What is the connection between sneakers and proxies? Do you need proxies to buy sneakers? so many questions…
Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! Let’s dive right into it…
Proxies for sneaker bots are IP addresses that are optimized especially for buying sneakers online from leading brands, to be more specific: buying special drops of sneakers from leading brands.
Once you visit the desired website that you wish to buy sneakers from, you’ll come across multiple blocks and authentications. That’s how the brand insures that only one person (if at all) buys one pair of sneakers.
You’ll obviously want to get in front of the queue and not waste precious time getting around blocks before the limited edition of those special Adidas or Air Jordan run out… that’s where Sneaker Proxies come in.
There are a few types of sneaker proxies that you should be familiar with. Here’s a quick rundown of them. (obviously, there are many others that we will not cover here but these are the main ones).
At the end of the day, once you established that you need sneaker proxies, it is very important to know how to choose the right one for you.
Here are a few of the things you should consider before you open your wallet:
The location of the proxy server you’re buying – Sneaker sites are very strict when it comes to locations. In other words – they won’t let you purchase if you are not where they expect their customers to be.
For example, the Adidas store in the UK dropped a brand new shoe that you must have. You go through the cycle of using a sneaker proxy but your proxy is located in the US. Since that Adidas store (which is located in the UK lest I remind you) expects its customer to be in the UK, you will be probably blocked from buying that amazing pair of shoes.
The most important thing about the location is that you need to choose the closer server and proxy server location in order to reduce the ping (more about ping in a sec.)
Ping – Ping is basically the reaction time of your computer. The ping can be anything from 10ms to 100ms and the lower your ping is, the better. If you manage to get a ping of less than 10ms – amazing!
Staying below 100ms is still OK but once you’re above 100ms expect a slow reaction time.
CDN of sneaker sites – CDN (Content Delivery Network) is how companies handle the large amounts of traffic flowing into their website. The CDN allows companies to have multiple servers hosting their content in different locations so visitors can reach those sites fast (cache).
You’ll need to choose a proxy that is the closest to the location of the site’s CDN (finding a site’s CDN location can be done easily using whois)
Proxy protocol – 2 types of proxy protocols are available: HTTP(S) and SOCKS. Each bot uses a different one so get to know the protocol your bot is using and choose accordingly.
Monthly Randomization – Preferably, choose a proxy provider that has this as a feature. You’d want the pool of proxies you’re using refreshed often so you are not blocked.
Smartproxy | 40M residential proxies | No connection or IP limit | Main US, Asia, and EU locations | 24/7 support | 10/30 mins sticky sessions | API for resellers |
Oxylabs | 100M residential, 100K ISP | No connection or IP limit | Every country + most cities | 24/7 support | 30 mins sticky session | API for resellers |
Proxy drop | Residential, CAPTCHA | Unlimited IPs for residential | 20 locations | Support is available only during working hours | Up to 30 mins rotation | Non-expiring plans |
NetNut | 1M ISP | No connection or IP limit | 30+ countries | 24/7 support | Static IP | API for resellers |
Bright Data | 72M residential, 110K ISP | No connection or IP limit | All countries, cities, and carrier targeting | 24/7 support | ISP can be static, flexible rotation | Proxy manager |
Probably the best sneaker proxies provider.
Overall rating: 9/10
Sneaker snipers love Smartproxy! They offer a fast network and, even more importantly, locations close to the main stores.
You get access to 40M IPs for a whole month so need to wait for a refresh or worry that they expire after a release. Also, if you are not so techy, they have tutorials to help you set them up.
You can pay as you go or commit for a month and either option will cost less than the other sneaker proxies providers.
If you are a reseller, they have a plan for you so make sure you talk to them.
The best option if you want to scale.
Overall rating: 8.5/10
If you’re looking to scale, Oxylabs will be your best option. With 100M premium IPs worldwide, city-level targeting, and sticky sessions for up to 30 minutes (for those long queues and more), you can’t really choose wrong here.
Their servers are stable, fast, and with a high success rate.
Their pricing is slightly higher than others and in order to tackle it they have recently introduced a pay-as-you-go plan which comes in handy if you are a reseller.
Made for sneaker hunters
Overall rating: 8/10
Proxy Drop were made for sneaker hunters, by sneaker hunters. They offer residential, CAPTCHA, and ISP for sneaker releases. Everything you sneaker hunters need.
You can choose from a few residential plans; each one is faster and more exclusive. (make sure you try the prestige plan!)
The residential plans never expire and two of them are always available.
Their support is NOT 24/7 which can be a bit challenging but other than that we are confident in recommending them.
Best ISP for sneakers
Overall rating: 7.8/10
Netnut ISP is probably the best out there, so I won’t be surprised if half of the resellers are powered by it. Their IPs perform well, are fast, and offer geo-targeting options. They don’t rotate since they are hosted in datacenters – which can be extra useful for those big drops. They also provide a high-quality residential network.
Bottom line is that if you are an experienced sneaker hunter and want to scale, Netnut might the option for you with its ISP proxies for sneaker bots. Pricing is a bit of a turn-off but they have smaller plans on offer.
High Quality and reliable
Overall rating: 7.5/10
Bright Data is a leading provider and must be on the list. They offer a massive pool of IPs, Amazing ISP proxies, great performances, and proxy management tools.
There are a few points worth mentioning though; Ease of use: the complex service requires external software to set up a proxy rotation, for example. In addition, Bright Data will probably be the more expensive choice of your options. Last but not least, the TOS (terms of service) can be very strict, and not all use cases will be approved.
Having said that, if you know your whereabouts through sneaker proxies, Bright Data is a good option for you.
START FREE TRIAL – BRIGHT DATA
In this article, we went through what sneaker proxies are and what are the best proxies for sneaker botting. Please refer to the FAQ section below for additional information and questions that sneaker proxy customers often ask.
No, Since so many people use it, the speed will be very low. In addition, the security of free proxies is almost non-existent. Lastly, you will probably get your accounts blocked if you use free proxies for sneaker sniping.
No, you need “virgin”, unused proxies to have a high success rate. Most likely the shared proxy you want to use is already blocked by the site you are targeting.
One, If you are using datacenter proxies, you have to use one per account to avoid being blocked. If you use residential that rotates, one subscription will be enough.
You only get banned or blocked if the website you are trying to snipe detects that you are using proxies. Not using shared or free proxies gets you halfway there so make sure to use the recommendation above this section to know which proxy you need to use for each site.
Ran is an affiliate manager for many years that has worked in the proxies and web data industries for a long time.
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