuzzy and hard to read. This is often the case with fake products, so look out for flaws like that.

4) Each letter in the "adidas" text below the QR code is printed just touching each other, and the number "0" is a narrow, pointed oval shape. The "0" on this fake is more rounded.

7. The Insole

This model is the only Yeezy to have a colored insole.

1) The fake Yeezy has a softer footbed.You would normally expect the fake to be very stiff with cardboard-like foam. 

2) The insole is of a coarser material with small black grainy dots. Fake Yeezys have very few black dots or none at all. 

3) The red and yellow parts feel full to the touch and integrate with the sole seamlessly. If they are hollow, it may be a replica. 

4) The stitches on the real insole are messy and perforations tend to be larger. 

5) The real Yeezy has a solid, smooth, white Strobal board with a thin foam layer. Replicas use inferior materials so their insole does not have the same lustrous look. 

6) The real Yeezy logo has thicker letters than the fake one. And the fake letters are more glossy in comparison to authentic, more matte, letters.

Where To Buy New And Second-hand Yeezy 500?

Yeezy sneakers are available in Adidas boutiques worldwide and online.  And you can also get a second-hand and vintage Yeezy sneakers on some resale websites! Sign up at Extrabux.com, you can get up to 7% cash back on new and second-hand Yeezy 500 purchase at these sites！

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Frequently Asked Questions

Are the Yeezy 500 comfortable?

The Yeezy 500 sits on an Adidas boost sole unit making them incredibly comfortable.

Does Yeezy 500 run big?

Sizing-wise, they run a bit small, so some may want to opt for a half-size up. This is due to the shoe's structure being firm and supportive. 

Is the Yeezy 500 true to size?

The Yeezy 500 runs slightly small so you need to go half a size up. If you have particularly wide feet you will definitely need to size up or your toes will be squished as the shoe has narrow toebox and midfoot. This applies for the High silhouette as well.

How do you clean Yeezy 500?

The suede panels can be a little tricky to clean but with a decent amount of cleaning solution and a soft-bristled brush they clean up nicely most of the time. 

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