When hunting for football shirts, it can be very difficult to pick out the legit kits, from the swarm of counterfeit shirts that have been hitting the market lately. In this guide, we are going to focus on the main things to look out for when purchasing football shirts, to avoid being disappointed with a fake top. We will also take a look at the reasons for the sharp increase in fakes on the market, and why they are so problematic for the industry.
Inside Labels
These are usually your number one tool in identifying the legitimacy of modern football shirts. Big manufacturers such as Nike and Adidas will always have labels inside the top showing a product code. On other brands the code may be called a style number or similar. If you type this code in to google and the corresponding shirt comes up then the kit is legit. On the other hand, if something different comes up in the search results, the top is likely to be a fake.
Identifying fakes for classic football shirts can be a bit more difficult as product code labels only really started in the early 2000s. The best way is to check what the inside tags look like, then compare them to ones from kits for sale via reputable sellers or shirt archive websites (such as oldfootballshirts.com)
Tags
If a shirt is brand new, you may be able to view the product code on the outside tag. This is often visible near the barcode and will be the same as the code on the inside labels. You would then use the same method used with the inside labels and search the code into Google. On brand new Nike football shirts, a legitimate top will 99% of the time have its tags hanging from the sleeves. Fake tops will have the tags attached to the collar.
Quality, Stitching and Wear
The next thing to look out for is the overall quality of a jersey. Be sure to look closely at the material, to see if it matches up with the same shirt from trusted sellers or archives. Sponsor and print wear can also be a big give away to the legitimacy of a shirt. Authentic football shirt printing is designed to last for years, if you see heavy print wear on kits from more recent seasons, it can be a telltale sign that the kit is fake. Be sure to also look out for the quality of badges and stitching, such as crests looking distorted or in the wrong place, or loose stitching around the collar and hem of the jersey. Another common place to find poor stitching is often on the inside of the shirt, which can be especially obvious when compared to a legitimate kit.
Pricing
Often when something looks too good to be true, it can often be the case. This particularly rings true with football kits. If you are using sites like Ebay, Etsy or Depop and come across brand new shirts that retail for upwards of £70, on sale for half of that or less, it can be a sign of the shirts being counterfeit. Be especially careful if there are few images of the shirt, such as just a photo of the kit in its bag or shopping images taken straight from google.
Terminology
This may seem like a strange one, but the terminology used in a product listing can be a dead giveaway to the authenticity of a football shirt. Watch out for the word “Retro” when purchasing vintage kits. More often than not, this will mean the jersey is a modern remake of an old kit and not the original you might think it is. “Replica: is another word to be wary of, whilst you can get official replica shirts (like those sold in club shops) more often than not, counterfeit sellers will use the word to describe a fake shirt.
So now that you know the main things to look out for to spot fake jerseys, here are some of the reasons they’ve become so prominent in recent times on the kit market.
Why Have Fake Football Shirts Become So Popular?
The main reason for this is simply that the price of authentic football shirts has become so high. Big manufacturers like Nike for example, were charging customers £84.99 for stadium shirts and a staggering £119.99 for match spec shirts on some of their new 2024 releases. With the UK in a cost of living crisis, those prices are just too high for a large portion of people in the country currently.
Why Are Fake Football Shirts Bad?
Fake football shirts are widely seen as problematic for a number of reasons. One of which is the manufacturing process. The production of counterfeit goods is heavily linked to poor working conditions, such as unfair wages, lack of breaks, and severe high temperatures. Purchasing fake kits can also be viewed as taking revenue away from the legitimate manufacturers, brands, clubs and businesses, who will be losing out on sales.
The quality of fake football shirts is also considerably worse than what you get with the real deal. Often sponsors, numbers and namesets can begin to show signs of wear after just one wash. As Well as the kit material being very poor, along with bad stitching of badges and other embroidery and colours not being quite right.
Is It Illegal To Buy A Fake Football Kit?
Technically, it is not currently illegal to buy a counterfeit football shirt. However, it is viewed to be an unethical practice. Knowingly selling or producing fake kits on the other hand is illegal. Doing so can lead to big legal trouble such as large fines and even prison time.
“I’ve unknowingly purchased a fake football shirt, what should I do?”
If you have bought a football kit believing it was genuine from websites such as ebay, depop or vinted, you should be able to claim a full refund. These marketplaces have strict rules about selling counterfeit items, so if you have been sold a fake, you should be able to get your money back with no issues. If you have purchased from other sites with less buyer protection, you may be able to claim the money back via your bank or online payment providers such as paypal.
If you are unsure on the legitimacy of a football kit, feel free to drop us a message and we will always be happy to take a look for you!
Find the best Mystery Football Shirt Boxes on the market with mysteryfootballshirts.com With prices starting at just £24.99 you won’t find cheaper mystery boxes anywhere else!
Comments