The Big Ol' Counterfeit Jersey Thread

[The Nation]

Here's my $0.02. I am a big soccer supporter, and soccer clubs in Europe change their uniforms every year. So why spend $120 every year to buy a new jersey, when I can just buy a fake from China or Malaysia for $30? And yes, there are some glitches, and errors on the jersey, but whatever.

[Waleslax]

Here's my $0.02. I am a big soccer supporter, and soccer clubs in Europe change their uniforms every year. So why spend $120 every year to buy a new jersey, when I can just buy a fake from China or Malaysia for $30? And yes, there are some glitches, and errors on the jersey, but whatever.

Here's my $0.02: Since inflation eats away at the buying power of your money every year, why work for it when you can counterfit money? Like you said, there are some glitches and errors on the bills, but so what?

Oh yeah, it is illegal....just like ripping off the team and company's intellectual properties.

Funny money no laughing matter in recession

[OnWis97]

Here's my $0.02. I am a big soccer supporter, and soccer clubs in Europe change their uniforms every year. So why spend $120 every year to buy a new jersey, when I can just buy a fake from China or Malaysia for $30? And yes, there are some glitches, and errors on the jersey, but whatever.

Here's my $0.02: Since inflation eats away at the buying power of your money every year, why work for it when you can counterfit money? Like you said, there are some glitches and errors on the bills, but so what?

Oh yeah, it is illegal....just like ripping off the team and company's intellectual properties.

Funny money no laughing matter in recession

Here's my two cents. Why purchase a shirt, when I can walk into a store, put it on in the dressing room, put a jacket over it and walk out with it for free?

We've been around and around on this topic here, but I remain surprised how many people think that while physically taking property is wrong, intellectual property theft is OK. Above someone said the IP theft is "less criminal" than the over-pricing of the jersey. That is in not true any any real or technical sense. It may upset you more or even be more "immoral" in one's opinion, but the latter is legal and the former is illegal. I have not purchased a jersey in years and likely never will again, as the "official" replicas stink (the quality has plummeted over the years) and the authentics are too expensive. I agree that they are overpriced, but I don't have a right to them. It seems to me that they'd make a ton more money charging a semi-reasonable price, but I am obviously wrong. Regardless, IP protection exists for a reason and while the leagues may "deserve" low sales, they don't "deserve" IP theft. Rationalization is all it is.

I see a lot of horrible jerseys at Twins games. The numbers are huge and of the wrong font. I thought they were legal, poor quality replicas, but perhaps they are Chinese counterfeits. If so, then my observation is that Chinese counterfeits have skyrocketed in popularity over the last year or two, based on what I am seeing at Twins games. My other observation is that I, in my uniform geekdom, notice and can barely stand to look at them, but I don't think most people even notice.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

I have not purchased a jersey in years and likely never will again, as the "official" replicas stink (the quality has plummeted over the years) and the authentics are too expensive. I agree that they are overpriced, but I don't have a right to them. It seems to me that they'd make a ton more money charging a semi-reasonable price, but I am obviously wrong.

Right. And in the meantime, people turn to eBay or whatever, think they found a deal, and off they go. Until the NFL gets serious about its prices and quality, this is the reality of NFL merchandise purchasing.

And if the NFL doesn't care (as evidenced by their lack of aggression in shutting these sites down), perhaps you (the collective you) shouldn't either.

EDIT: I should say that I don't own any counterfeit jerseys. I do own several, legit replica NHL jerseys, but those were purchased at steep discount. I won't support the price gouging of the major professional sports leagues by paying full price.

[infrared41]

Everytime I see a grown-a$$ man in a jersey (especially a customized one) I just think he's some big kid who is imagining that he's actually on the team by putting on the jersey, like he's fulfilling some childhood fantasy. It's all a big game of pretend. If you're actually at the game, maybe you get a pass, but it's still kind of corny for adults to wear the jerseys of other adults.

Yeah. It couldn't just be that jerseys are comfortable and make for good "lounging around" wear. Now asking people about how to take a piss while wearing a certain style of underwear or dispensing advice on "man rules?" That's the stuff "grown ass men" do. (for those that don't know, I'm referencing some of the "man type" stuff BBTV has brought up in the past)

Never in my entire life have I thought I'm "actually on the team" while wearing a jersey. Nor is wearing a jersey "fulfilling some childhood fantasy." They're big and comfortable and I like how they look. Sue me.

[hockey week]

Everytime I see a grown-a$$ man in a jersey (especially a customized one) I just think he's some big kid who is imagining that he's actually on the team by putting on the jersey, like he's fulfilling some childhood fantasy. It's all a big game of pretend. If you're actually at the game, maybe you get a pass, but it's still kind of corny for adults to wear the jerseys of other adults.

Yeah. It couldn't just be that jerseys are comfortable and make for good "lounging around" wear. Now asking people about how to take a piss while wearing a certain style of underwear or dispensing advice on "man rules?" That's the stuff "grown ass men" do. (for those that don't know, I'm referencing some of the "man type" stuff BBTV has brought up in the past)

Never in my entire life have I thought I'm "actually on the team" while wearing a jersey. Nor is wearing a jersey "fulfilling some childhood fantasy." They're big and comfortable and I like how they look. Sue me.

Amen! I almost always wear jerseys, and because of that, I'm known all over campus as "the jersey guy", and that's a great calling card.

[BlueSky]

This argument is ridiculous. It is like saying "if I don't have enough money, it is ok to counterfit money or rob a bank." It's not ok. Illegal is illegal and no one should be arguing the metits of the illegal things they are doing/producing/buying.

Playing devil's advocate, what law is being broken by customers who buy fake jerseys?

[IceCap]

This argument is ridiculous. It is like saying "if I don't have enough money, it is ok to counterfit money or rob a bank." It's not ok. Illegal is illegal and no one should be arguing the metits of the illegal things they are doing/producing/buying.

Playing devil's advocate, what law is being broken by customers who buy fake jerseys?

The act of producing and selling counterfeits is the illegal act here.

[BlueSky]

This argument is ridiculous. It is like saying "if I don't have enough money, it is ok to counterfit money or rob a bank." It's not ok. Illegal is illegal and no one should be arguing the metits of the illegal things they are doing/producing/buying.

Playing devil's advocate, what law is being broken by customers who buy fake jerseys?

The act of producing and selling counterfeits is the illegal act here.

So customers are not breaking the law?

Why doesn't the NFL at least acknowledge this problem and post the same kind of warning/advisory that appears on DVDs?

As I've said before, we're all hypocrites in one way or another. Some of the self-righteous types bemoaning the knockoffs surely do things that are "technically" illegal but that they self-justify. That's not right or wrong, just the way the world works.

[Sodboy13]

EDIT: I should say that I don't own any counterfeit jerseys. I do own several, legit replica NHL jerseys, but those were purchased at steep discount. I won't support the price gouging of the major professional sports leagues by paying full price.

Amen, good sir. It's the old shoppers' mantra: never pay retail. When something's as overpriced as NHL jerseys are these days, and when there's as many internet jersey retail outlets as there are, there's plenty of good reason to wait for the off-season sales.

Oh, and between the Blackhawks and Bears, Chicago has to be this country's foremost purchaser of horrendously inaccurate counterfeit jerseys. God, there's just so much crap out there, and none of it's worth the $40-$80 these people paid for it.

[TheOldRoman]

FYP. Most of the general public will never notice the difference.

Very true. My brother in law argued with me when I told him the $25 authentic Blackhawks jersey be was buying was fake. He instisted that he knew the guy who was selling it and this guy wouldn't deceive him. I was looking forward to laughing at him when he got the jersey. The jersey was the discontinued black alternate with an extremely sloppy Stanley Cup Final patch on it, the all the stitching looked horrible, the Reebok logo was about 6 inches wide, the stripes were sewn on, the numbers were bubbly, and the Indian head was bright yellow. He saw nothing wrong with any of that.

I am dragging my wife into my obsession. She looked at the jersey and pointed out to me 5 different ways it was inaccurate. God, I love this woman.

[CubsFanBudMan]

I see a lot of horrible jerseys at Twins games. The numbers are huge and of the wrong font. I thought they were legal, poor quality replicas, but perhaps they are Chinese counterfeits. If so, then my observation is that Chinese counterfeits have skyrocketed in popularity over the last year or two, based on what I am seeing at Twins games. My other observation is that I, in my uniform geekdom, notice and can barely stand to look at them, but I don't think most people even notice.

That's what I've been seeing as well. Either people don't know or don't care, and as much as I want to point it out to every person I see at a Cubs game with a giant, shiny, blocky "1" to go with their normal-ish "0" on their Santo jersey, I don't.

Oh, and between the Blackhawks and Bears, Chicago has to be this country's foremost purchaser of horrendously inaccurate counterfeit jerseys. God, there's just so much crap out there, and none of it's worth the $40-$80 these people paid for it.

Add the Cubs to that list. Cubs and Bears throwbacks are the repeat offenders at the games I attend (although I might be among those that can't spot the Blackhawks jersey problems, having only recently seen them reemerge in public.)

[ElwoodCuse]

I don't know why some of you think the NFL doesn't care, they care big time. Every year there's always a stink about them sending people to the hometowns of Super Bowl teams cracking down on IP violations, either in advertising or merchandising. They get ICE to seize counterfeit jerseys at ports and air terminals, and have shut down storefronts too. They just simply don't have the manpower to shut it all down.

[hjwii]

So, I have a whole lotta jerseys. But, I wanted to show three here. One is authentic; one is fake; the other I'm not really sure given the price paid for it. I'm curious, just from these pictures, who can tell the difference...

From a distance, I think it's rather hard to tell. Get up close (or enlarge the photo) and the fake is obvious. Two of these jerseys cost $40, the other $85 (on sale). But, can you tell me which is which...?

[charger77]

Is the Brady the fake?

[crashcarson15]

spending $30 on a jersey that is so close to an authentic that most won't even notice (and those who do have to look pretty close)

But this isn't true at all. It's super easy for uni freaks like CCSLC members to spot these fakes. The numbers and letters really are that bad. You can spot them a mile away, especially for teams that have anything more than standard block fonts.

FYP. Most of the general public will never notice the difference.

Whatever one's position on this, someone pointed out an ironic truth in another thread where this was debated: the "authentic" $250-300 version of these jerseys probably comes from the factory down the street from the one doing the fakes, the difference being that the authentics are put together better and subjected to more QC than the fakes. The employees are likely working in the same conditions and making the same 20 cents an hour or whatever.

We'll never know the one variable that would enable me to finalize my position: the NFL's cost to produce an authentic. Their markup has to be ridiculous.

I've learned this from an internet article... it costs RBK less than $9 to make an NHL replica jersey that's sold for around $120. Also, I know that it costs retailers less than $40 to buy an NFL replica jersey that retails for $80ish.

Here's my $0.02. I am a big soccer supporter, and soccer clubs in Europe change their uniforms every year. So why spend $120 every year to buy a new jersey, when I can just buy a fake from China or Malaysia for $30? And yes, there are some glitches, and errors on the jersey, but whatever.

Buy your club's jersey once every 4 years...?

Everytime I see a grown-a$$ man in a jersey (especially a customized one) I just think he's some big kid who is imagining that he's actually on the team by putting on the jersey, like he's fulfilling some childhood fantasy. It's all a big game of pretend. If you're actually at the game, maybe you get a pass, but it's still kind of corny for adults to wear the jerseys of other adults.

Yeah. It couldn't just be that jerseys are comfortable and make for good "lounging around" wear. Now asking people about how to take a piss while wearing a certain style of underwear or dispensing advice on "man rules?" That's the stuff "grown ass men" do. (for those that don't know, I'm referencing some of the "man type" stuff BBTV has brought up in the past)

Never in my entire life have I thought I'm "actually on the team" while wearing a jersey. Nor is wearing a jersey "fulfilling some childhood fantasy." They're big and comfortable and I like how they look. Sue me.

Amen! I almost always wear jerseys, and because of that, I'm known all over campus as "the jersey guy", and that's a great calling card.

Hey, I'm glad to see I'm not the only "Jersey Guy" in the world! I've had random kids come up to me in school and call me that.

EDIT: I should say that I don't own any counterfeit jerseys. I do own several, legit replica NHL jerseys, but those were purchased at steep discount. I won't support the price gouging of the major professional sports leagues by paying full price.

Amen, good sir. It's the old shoppers' mantra: never pay retail. When something's as overpriced as NHL jerseys are these days, and when there's as many internet jersey retail outlets as there are, there's plenty of good reason to wait for the off-season sales.

Oh, and between the Blackhawks and Bears, Chicago has to be this country's foremost purchaser of horrendously inaccurate counterfeit jerseys. God, there's just so much crap out there, and none of it's worth the $40-$80 these people paid for it.

1. River City Sports FTW. Random sales there are amazing.

2. I actually don't think I've ever seen an actual Blackhawks Winter Classic jersey. I've seen so many fakes that I've convinced myself one doesn't exist.

[TheOldRoman]

I don't know why some of you think the NFL doesn't care, they care big time. Every year there's always a stink about them sending people to the hometowns of Super Bowl teams cracking down on IP violations, either in advertising or merchandising. They get ICE to seize counterfeit jerseys at ports and air terminals, and have shut down storefronts too. They just simply don't have the manpower to shut it all down.

The NFL can go blow. I tried to contact them to alert them of counterfeiting before and they didn't want to hear it. There is a facebook group which sells these awful fakes. I looked online for a number to call, and all I could find was the main office number. When I told the lady I wanted to report the counterfeiters, she was extremely rude and said I need to tell her who I want to speak with. She couldn't connect me with anyone unless I gave her a name. That doesn't sound like a good business practice.

[Bmac]

So, I have a whole lotta jerseys. But, I wanted to show three here. One is authentic; one is fake; the other I'm not really sure given the price paid for it. I'm curious, just from these pictures, who can tell the difference...

From a distance, I think it's rather hard to tell. Get up close (or enlarge the photo) and the fake is obvious. Two of these jerseys cost $40, the other $85 (on sale). But, can you tell me which is which...?

I can tell you the Twins one is fake without even enlarging the picture. The tail of the script is wrong.

[crashcarson15]

So, I have a whole lotta jerseys. But, I wanted to show three here. One is authentic; one is fake; the other I'm not really sure given the price paid for it. I'm curious, just from these pictures, who can tell the difference...

From a distance, I think it's rather hard to tell. Get up close (or enlarge the photo) and the fake is obvious. Two of these jerseys cost $40, the other $85 (on sale). But, can you tell me which is which...?

I can tell you the Twins one is fake without even enlarging the picture. The tail of the script is wrong.

And the Pats one is definitely fake.

[BBTV]

This argument is ridiculous. It is like saying "if I don't have enough money, it is ok to counterfit money or rob a bank." It's not ok. Illegal is illegal and no one should be arguing the metits of the illegal things they are doing/producing/buying.

Playing devil's advocate, what law is being broken by customers who buy fake jerseys?

The act of producing and selling counterfeits is the illegal act here.

So customers are not breaking the law?

If you knowingly buy stolen goods, you are braking the law, as you are giving the thieves more incentive to keep stealing. I would believe that the same applies to stolen designs and trademarks.

DG is right, that there's not much that the league can do about it, so they should adjust their price structure to make it a harder decision for someone to buy a knock off (well, it's only $50 more for the real thing instead of $200 more, so...) however, it's pretty sad that members of a board flooded with pro graphic designers, some of which have sold designs to teams / leagues, would fail to see the problem with buying this crap. If you want to buy it, fine - you suck, but fine. Just don't come to a board and talk about how many illegally reproduced TMs you've purchased, when there's a chance that the designer of the logo / uniform is reading it. It's just not cool, IMO.