Sneaker Con is launching an app where people can buy and sell shoes (new or used), similar to StockX and GOAT, with support for a technology that'll make it stand out from the rest: near-field communication (NFC). Every time you buy a pair from the Sneaker Con application, it'll come with a physical tag attached to the shoes that features NFC. This Legit Tag comes loaded with information about the sneaker you're getting (including the model name, size, condition and SKU number). To see that, all you have to do is open the Sneaker Con app and tap the authentication tab: A window will pop up telling you it's ready to scan your shoes. Then you just touch the top of the phone to the Legit Tag, and if it's authentic, you'll get a screen that says your pair is "Legit. Sneaker Con Authenticated."

While Sneaker Con designed the Legit Tags in house, the user experience was created in partnership with Blue Bite, a startup that's using NFC to offer authentication services for brands such as Adidas, Bulgari and Pinko. Blue Bite's software is what makes Sneaker Con's NFC tags secure and keeps them from being faked. It uses its proprietary technology to create a unique authentication ID every time there's a "transaction," aka a scan between the tag and the phone. This makes them basically impossible to copy.

Physically, the tags are attached to the sneaker through a shoelace hole, and they can only be removed with a pair of wire cutters (in the future, there will be a version that'll only require household scissors). So if people wanted to put one on a fake pair, they would have to completely cut it off from a shoe, making it obvious that it had been tampered with. The Legit Tag can still be scanned once it's removed, since the wires are just there to be knotted and tied to the shoe, but Sneaker Con recommends that buyers beware of any signs of tampering if they buy a pair from someone outside the app.

For sellers, the company will act as a middleman, charging an 8 percent fee. When someone purchases a shoe listed on the app, the seller has to send it to Sneaker Con to be authenticated and then shipped to the buyer. If a pair arrives and happens to be fake, Sneaker Con will then send it back to the seller and won't charge the buyer. People can also take pairs to any of the 16 Sneaker Con events held around the country every year to have them authenticated for free. (Well, free with the price of admission, at least.) This is going to come in handy for sellers who want to get rid of pairs locally, since the Legit Tags will let buyers instantly figure out if the pair they're buying is the real deal.