9erstorm's guide to...
Spotting Fake Jerseys on eBay
This guide was created to assist 49erswebzone.com fans in spotting the growing amount of fake jerseys being
sold on eBay. This guide will focus on authentic jerseys and not the replica style jerseys found on sites like
nflshop.com. I hope that this guide is useful. Throughout this guide, I will give examples of current and
throwback jerseys.
How to spot authentic jerseys
Stitched numbers and letters
If looking at a modern jersey, you want to make sure that
the numbers and name on the back are stitched on. On throwback
jerseys, they should be stitched on as well. But keep in
mind that during the early 80's, some of the jerseys had more
of a thick screen printing style to them so not all were stitched
numbers and names. You could very well find a Joe Montana
jersey that has a glossy and thick screen printing on it and
assume it is a fake. It may actually still be an authentic. Remember to look for the correct patches for certain year jerseys.
If it is a 1996 jersey, it should have a 50th anniversary path
sewn near the collarbone area. If it is a 2006 jersey, it will have a 60th anniversary patch in the same location. 1994 jerseys will have
the NFL 75th anniversary diamond patch. The smaller shoulder numbers should be stitched on as well. On current jerseys, these are
located near the shoulders. On throwbacks, they are located on the sleeves themselves.Material
One of the easiest ways to make sure that the jersey you are buying is an authentic is to look
at all of the material on the jersey. As you can see from the two images above, the body of the jersey
has small little holes throughout. These holes are meant for ventilation in NFL games. However,
this mesh type material is not limited to the body of the jersey. This should be the same material
throughout the jersey. The picture shown to the right is from an authentic Alex Smith jersey. It is the
top part of the jersey near the neck hole. Notice that the mesh material continues even in this area
of the jersey.This mesh material should also be visible on the sleeves of the jersey as you will see in the image supplied for the next section. Please note that this changed in 2007 when the top part and sleeves of the 49ers' on-field jerseys became a solid material.
Screen-printed logos and stripes on the sleeves
Whether it be a current or throwback jersey, the logo (throwbacks will have no logo) on the sleeves
will be screen-printed. The brand logo (Reebok in this example) will be sewn on. Remember, current
jerseys have the shadow on the sleeve stripes while throwbacks have no shadow. But the sleeve
does have stitched on numbers on throwbacks.
Going back to the same mesh material rule, if you look really closely, you can see the holes in the
stripes on the sleeves. This is an easy way to spot an authentic.