i didnt know of another place to put this, and i fgure enough of us yank fans have probably bought jersey's on e-bay so i would put it here... question goes something like this. i really cannot afford to spend $80 on the real thing as much as i might want to, so how are these $15 & $20 knock-offs? are they decent for what you are paying? and has anyone had experiences with certain sellers that were better than others? just wondering before i dive in head first. thanks.
The knockoffs are the ones that don't have the shirt makers logos on the jersey. You can usually get the real deal for about 20-30 bucks. I've bought a couple jerseys off of there like the ones I'm describing and they are the same as what you would buy from EuroSport. The guy from Thailand and I think it is Malaysia both have good stuff. Happy Shopping.
The guys from Australia and Hing Kong sell stuff without logos, but it's also crummy stuff. The stuff you buy from Thai;and and Maylaysia are usually NOT the real deal - I believe the word is "fake" or perhaps "counterfeit" is more to your liking. But it's not bad at all. I buy a lot of shirts for my 15 year old. Probably have 12 - 15, and you've REALLY got to look close to tell the difference. It even comes with bogus tags. Last summer my kid's team played in England and they were touring Old Trafford. He wore the new 02-03 Nike ManU red shirt which he'd just gotten for his birthday. In the team shop he was mobbed - it wasn't available there yet, none of them had ever even SEEN one and of maybe 20 people who approached him, none of them suspected it was a knock off.
Before Big Soccer crashed there was a couple of threads about this that really generated a lot of info. Some people thought it was hard on Nike to buy knockoffs etc. One guy even suggested you were supporting terrorism. But the quality issue turned up some info that that the Thai guy was apparently making the jerseys after hours at the Nike plant. Seemed to squelch the idea that quality was less. Anyway, I got a few from Thailand and they are just as good as the $90 store version. I think the are exactly the same quality.
beware! i had a great experience with an owen england jersey i got from a guy in hong kong last year, but i am embroiled in a scandal right now where 'bigscreened' from hong kong took my money for a becks jersey, but hasnt sent it..... its been a month, and this happened to his other bidders also. you can get great deals, the owen jersey i have is totally authentic-looking. make sure that the font on the jersey is the same as the original, and all sponsor logos are accurate.
For me the bigger issue is that you are hurting the club you are trying to support. Kit sponsorship $$ is extrememly important to the financial success of the club. A well run club will in turn use that $$ to improve the quality of the club.
Oh, pity. Manchester United won't get that zillionth dollar they were counting on. Just buy official MLS stuff. The rich clubs can fend for themselves.
I would hold off and buy the legit jerseys and other goodies. Stealing is stealing, no matter how one tries to justify the reason.
Well now as farf as MLS jerseys are concerned, I have maybe 9 or 10 Crew jerseys and I would never consider buying a fake (which is easy amyway because the market is so small nobody even MAKES a fake) Maybe that's the bellweather - we'll know MLS has arrived the day aom-amm starts selling Fire shirts. But for foreign clubs, I'd never pay the $90 anyway. You can get pretty much whatever you want for $ 15 or so, and MOST of the guys are very dependable. Liverpool and/or Reebok didn't miss out on a dime on the longsleeved home jersey I bought a couple months ago - there was just no chance of me ever paying more than $20 for it. But the rule is, as with EVERYTHING on ebay, Caveat emptor. Particularly when you're dealing with a guy halfway around the world, there's just no way you can win if the deal goes south. But my wife got ripped off on ebay by a guy who lives in CLEVELAND for Pete's sake.
well some of you might have $90 to throw around at 3 or 4 different jerseys you might want, i don't... do i feel like i am cheating the system? maybe. but, do i feel like a smuck when i go to NYC and instead of buying a $3,000 watch or a $500 purse for my girlfriend, i spend $20 bucks on some street corner for a knock off? no. so to those soccer store owners out there or those who think i am stealing, sorry but i will buy what i can afford unless you wanna help me out with some cash? to those who answered the questions, thanks.
If you just wanna wear it to promote your team around town, I'd say do it. They'll never know the difference. But if you're say going to wear it to a game or are around knowledgable soccer fans I'd suggest the real ones. Like on ebay somebody was selling a blue US jersey where the white stripe on the side was baby blue, stuff like that is quite noticable. Just make sure its close to the original thing.
There's also the one's where the swoosh logo ia above the player's name, which is already a lot bigger than what it supposed to be.
No, actually no one said that. What was said was that many counterfeiters are also involved with organized crime, and I cited a link from the US Customs agency to that effect. As for the topic at hand, you know, there are lots of things out there that I'd like but can't afford. It's an unfortunate fact of life that we can't always get what we want, and I'm not sure why soccer gear gets some sort of exeption.
My favorite was pre-WC when "CoolMiki" one of the old stalwarts who has disappeared, put some p-layers names and numbers on some white USA jerseys. Unfortunately, he apparently simply picked some guys at random off a roster someplace; the first one he did was for "ARNIAS". He kept relisting it over and over. Somebody probably bought it, but it was a hard sell, particularly since "ARNIAS" was already hurt and off the roster. So he tried again: "WYNALDA". Now where the hell he got the name I can't imagine. Eric would have loved to be there of course, but hasn't made an appearance in 4 years. So then he tried "BEASLEY" who of course WAS on the squad and he even spelled the name right. Unfortunately, he got the number wrong. As for the bad stuff, of course there's some - a lot in fact. Look at the pictures closely - some of it is very good and, frankly, I don't care how "knowledgeable" somebody is - they can WEAR one of the good ones and not know the difference.
I haven't been around these boards for quite some time, so it is kind of ironic that I stumbled upon this topic. I am wearing an Ireland jersey that I bought on ebay right now (which, if it was not made by Umbro, it is not possible for me to tell - it is probably the best quality kit I have bought). As a collector of jerseys (I have over 150), I will buy either the real thing or knock-offs. The knock-offs are very inexpensive and great as novelty items. As mentioned previously, the best shirts I have bought have come from Thailand, but the sellers change their IDs so often it is hard to tell who you are buying from. There are also very bad sellers in Thailand. Steer clear of the Australian sellers as well. I have not been able to find anything nice from them. Most importantly, don't spend what you can't afford to waste. It really is a crap shoot buying kits from the far east. Cheers, el_spectacular
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2888&item=1983233977 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2888&item=1983141034 Have we arrived?
I dont know if we have arrived.. The seller has a great feedback rating, so if it is a fake I do not believe that the seller knows. He would not rick that rating for a ten dollar sale. Although, im not sure how he got the new uniform.
Can't trust asian sellers..they're all fake..unless you want "nike" or adidas", there are some original jersey out there for cheap,for instance i got a replica usa wc2002 jersey for 30 dollars..
forgot to say..im also selling a arsenal away 2003 jersey w/no number..and usa home replica w/no number.. PM or email me: Fkesoccer@aol.com for more info Thanks
I already do my part to support terrorists from Mexico, BC and southeastern Oklahome. At least thats what the DEA claims. Good thing I'm a thoughtful, intelligent person and therefore not amenable to sleazy propaganda guilt trips.
I bought a Mathis USA home jersy and an Ajax long sleeve from one of the Thailand guys. On neither of the jerseys can I tell the difference to an authentic one except the logo, and I'm fine with that. They're both nice looking. I'd love to support the actual makers of the stuff but when they want to charge 4x for a shirt what is obviously needed, well, I can't afford that. 70$ out of EuroSport for what I bought on Ebay for 15%, and the only difference is a little bitty logo.
Of course thats your advice......you want to make money fo of these people! Nothing illegal or unethical about that, but the fact is, they will spend three to four times as much with you. Truth is, I also run a socer store, and I too have been aproached by these Thai businessmen. I didn't purchase any for resale in my store because my suppliers would have a $hit fit! As for myself, hell, I must have thirty or so jerseys from the guys, and all are beutiful...... not to mention the set of 20 full Inter Milan kits (Shirt, socks, shorts), I purchased for my amature team to wear during the summer tournaments!