Leaked $100 Off StockX Discount Code Results In 50 Thousand Order Cancellations
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If it's too good to be true, it probably is. Many sneakerheads found that out firsthand after using a $100 off StockX discount code that leaked on Saturday, October 1st. The code HXOUSETORONTO24, could be redeemed for any product at any price, no exclusions.
Unsurprisingly, thousands of StockX users woke up the next morning to cancellation emails. Given that StockX is a two-sided marketplace, this issue doesn't just impact the buyers, it also impacts the sellers on the other end of each transaction. Based on the transactional emails StockX sent out, buyers were hit with an email that stated that the item they ordered didn't pass StockX's multi-step verification process, while sellers were given little to no explanation as to what happened. In most cases, the sale simply no longer appeared as a pending sale... essentially like it never happened.
A customer service representative from StockX has confirmed that there were 50k orders placed in the ~2 hour window that the code was live, resulting in over $4 million dollars in discounts. Given the company only makes an average of 8% on transactions, it's pretty clear that StockX wouldn't be able to honor such a large and widely used discount code.
To curb further exposure, StockX removed the ability for sellers to print shipping labels for sales which used the leaked code.
StockX has sent comms to users affected (please see below), but needless to say users are unhappy. Stay tuned for more info as this story develops.
StockX's Official Statement on the $100 Off Leaked Discount Code
"At StockX, protecting the integrity of our marketplace is of the utmost importance to us. We recently discovered unauthorized use of a coupon code. As such, we have canceled these orders. We notified all affected customers of this cancellation and are actively working with any sellers who may have already shipped their order. We believe impact to sellers is minimal, as we notified them of the cancellation within hours of the sale. We work hard to create the best possible experience for all of our users and apologize for any inconvenience."
Cole Townsend is a developer, designer, and Head of Tech at Sole Retriever. He does some writing on top of helping keep Sole Retriever running on web and mobile! In his spare time, you can find him out running. Cole was a graduate from Williams College.
