You can buy Croc knockoffs at the "Dollar Store" yet Crocs still exists. Why? Is it purely first-mover advantage/brand or is there an engineering edge?

The material used by genuine Crocs seems to last much longer. My brother bought some knock-offs at the same time that I picked up a new pair. He wore through the soles in about two years while mine are still kicking after almost 8 years of near-daily use.

You can get the genuine ones for $18 to $35 on ebay depending on the color, so while I'm sure you can save some on clones it's not worth it for the durability and comfort.

There are _some_ differences in quality, but I think they're pretty minor.

I recently visited the Philippines and a friend bought some knockoff Crocs at a market. The little rivet thing holding the strap to the shoe had the logo printed right on the exposed plastic, and after a few days, the logo was mostly scratched off. But my wife's Crocs that she bought a decade ago still look fine because there's some sort of sealant on top of the logo.

Is that worth an 800% markup? Probably not. But the knockoffs do cut some corners that the genuine articles don't.

Do Crocs bought today match up to those old ones?

I don't know about Crocs but brazilian flip-flops "Havaianas" never lost market share even though it feels so trivial to clone it.

The only two modes of failure of this sandal is "drying up" after a couple years and broken thong straps (yes, 3rd parties sell those as replacements..)

I guess they make sure they have cheap offerings and are always investing in design and marketing so no one can enter this market..

I had a pair of knockoffs that were passable for limited purposes but certainly didn't pass muster as my primary shoe. I thought that the style just wasn't my thing. Then I got a pair of real Crocs and they very quickly became my go to for most purposes.

I don't know enough about shoes to explain why, but the difference in comfort level was huge.

i have them. knockoff crocs suck. why ?