With the holiday season in full swing and the rush to buy your loved ones the perfect gift, here are our tips to ensure that you stay safe and avoid counterfeit football shirts.
The Background
It’s no secret that online shopping is the new standard, with over 60% of consumers preferring to buy goods online rather than in-store. This is music to the ears of counterfeiters who make tidy sums during the holiday season.
By setting up online shops with seemingly good deals, low stock incentives, and fake reviews, it’s very easy for a scammer to get a hold of your money. Here’s how you can avoid it.
If It’s Too Good to Be True, It Is
At this point in the season, in December, you won’t find this season’s kit for anything under 80% of the price, and that’s only if the store or club shop is running a discount. If you find this year’s kit for a tempting £15, then it’s definitely a counterfeit.
Be wary, scammers are smart – some will price their kits up all the way to the £60 or £70 mark, which increases their margin, but it is still the same counterfeit kit you’d get for £15.
The same applies to retro kits, which are all the rage right now. Jump on any number of Chinese sites and you’ll see a classic Barcelona Ronaldinho kit from 2006, or a Zidane 1998 shirt for pennies. If they’re real, you likely won’t find these kits for under £100. If it’s too good to be true, it probably is.
Be Wary of Markets, Avoid Street Sellers
It goes without saying that anything being sold on the street in any tourist destination is fake. If you’re in Barcelona, Madrid, Lisbon, Rome, or Paris to name a few – avoid, avoid, avoid.
The same can be said of any unofficial shops touting holiday promotions. Would you hang a £100 shirt out in the street for anyone to take? No, official products are always inside the shop and closely watched by store employees.
Markets are hit-or-miss. Many collectors and sellers get booths at these markets to sell their wares. If they’ve done their due diligence, then you’ll likely get an authentic product, but if they haven’t… be wary.
Always ask if they’re part of the KitLegit ecosystem as we work with many small businesses across the UK, France, Portugal, and Spain to help build trust and authenticate their products. You can check the list of our Certified Partners here, as well as our database of sellers.
Stay Safe on Online Marketplaces
If you’re bargain hunting on any one of Vinted, eBay, Instagram, Facebook Marketplace, or Depop (to name a few), then be prepared to ask a lot of questions.
Going back to our first point, if you find this season’s kit, brand new with tags, for peanuts – it’s fake. Pre-loved goods are harder to tell but the first point of reference is always photos.
If the user has listed just the front and the back of the shirt, be sure to email them for more photos of all the labels and details before purchasing. If they refuse, it’s probably counterfeit.
If they do send you the photos, then run them through the KitLegit app for security. We need between 3 and 8 photos to give you a result, but be sure to follow all of the instructions when doing your check to ensure complete accuracy.
In an ideal world, the seller you’re shipping from is already using KitLegit. They may list a product with a QR code overlay, attach a PDF certificate or a link to their product hosted on KitLegit. Be sure to scan any QR codes and ensure that they are indeed coming from kitlegit.com and not a knock-off site!
Shipping times and availability
Another great way to tell a counterfeit is through availability. If the shirt is retro or vintage, then it shouldn’t be selling in multiple sizes with personalisation options. This is a great way to detect a counterfeit seller on a marketplace or independent website.
Likewise, another easy indicator of authenticity is also the shipping time the seller mentions in the product details. In most cases, a shipping time of 10-14 days means it’s coming from Asia and is likely a fake. This is a favored tactic by dropshippers!
Use the KitLegit App
The secret tool to stay safe this holiday season and avoid a counterfeit. By running items through KitLegit before you purchase, you ensure that you’re getting the real thing. If you’re shopping in-person, you can simply take photos of the item with your phone.
If you’re shopping online and have access to all of the details of the shirt (we need more than front and back), then you can upload the photos into the app to run a check.
An alternative way is to ask the seller of the item to run a KitLegit check on their side and provide you with a link to the result.
KitLegit checks take under 40 seconds to complete, and if done correctly, are 99% accurate in detecting fake goods between 2000-2025.
If you’re shopping for a rare vintage piece before this time, you can submit a manual check for review by our experts in 24 or 72 hours!
The Takeaways
Common sense is always your greatest ally when shopping for gifts this holiday season. If it’s too good to be true, the seller is suspect, or you have that gut feeling – then you’re probably about to buy a counterfeit.
To be extra sure, KitLegit is always available in the App Store and PlayStore to support you when both buying and selling.
From the KitLegit team, stay safe and happy holidays!
