HOW TO SPOT A FAKE AUTHENTIC JERSEY

We now move into the Nike Elite era, click the picture above for a review of Nike's top jersey.
So how do you tell the difference between the real Reebok NFL jersey and the fake?
Well if you purchase a replica or a premier EQT jersey you can be pretty sure that it will be genuine. It's the 'Authentic' range jersey that is faked. This is the all sewn jersey, the closest to the ones worn on field.
Keep this in mind as you read further, price, tags, holograms and numbers.
1st thing to look for is the price, real authentic's are $200 - $300 in retail stores, so any on the web for $50 or below is more than likely a fake. You can get some bargains, especially if the player has moved team, but always remember ' If it looks too good to be true then it usually is!'
Lets look at this 2009 Matthew Stafford fake, it has all the signs of a fake and is perfect for a guide to fake spotting.

This was advertised on ebay soon after the 09 draft. The swing tags are often wrong on fake jerseys. This one has the white NFLPA tag and a blue rectangular Reebok tag.

The white NFLPA tag was put on early authentic jerseys but was removed when the NFLPA logo became part of the hemtag. These should not be on current jerseys, but the counterfeiters often add them.

The Reebok tag here is the wrong type for a 2009 jersey and the hologram is the wrong style too and shouldn't be on the front of the tag.
For more on holograms go to the bottom of the page and click on the hologram information picture.
This is the correct style swing tag for a 2009 jersey.

Lets move onto the numbers now.
The fakes use cheaper material for the numbers which is shiny. Real numbers are glued together before being stitched. This makes them look flat.
The fakes aren't glued and this gives them a bubbled look.
These are genuine numbers you can see there is no bubbling and they are not shiny.

To wrap up

Ask yourself:
Why is this jersey so cheap?
Why doesn't it have the right swing tags and hologram for the year it was made?
Why are the numbers so shiny?
The answer is because it's a fake
It's the nature of a fake to try and look as good as the genuine, but if they made it exactly the same way it would end up being the same price as the genuine. This isn't what the counterfeiter wants. They want the maximum amount of profit, so they use inferior materials, a workforce that is kept in poverty and cut corners producing something that will fall to bits.
If you arm yourself with the tell tale signs, price, tags, holograms and numbers you'll be able to sort the fake from the genuine. This guide is deliberately basic, the clickable content at the bottom goes into more detail and the forum has more in-depth information too.
Remember that we are always available to answer individual questions in the forum, so register for membership.

Web Counters