Buying a Manchester United Jersey

[darudude]

I need some serious help.

I've never bought a Nike jersey before so I don't know how to look for distinct characteristics that make it look original. I know in an Adidas Jersey there is a stictched neck tag along with the serial number.

The Jersey I'm planning to buy is the recently Away Kit (the black jersey, 04/05 I think). If anybody owns this one can you help me out. I dont want to spend good money on a fake. Thx in advance.

[benni...]

Well I dont know if this is completely accurate, but authentic kits numbers are usually stitched on layer by layer. As is each design.

[Achtung]

Well, mainly you only have to worry about fake kits on eBay and the like. If you buy from a well-established, reputable dealer, it shouldn't matter too much. Mainly you're looking at things like whether the Nike swoosh and club crest have been stitched properly, and whether Nike tags come with the shirt. If you are buying on eBay, its best to avoid some of the Asian dealers, although there are exceptions.

[K_19]

Just my opinion, but I would probably hold on buying a Man U jersey until next season (unless you're doing this for the sake of collecting and stuff, then by all means go for it). The home kit design will change after this season, and there is supposed to be a sponsor change as well.

As for fakes on Ebay, you're really going to have to watch out for who to buy it off. These days, the fakes happen to be VERY good fakes... they all at least have a mesh and they have a sewn on Nike logo with almost no way to tell the difference from a real one. My friend has one and I must say that without examining it up close, it looks identical to the real thing.

One definite way of knowing if a jersey on ebay is fake or not is to see if they mention Nike, Adidas, or other brand names in their product description. Undoubtedly, the brand name is one of the selling points if the jersey is real, so if you don't see it anywhere in the product description then that tells you that there's something fishy right there.

Most fake seller will advertise "HIGH QUALITY REPLICA JERSEY" and the like, but will NOT put that it's a Nike jersey. No matter how good or real it may look, it's undoubtedly a fake. So don't be fooled.

[mhtwins113]

I need some serious help.

I've never bought a Nike jersey before so I don't know how to look for distinct characteristics that make it look original. I know in an Adidas Jersey there is a stictched neck tag along with the serial number.

The Jersey I'm planning to buy is the recently Away Kit (the black jersey, 04/05 I think). If anybody owns this one can you help me out. I dont want to spend good money on a fake. Thx in advance.

Buy from The Onion Bag or Bigsoccer Shop if you want an authentic kit to be shipped from a domestic location (avoids customs charges). If you don't care about customs, then go through Kitbag since they have the largest selection out there.

A friend told me about this site which sells kits for cheap, but only in Medium or X-Large: http://www.footytopsuk.com/index.html. I've never bought through them, so I don't really know anything about their selection or shipping policies.

Hope this helps.

[darudude]

The thing is I have to buy it from ebay as none of the online stores keep this jersey in particular.

Three ebay sellers have some interesting deals. I've posted the links below:
I like this one the best as its LS:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Mens-Manchester-United-2005-Away-LS-Soccer-Jersey-XL_W0QQitemZ8748376848QQcategoryZ2886QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

These would be my second choices:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8753089198
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8754508181

They all look real to me and both have player issue written in the description. Should i go ahead and bid on it?

[K_19]

The thing is I have to buy it from ebay as none of the online stores keep this jersey in particular.

Three ebay sellers have some interesting deals. I've posted the links below:
I like this one the best as its LS:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Mens-Manchester-United-2005-Away-LS-Soccer-Jersey-XL_W0QQitemZ8748376848QQcategoryZ2886QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

These would be my second choices:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8753089198
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8754508181

They all look real to me and both have player issue written in the description. Should i go ahead and bid on it?

The latter two seems fine. I'm not sure about the first one, though... as it does say it has slight "imperfection" and they refuse to tell you what that is. doesn't sound good to me.

[littleman]

Finally bought a jersey after 5 years of Man United support :D It was on Boxing Day, so I got to buy the shirt at half its usual price ($50 CAD). Still expensive, but I *needed* it. The sad thing is, since it's our current home shirt, I always see you guys mocking supporters with new-ish jerseys.. Bah. : p

K19 -- You're in Toronto too, do you have a jersey? :D

[darudude]

Finally bought a jersey after 5 years of Man United support :D It was on Boxing Day, so I got to buy the shirt at half its usual price ($50 CAD). Still expensive, but I *needed* it. The sad thing is, since it's our current home shirt, I always see you guys mocking supporters with new-ish jerseys.. Bah. : p

K19 -- You're in Toronto too, do you have a jersey? :D


I'm from toronto too!! Where did you guys buy your jerseys from?

[littleman]

I'm from toronto too!! Where did you guys buy your jerseys from?

I got mine in a jersey shop along Yonge street in Downtown.. It has mainly N.American sports jerseys, but stocks a small number of soccer jerseys :D

[K_19]

I got mine in a jersey shop along Yonge street in Downtown.. It has mainly N.American sports jerseys, but stocks a small number of soccer jerseys :D

Ah, you must mean Yonge Street Sports, right? I go to Ryerson University so I always pass by there. Yeah, their stock is pretty good. There are few others along the Yonge St. strip but you have to watch out for knockoffs as well.

I knew littleman was from T.O but didn't know you were too, darudude. :D Anyways, if you'd like somewhere local to buy Man U jerseys, I would probably try Fairview Mall uptown... I just went there today, actually, and they had a pretty good stock of Man U jerseys. They got blanks, and and also have named ones with Ronaldo, RVN, Rooney, or Park, both home and away. I find that they usually have the best stock of soccer jerseys in Toronto (and I believe they can do lettering if you wish, too), so you should check them out.

[K_19]

K19 -- You're in Toronto too, do you have a jersey? :D

Hehe, yup. I got 3, actually. One is the 99/00 jersey with Dwight Yorke's name and number (I liked him as a player for us and he also had my favourite number to boot... take a wild guess on what that number is :D ), another one is this season's Van Nistelrooy jersey I got about a year ago, and my newest one is Park's (all home jerseys). I was thinking about getting an away jersey as well, but decided that I'll probably hold off until the next season with the new sponsor/design and all.

[littleman]

Ah, you must mean Yonge Street Sports, right? I go to Ryerson University so I always pass by there. Yeah, their stock is pretty good. There are few others along the Yonge St. strip but you have to watch out for knockoffs as well.

I knew littleman was from T.O but didn't know you were too, darudude. :D Anyways, if you'd like somewhere local to buy Man U jerseys, I would probably try Fairview Mall uptown... I just went there today, actually, and they had a pretty good stock of Man U jerseys. They got blanks, and and also have named ones with Ronaldo, RVN, Rooney, or Park, both home and away. I find that they usually have the best stock of soccer jerseys in Toronto (and I believe they can do lettering if you wish, too), so you should check them out.

Fairview? Nice! I didn't know that. I only went there once to do a movie-marathon (Potter, Narnia and Syriana in one day).. Do you know how much the jerseys are going there? I'll be looking.. :D

I do still want that black long sleeved away jersey, with Keane's name lettered :D