Fair enough that you get what you pay for regarding the fake tops but do the real official fan grade ones really cost eight times as much to produce and market?
if these brands just knock the prices down a fraction they could literally make the counterfeit market obsolete and stop all this pollution and unethical labour, extortionate pricing by legitimate brands is just as harmful to the planet as the fakes industry
Nobodies asking for ozzy osbourne or Robbie Williams in a promo video that we’ll see maybe once or twice. We buy because we we see the players wearing it that’s it
The cost to produce isn't 8x, but the counterfeiters don't have all the additional costs of all the time and personnel that have to create the product in the first place.
@@TheKitBreakdown So the eight fold (and sometimes larger) cost increase is solely due to paying the creative team? I think more believable reason would be profit margins dictated by what are essentially megacorporations in Nike and Adidas and the like
@@pictishblood5688Not just creative that makes authentic jerseys more expensive. It’s because of R and D, licensing, quality control, import/export taxes, advertising/marketing/partnerships etc… Things counterfeiters don’t have to pay for.
I get what you’re saying about the higher costs of producing the official kits with regard to the release videos with Ozzy and Shearer in them but 99% of the fans would rather no release video at all and a cheaper kit. A release video is completely unnecessary in my opinion. Fans will know a kit has been released because they will watch their team play in it every week. Bin that off and pass the savings on to the fans.
Exactly, the people buying the shirt are fans already anticipating buying the shirt. The launch video isn't collecting legions of new support and selling them the idea. It's fan service - if you're going to pass that cost on, don't bother with the launch.
All I would say, is that brands are good because of the branding and the cool stuff they do around clubs etc. Where would Nike football be without all those amazing Brazil videos that set the bar for sports advertising. Personally I buy into brand. Other things to consider is paying all the staff that produce the things, designers, developers, sourcing teams, PR and Marketing teams,.... thats not even to mention all the research that goes into designing them and the fact the brands own the designs etc...
I know this topic is adressed from the UK perspective. But I'm from Argentina and here it is really, really difficult to actually buy this OG kits. Since I was a kid I loved football shirts and, sadly, throughout my whole life I've only owned like 4 o 5 original kits. With the appearance of counterfeit kits, I had the opportunity to actually own a lot more shirts. Even tho they are fake, it feels great to own 3 o 4 kits from the current season, never happened to me. And it also drives me to buy the actual shirt once it drops price because the season is over. I know it's probably not ethical at all, but for people like me who can't always afford the real thing, it is a really good option to have.
A club releasing 3rd and even 4th kits is just ridiculous, shirts you're probably never going to see them wear. There's too many kits, being released too often
Exactly. For example, Bayern Munich offers a special jersey for Oktoberfest that is worn in just one match and never again. Why the hell should I buy over €100 for a jersey, name, and badge when you can have the 'same' for less than €40 if you like that jersey. And in 2025 they offer yet a fifth (!) jersey for their 125th club anniversary at the same price if not a higher price!
@@googlesu Even working in the industry, it's hard to argue against this. I was designing 4 kits for Lazio 20 years ago and found it astonishing then, but at least it was clear that two were for domestic H+A and the other two for European H+A. Still way too much though. - Rob.
I haven’t bought the Arsenal shirt this season but the replica and authentic home shirts are miles apart in the shirt design. Personally, the away kits should be the 3rd kit for the following season or that the 3rd kit is for 2 seasons. I fully understand why people buy from DH Gate especially the players style jersey.
Fans want a shirt to wear to the game/pub, they don’t care if the stitching isn’t 100% perfect. You boys are doing a great job, but please keep the average customer in mind.
So you're saying Adidas CHOSE to include Ozzy Osbourne in the launch video so that they CAN charge us a higher price? Your logic of the kits being more expensive because of the marketing doesn't make sense. Products are not priced based on how much the marketing campaign costs. Maybe the materials are better but demand also plays a role in them pricing the kits. If people don't have a problem paying £85 for a kit, Adidas will continue charging that.
I think measures like Luton Town having the same kit for 2 seasons or bringing back the 2nd kit of the previous season as the current's 3rd one is a good idea, as mentioned in here. Napoli and other clubs are releasing an insane amount of special jerseys per season that it doesn't even make sense financially, especially when some of these release mid-season and are sometimes an upgraded version of the home/2nd kits
It's turned into a ridiculous money grab. I like what Luton is doing as well. I think the quality of the designs would improve too if you have to design fewer kits each season.
A Manchester United replica costs around twice that of most lower league teams, where a club like say Gillingham charges £45. Does that mean someone that wants to buy a Manchester United shirt has twice the disposable income of the Gillingham supporter? No.
Too expensive when you're outside UK. No shops where you can buy the originals from, just from the club. And Brexit made it even more expensive, now you have taxes and stuff. It probably costs about 120-130 pounds for a shirt nowadays. Which is way too much.
The way I see things - obviously I may be wrong - your mate is part of the problem. Everyone who buys a shirt at full price is part of the problem. If I were Adidas and I saw my 85 GBP shirts sell like hot cakes the first few weeks after release, next year I’d go for 90. I own almost 1,000 shirts, only authentic, more than half are still with their tags on, and the first-first-first time in my life I paid full price, was back in May, this year, for my team’s (PAOK) Championship title shirt (65 euros, Macron). Before that, my “record” was just under 50 euros (Argentina 2022 Home), and before that, I had never-ever paid more than 40 euros. Do I like, for example, this season’s Adidas third shirts (Juve, Madrid, Bayern, etc)? I love them. Would I like to have them all? Absolutely. Am I going to buy any at full price? Hell no!!!!! Would I think differently if I made… 100,000 euros per year? Yes. Would I think THAT differently that I would buy dozens of shirts per year at full price? I wish to believe “no”, because “common sense” is what I claim to be my religion, and there is no way in hell anyone can convince me that a football shirt today can cost 90, 100, 150 euros. And if you guys in Britain find these prices high, imagine what they feel like to us, people in countries where “normal” salaries are a joke :-):-):-). Going back though, if enough people pay full price for Adidas/Nike/Puma/etc to feel “we’re ok, we’re getting away with this”, I totally see why every couple of years they push the price up and up (and up and up). Sorry for the long comment. Cheers from Thessaloniki
The Brazilian club Fortalenza, which is located in the poorest region of Brazil, created a cheaper version of their kits which cost half the price of the original. What happend? Well the sales of fakes dropped significantly. Crazy how that works. They also gave you a discount if you gave them your fake shirt.
We’re all part of the problem. You owning 1,000 shirts is as much part of the problem because you help create a market outside of a teams fan base. A team/manufacturer can absolutely bake into the cost of a shirt the amortising cost of that shirt. If you can sell enough at £85 to fans knowing you can maybe take a hit but still still sell X amount of shirts at £50 at some point, it allows them to set the starting value of the shirt at a price point they know they can hit It’s a really tricky subject but unfortunately the only way of really tackling it is to stop our insatiable appetite for consumerism and having to own everything that exists.
New kits should be release every 2 years as a minimum imo and shouldn’t cost more than 50 quid. I bought 4 fake kits in Spain over this past summer for €70 and I promise, the differences are way less noticeable than the Villa comparison in this video so it’s really hard to justify paying 80+ for one kit when I can get 4 for cheaper
The price of training gear now has ramped up ridiculously as well. Interestingly Newcastle’s Adidas originals collection although identical in design to Celtic’s pieces are 25-35% more for Newcastle’s items. Prices via both club shops. Track top $133 at Celtic $180 at Newcastle.
My mate bought a 'fake' Spurs shirt online and it looks like the real thing. I would definitely consider it. I don't buy full-price shirts, recently I've been buying a shirt if/when I'm at the airport and can buy one tax-free. This season, there's not many shirts I like at all. I won a competition at work and could choose any shirt I wanted and it wasn't easy to find one that stood out.
Nice episode. I hope you take shoots closer to the jerseys details in order to have a clear idea especially when you compare two kits. I remember that you've done that before and that was very interesting. Have a great week-end 🤙
Whole game has gone mad regarding shirts. Every club you go to charges £70+ at the start of the season. They then reduce them constantly throughout the year. By the end we're talking £20-30. Even then I imagine they still make money based on the fact an average shirt is £8 to produce. I don't blame people buying fakes. It's just a reflection of the money grabbing.
When the premier league started, what was the average use by clubs of their first to third kits? I can understand new sponsors etc but the style and colour of the shirt changing each season is not on, if you want to have fans buying into it. Also the sustainability of it all.
When it comes to DHgate, it depends on how long the shirt has been out for and what seller your going with. If you wait a good 3-4 months after it’s been released officially and then go with a highly rated seller with a lot of sales you usually get something that’s indistinguishable from the authentic
I used to buy one new kit every season. This the first year i stopped when the total was over $300 to ship to North America. Started buying replicas and the quality is exceptional. I put several chelsea kits side by side with authentics and they're nearly indistinguishable. Honestly Nike and Adidas did this to themselves. F🤬k them.
I would be interested to hear in a future video about designing the non-shirt part of kits like the shorts and the socks. Are they usually designed last or are they part of the concept from the beginning? I find it interesting that Adidas, Puma, and Castore all have stripes on all of their shorts this year (which I think looks terrible). I find it interesting because the shorts matter a lot to how the teams look in games but nobody really buys them so surely they matter a lot less
He looks like a counterfeit Bono. The fact he keeps defending the ridiculous £100 price tag for a T-shirt with a corporate logo slapped on is so annoying.
On a related note, the authentic Villa shirt looks more maroon than claret. What was the thought process to using this shade? Was it colour matched to an older shirt? Also, on the colour spectrum when does claret become maroon or indeed burgundy? In the future can you do an episode examining the complexities of colour variants throughout different clubs. Claret is a good example as it’s a shade that can be easily compared against the teams who use it as part of their corporate colours. Bradford City, Motherwell, West Ham, Burnley etc all use ‘claret’ as part of their colour palette and I suspect they all use different Pantone shades to represent that colour. Apologies for geeking out on colour variations, but it’s a subject that intrigues me.
Let’s be honest, it’s a football shirt not a Stone Island t- shirt. It’s really interesting how the professional designers look at a football shirt and how much thought is put into it but it’s over engineered and that’s why it’s so expensive!!!! Most consumers are not bothered what different materials or textures the shirt has on it or what stitching is used. The shirt needs to look similar to what the players are wearing. The shirt is only relevant for a year and then not used again! For kids it’s even worse, I support Tottenham and once my 6 year old has dropped bolognese source on a white shirt it’s stained! The football shirt manufacturers are feeding the fake market and created their own problem due to selling shirts are ridiculous prices. A stadium shirt should be £35-£50 and a kids shirt £15-£30.
Something else to bring up. Not every has access to buy the official shirts in all countries. For example last years Adidas Roma derby kit was only available in Europe. I couldn't buy it here in America. Right now the European Adidas website carry far more kits and training gear than the American Adidas site.
I’m a Villa shirt collector and the last years the cost of the shirts have gone trough the roof. 1 Pro and 1 replica of all the 3 shirts with print and that cost about £650. I do understand why folks buy the fake shirts. Utv! 🤫💜💙
no sympathy with clubs and brands whatsoever,they are just butt hurt,because they are pricing people out of the game,sky tv have,ticket prices are 40 plus a game,i love my non real tops,i buy the official one at the end of the season when the are 20/30 quid
I 100% agree that clubs and brands are out of their minds when it comes to pricing. However, I am still baffled by the customers who rush out to buy these overpriced shirts immediately instead of just waiting the four or five months for the price to drop significantly. Nike/Adidas/Puma aren't stupid, they are capable of telling when in the year people are purchasing their products, and if they thought that a majority were buying them at the discounted rate they would lower the prices.
Good episode chaps. You're spot on about Adidas knocking it out of the park this season. Made up that my club, Liverpool, are getting them in for next season. Really excited to see what they are going to bring to the table. Nike have been truly disappointing for us. Probably one or two good kit out of the bunch, and that's about it. I'll be glad we're getting rid.
For me, who has a 10 year old that wants the home, away, third and keepers kits, I can only get him one per season. I got him the home genuine shirt for the past 3 seasons. I refuse to pay for the shorts. The away, third and keepers I paid for fake replica. But someone who had a kit in the 90s that was just a standard "replica" - there were no "pro" shirts, and they cost the best part of £30, then I will continue to do this moving forwards whether they be from Turkey on holiday, or from these dodgy sites. also, neither of us really care about the differences. They are cheap/replicas., you get what you pay for.
Also, when I was a kid 1 new shirt came out a season - either home or away. And that shirt, for £30, last me 2 seasons. I was happy paying £30 a year for a footie shirt. - When they started bringing out a new home AND away every year, it became an absolute disgrace. It's just like the cost of going to games as well - they've priced out the working class person.
When I was growing up clubs would keep a shirt for at least 2 seasons. Changing home and away in alternate years. Now you have at least 3 shirts each year which is why the counterfeit market has grown.
Thank you both for an interesting video, Middlesbrough football clubs home shirt is £57 but because of the away kit being sold out faster than ever,there are fake versions going around for £13 . Take care both xx
If brands didn’t hammer 3 kits 4 training kits and jackets etc etc every season at £60 plus each then the counterfeit market wouldn’t have boomed so much! The quality of counterfeits are different depending on where you buy them from too.
I would buy authentic kit when I really really like it but my boy is happy getting 5 or 6 DHgate kits rather than 1 authentic. All the kids are wearing fake gear so no one cares.
Great video and its interesting and quite refreshing to see experts have a couple of positive opinions about counterfeit shirts and the impact they have on the consumer (cost of savings etc) - thats the main reason why many purchase them .. because of the prices .. I get the other sides, slave labour, working conditions, some terrible construction but yeah the money saved is a big driver for some I get the odd counterfit of new shirts for the kids, but then tend to get the original shirts on sale a season or 2 later for them and myself
I get that there are additional costs, but when these brands just chuck out template kits in different colours I just can't see it. Its all down to profit margins and share price as the clubs only get a small % of revenue from the kit sales. Will only ever buy the shirts come May when the manufacturer or club are struggling to shift stock and are offering 75% off or whatever it may be just to break even on the remaining stock.
if you find the right seller on Dh you can get some great Quality,the sponsors are printed right on the shirt so it wont peel off on the first wash,the material is just as nice
Really enjoyed this guys! Personally, I only ever buy genuine but hold off purchasing until later in the season when the kits are all discounted in the club shop. I can’t justify to myself splashing out £75-£85 for the sole reason of having a new kit now - especially when a shirt at that price is not even a player authentic. It’s no wonder the DHGate market has boomed, and I can’t blame some people for turning to it though Robs point about counterfeits potentially being manufactured with banned dyes and glues is a great one I’d never heard or even thought to consider before. Love the idea about creating a video to see how a DH Gate special holds up to compared an official shirt in 10 years time (though I think you’ll have a good indicator how it’s going by the end of this season even end of this season)!
I haven't bought any kits since I got Real Madrid home 08/09 home kit at the end ofthat season. They were just too expensive for me. This summer a club that I follow has changed from Macron to Adidas and had a big sale of their Macron merchandise from the stock to clear it out. I got a home kit with player name and number and all the sponsor stickers for less than half the price it was. Now they have Adidas kits which are good, but they only have replica kits available (both to sell and for their games). If I went to buy it with player name on the back and sponsor stickers on the shirt it costs exactly 134,00€ which in my opinion is waaaay too much for a replica version of a kit. Might as well wait for a sale, although they usually have a kit for two seasons so it remains to be seen. I have also bought my first two knock offs... classic RM shirt and a current RM away kit in authentic version. For someone who used to make a lot of kits for PES games I can see the imperfections. But they are only noticeable when you look very closely and tbh for playing football with my friends I am happy enough with quality.
I’m happy to pay the price for a genuine shirt over a fake if the shirt lasts 2 seasons like it used to in the 80’s and early 90’s. Can I also point out how so many adidas kits are exactly the same template for multiple clubs. Just a simple colour change. And the quality of a genuine shirt isn’t as good as it’s often made out to be. There is also a huge difference in the design between fan and player versions this is so disappointing to see that the costs for a fan version is so high…..3 kits per season is a Joke. Can I also add that arsenal have a 4th white shirt for FA cup games (however I support the cause but this could be a simple emblem like the poppy in November…not an entire kit) great video guys
The argument of working conditions for factory workers is a valid point but if these big ath-leisure companies really care about working conditions too then they would would move their factories out of Asian countries that have much more relaxed “laws” on lunch hours, minimum wages, working conditions. And I say “laws” in inverted commas because they’re more like recommendations than laws and even still, they’re very poor recommendations. Move the factories to Europe particularly for Adidas, Puma, etc that are European brands and release a kit every 2 seasons which for me at least would actually justify a 70-90 quid jersey
Great video on an important subject. Yes the kits are too expensive, and I agree that I'd rather have one real shirt than 4 fakes. Hard to see where we go from here, but clubs like Brentford releasing a shirt and keeping it for 2 seasons is a good start. It's the same 2-year cycle that MLS and Adidas use for the league. (New Home Kit in 2023, used for 2023 and 2024 seasons, New Away Kit for 2024, used for 2024 and 2025 seasons etc.) Thanks for sharing your insights 👏
Hey guys, I wanted to chime in on the conversation about spending £1000 on football shirts for kids. That seems a bit excessive, don’t you think? It’s important to set boundaries and say no sometimes. I’ve bought from the sites you mentioned and plan to keep doing so, especially since prices are only going to rise in the future. Honestly, I’d much rather spend £45 on three affordable kits than shell out £300 for a few high-end ones. Just a thought-let’s rethink our priorities!
During the 80's/90's as an Arsenal fan it was great as we only used to release 1 new shirt every season (New home one year and the away the next) and now its a pi$$ take and I am a Arsenal shirt collector. I love the team I support but with all 3 kits changing every season it is not on. It needs to be capped either on price or the amount of kits that can be produced. As you say some families have no choice when it comes to money. Good video
Good vid guys. Seen a wide range in the quality of the counterfeits last few years- I’ve one or two that have also fooled experts and you have to look for really tiny discrepancies against real ones. But at same time there are some really really shoddy ones and you don’t know what you’ll end up with
Is Craig for real!! Ridiculous comment. Justifying the cost to cover the kit launch video because they have paid some celebrities when a email from your club has the same effect . Unless Ozzy , Shearer or whoever is gonna pop it round your house are you ever going to look back at that video again 🤦 I’m Spurs and the Nike kits are getting dreadful and overpriced. Hummel are doing some very nice Coventry kits based on the City heritage yet can sell them at £30 cheaper than a Nike shirt.
The one factor you're missing here is that Hummel are not paying Coventry an 8 figure sum per year to the club for the privilege. Add that figure and that will push the price of a shirt up, even for a smaller brand. Not saying what Nike produce is good for the price, I absolutely hate the Spurs replica. It's lacking design, looks cheap, feels constrictive.
The Spurs away kit this season is terrible. I know it pays homage to previous kits like the Umbro one and the sky blue in the.early 80s but it looks like a cheap deck chair. I miss the Hummel kits.
@Craig Not sure it’s still worth it but I do agree Adidas are smashing the kits out . Some of the best Spurs kits were Adidas and Hummel. What’s Nike’s excuse for £85? At launch I just got an email from the club 😂
My friend is a spurs fan with 3 boys (much he same situation as described in the video) who want all 3 spurs kits. Spurs it costs £75 per child, per kit before any names badges etc, a popular Chinese website it costs him £15 per child per complete kit, with badges and player names. He showed me them when they came, and, aside from some questionable stitch work, anyone but an expert really would struggle to tell the difference between real & fake.
The first example you gave of your mate buying 3 kits for each of his kids... has he ever heard of the word no? They're lucky if they get one shirt... Edit: the other guy joked this. I'm serious...
I can’t justify buying any fake kits even if I can’t find the real deal. I’m a Bayern fan and I wasn’t able to get the 23-24 Oktoberfest kit and now I can’t find it besides some listing on eBay which there are many fakes and or fake kits at these side stores online. I want the quality and the real thing a professional player where’s not something cheap that won’t last
@@HolidayInn-vp2rk a majority of the fakes are almost identical plus companies like sports direct don’t resell stock they take back I did the same with the away shirt a few weeks back too
It baffles me that you two, being former kit designers, didn't even touch upon the topic of intellectual property/copyright. Other than all the issues you described regarding counterfeits, what the buyer has to realise is that these are criminals, not creatives. The big brands have done all the research, brought their creativity to do the design work as well as marketed the whole story which makes the thing coveted in the first place - that's why you want to buy it and wear it! Yet the criminals are copying another man's work to earn a quick buck. Buying counterfeits is disrespectful towards the club and brand.
There's no point bringing copyright law up, because it is based a country to country basis. Adidas and Newcastle can try to sue these factories, but the Chinese courts will support their own every time.
It’s simple, 99% of the issue or challenge for parents is the prices of the shirt. That’s why DHGate and the likes are so popular. People don’t care about the research, creative.
The kids don't care if it's real or not. We have a mix of real and fake, and my son can point out the difference, but he's still happy to wear the fake. I'd be interested in the quality of factories where the fakes are made.
You've bought villa tops that's a problem, buy bigger teams and the replicas are faultless. They've never managed to get the claret colour right on replica shirts
The Counterfeit Villa shirt colors looks better than the real one, to me the Claret is too dark and the blue is too bright almost looks white on the authentic one. Ethically there's still a big question mark from the working standards and conditions for the workers amongst the big brands they're still on very little wages
When it comes to cost for me the shirts cost about £5 to produce including all overhead costs like producing and shipping etc.. The Villla shirt is bad but most kits looks spot on in terms of colour and even the fabric feel. Counter fitters are better than ever now. It hit and miss every season with them as i have family members who only buy them now as they are simply priced out of the replica shirts. They would pay for replica shirts if they were fair. I refuse to pay more than £30 for a shirt and always get them a season late on sale for my collection. While designers have to design these that adds £1 a shirt on max as they sell millions of these shirts. Official shirts are also made in China even if not the same factory. Adidas make their shirts in China, Vietnam, and Indonesia. Where they no doubt pay pennys for the shirt to be made (material costs aside).
Kits are not like fashion brands. Wearing a decent enough fake is good enough for most people. Let alone the young kids who have no clue (again If decent copy). Clubs and suppliers got too greedy, fakes got better and supporters grew wiser.
There's nothing wrong with fake shirts (apart from potential poor working conditions). I had a fake Man United top when I was a kid and absolutely loved it. I knew a real shirt was too expensive for my parents and I was just delighted to wear something that rep'd the club
i have a hard time believing that the authentic brand jerseys are really produced in factories where working conditions are much better if at all compared to the fakes. obviously the quality is different, but as far as working conditions go all these corporations go for the lowest cost and lowest amount of worker rights in order to generate the largest profit margin. thats just the reality of capitalism. and i have yet to see believable proof they arent exploiting the hell out of these workes, bc it doesnt exist. so the quality argument i can get behind, but these corporations have never been concerned with "ethical" behavior. they will do as much as they can get away with, simple
Been collecting for 25 years, bearing in mind most of these replicas are barely any cheaper than a match worn, nah .... unless I am getting 30-50% off I won't touch a replica shirt. DH Gate is totally fine. Things really have changed and for the worse.
So long as fans are willing to be bent over, clubs will continue shafting. It's pretty simple: costs of official shirts are increasing because the clubs know that gullible fans will pay the price. If clubs actually cared about their fans they could easily sell shirts at £20 for season ticket holders without any significant impact on finances. I also don't buy the argument about factories. It has been proven that Nike, Adidas etc can't effectively monitor their supply chains and there is loads of dodgy stuff going on in supposedly 'good' factories.
It’s not 100 quid for a kids full kit. It’s significantly more. I brought my boy to the emirates last week. He’s 8 and we got him the New Jersey and it was £80 just for the T-shirt. If I was to get him the full kit it would be £120. Fuck that! I’d rather give my money to gangsters and criminals than billionaires.
I’m not sure using the money spent on marketing the kits justifies extra costs for the end customers. The shirts are worn/advertised every week on the pitch and tv/youtube, do the fans really need a video of Ginola/Ozzy!???
the official shirts cost £7 to make, so clubs make £100 profit each time they sell it, i’ll stick to DHGate atleast im feeding a chinese kid in a factory while getting my cheap shirt
@@jbri1 I'm not defending them but its just a fact they spend more money than just the cost to make the shirt itself. I'm not saying that justifies the current price but it would contribute to it a little.
Also the manufacturer, Nike, Adidas etc gets most of the money. Club probably gets 10 / 15 per cent,maybe slightly more with bigger clubs.Of course,the club gets their equipment sponsored for all their teams. Not that I'm defending them,the kits are a ridiculous price.
I agree with all you say, I’ve just paid £55 for a pair of authentic Man Utd shorts! which is ridiculous, another bugbear of mine is the England team mainly wear white shorts (Change) of late but you can’t buy these.
Also United have home change shorts (black) and home change socks(white). It's just a rip off ,in the 80s the 3kits would last 2 seasons and socks and shorts would be interchangeable between home/away.
Official kits are just too expensive. We can't afford them. If they were used for two seasons, maybe it's different. IMHO you think too much about the jerseys, manufacturers and brands, and too little in the actual football fans.
If you're unemployed... it's unattainable to buy a shirt. But if you're a working man, spending eighty-five on a shirt that your kid, will want to wear every single day... for an entire year, works out at, twenty-three pence a day. In a world where a single pint is eight quid. For each pint... that's the equivalent of a month of your kids' happy face, in his teams replica shirt. That isn't too bad, is it?
The point about value appreciation over time is a big one for me as that's something top of mind as a collector. If I buy a fake shirt, after 2 years I might be inclined to throw it away but if I buy the real thing, it's value can go up the longer I keep it to the point where it could become priceless. A fake shirt is money spent, a real shirt is money invested.
People are not paying for razzmatazz 😂😂😂 go DHgate there great, Liverpool retros are shocking as they can’t even have the adidas sponsor or 3 stripes as there currently sponsored by Nike, they are great, don’t get ripped off £40 is a far price
As someone with multiple friends who own a lot of shirts, my friends fall into either of the two camps: 1) Believe that the DHGate versions are good enough to wear and not be obvious fakes and would much rather pay the far smaller cost. As for the ethical issues, it’s the ‘out of sight out of mind’ mentality. 2) Then the other camp, which is where I sit. Yes, they’re very expensive. But, if you do really want a shirt that much but can’t afford the price, you can always wait until April/May and then buy a shirt for a cut price on the club website. I own over 50 shirts now (and counting!), and all of mine are real. I want to be able to look back on them one day with fondness and know that they’re all legit and of course worth a pretty penny too. As a collector, there’s nothing worse to me than knowing a shirt in my collection is fake, I’d rather just hand it into a charity shop.
Have you compared many replicas side by side with authentic kits? I have a fake version of every authentic kit I own and the quality is nearly indistinguishable. There are slight differences with number/name placement. When it comes to big club fakes, without doing a side by side in depth comparison 99.9% of people would not be able to point out a difference.
@@based.mr.brightsideadmittedly I haven’t, but as a collector it’s knowing they’re not genuine which is enough to put me off. Mind you, the thought of not putting extra cash in the pockets of the Glazers is enough incentive to buy from DHGATE!!
Ive got fake kits from 06-12/14 ish and they all looked great. They looked the same as when I brought them. Just not my size soo dont need them. Would always want a real one but not against a fake for a few circumstances where kits are not possible to get hold of would never buy a fake for my club though ever.
Dhgate kits make the most sense when trying to find the retro designs.
Fair enough that you get what you pay for regarding the fake tops but do the real official fan grade ones really cost eight times as much to produce and market?
if these brands just knock the prices down a fraction they could literally make the counterfeit market obsolete and stop all this pollution and unethical labour, extortionate pricing by legitimate brands is just as harmful to the planet as the fakes industry
Nobodies asking for ozzy osbourne or Robbie Williams in a promo video that we’ll see maybe once or twice.
We buy because we we see the players wearing it that’s it
The cost to produce isn't 8x, but the counterfeiters don't have all the additional costs of all the time and personnel that have to create the product in the first place.
@@TheKitBreakdown So the eight fold (and sometimes larger) cost increase is solely due to paying the creative team? I think more believable reason would be profit margins dictated by what are essentially megacorporations in Nike and Adidas and the like
@@pictishblood5688Not just creative that makes authentic jerseys more expensive. It’s because of R and D, licensing, quality control, import/export taxes, advertising/marketing/partnerships etc… Things counterfeiters don’t have to pay for.
I get what you’re saying about the higher costs of producing the official kits with regard to the release videos with Ozzy and Shearer in them but 99% of the fans would rather no release video at all and a cheaper kit. A release video is completely unnecessary in my opinion. Fans will know a kit has been released because they will watch their team play in it every week. Bin that off and pass the savings on to the fans.
Exactly, the people buying the shirt are fans already anticipating buying the shirt. The launch video isn't collecting legions of new support and selling them the idea. It's fan service - if you're going to pass that cost on, don't bother with the launch.
All I would say, is that brands are good because of the branding and the cool stuff they do around clubs etc. Where would Nike football be without all those amazing Brazil videos that set the bar for sports advertising. Personally I buy into brand. Other things to consider is paying all the staff that produce the things, designers, developers, sourcing teams, PR and Marketing teams,.... thats not even to mention all the research that goes into designing them and the fact the brands own the designs etc...
I know this topic is adressed from the UK perspective. But I'm from Argentina and here it is really, really difficult to actually buy this OG kits. Since I was a kid I loved football shirts and, sadly, throughout my whole life I've only owned like 4 o 5 original kits. With the appearance of counterfeit kits, I had the opportunity to actually own a lot more shirts. Even tho they are fake, it feels great to own 3 o 4 kits from the current season, never happened to me. And it also drives me to buy the actual shirt once it drops price because the season is over. I know it's probably not ethical at all, but for people like me who can't always afford the real thing, it is a really good option to have.
Considering that most football clubs and associations dont care about ethics and morals, why should you then?
A club releasing 3rd and even 4th kits is just ridiculous, shirts you're probably never going to see them wear. There's too many kits, being released too often
Exactly. For example, Bayern Munich offers a special jersey for Oktoberfest that is worn in just one match and never again. Why the hell should I buy over €100 for a jersey, name, and badge when you can have the 'same' for less than €40 if you like that jersey. And in 2025 they offer yet a fifth (!) jersey for their 125th club anniversary at the same price if not a higher price!
The neat part is you don't have to buy them.
@@googlesuI get the sentiment, but no ones forcing you to
@@bobbyshearer93 big cash grab… that’s all out of, another way to earn and basically rinse the fanbase
@@googlesu Even working in the industry, it's hard to argue against this. I was designing 4 kits for Lazio 20 years ago and found it astonishing then, but at least it was clear that two were for domestic H+A and the other two for European H+A. Still way too much though. - Rob.
I haven’t bought the Arsenal shirt this season but the replica and authentic home shirts are miles apart in the shirt design. Personally, the away kits should be the 3rd kit for the following season or that the 3rd kit is for 2 seasons. I fully understand why people buy from DH Gate especially the players style jersey.
That’s what Brighton do.
A £85 real shirt isn’t much better than a £15 fake shirt. The difference isn’t worth the £35/£40 price difference.
I think so.
£50 is reasonable for a shirt and some people can’t complain when they wear £600 stone island jackets to watch the match
I’m just not paying 120quid for a 6 year olds kit. I’m not doing it. It’s an absolute rip off
Agreed. Someone needs to tell Adidas and the others I don’t need the razz ma tazz to buy the kit if that will bring the price back down.
Fans want a shirt to wear to the game/pub, they don’t care if the stitching isn’t 100% perfect. You boys are doing a great job, but please keep the average customer in mind.
Used to treat my football shirts like a garment for sports, now I treat it like a balenciaga because it’s so expensive
Nowt wrong with that son,...
You admit to buying Balenciaga 😂
Dont call it a comeback! Welcome back fellas!!!
Thank you sir, it's good to be back:)
So you're saying Adidas CHOSE to include Ozzy Osbourne in the launch video so that they CAN charge us a higher price?
Your logic of the kits being more expensive because of the marketing doesn't make sense.
Products are not priced based on how much the marketing campaign costs. Maybe the materials are better but demand also plays a role in them pricing the kits.
If people don't have a problem paying £85 for a kit, Adidas will continue charging that.
I think measures like Luton Town having the same kit for 2 seasons or bringing back the 2nd kit of the previous season as the current's 3rd one is a good idea, as mentioned in here. Napoli and other clubs are releasing an insane amount of special jerseys per season that it doesn't even make sense financially, especially when some of these release mid-season and are sometimes an upgraded version of the home/2nd kits
It's turned into a ridiculous money grab. I like what Luton is doing as well. I think the quality of the designs would improve too if you have to design fewer kits each season.
A Manchester United replica costs around twice that of most lower league teams, where a club like say Gillingham charges £45. Does that mean someone that wants to buy a Manchester United shirt has twice the disposable income of the Gillingham supporter? No.
Too expensive when you're outside UK. No shops where you can buy the originals from, just from the club. And Brexit made it even more expensive, now you have taxes and stuff. It probably costs about 120-130 pounds for a shirt nowadays. Which is way too much.
The way I see things - obviously I may be wrong - your mate is part of the problem. Everyone who buys a shirt at full price is part of the problem. If I were Adidas and I saw my 85 GBP shirts sell like hot cakes the first few weeks after release, next year I’d go for 90.
I own almost 1,000 shirts, only authentic, more than half are still with their tags on, and the first-first-first time in my life I paid full price, was back in May, this year, for my team’s (PAOK) Championship title shirt (65 euros, Macron). Before that, my “record” was just under 50 euros (Argentina 2022 Home), and before that, I had never-ever paid more than 40 euros.
Do I like, for example, this season’s Adidas third shirts (Juve, Madrid, Bayern, etc)? I love them. Would I like to have them all? Absolutely. Am I going to buy any at full price? Hell no!!!!! Would I think differently if I made… 100,000 euros per year? Yes. Would I think THAT differently that I would buy dozens of shirts per year at full price? I wish to believe “no”, because “common sense” is what I claim to be my religion, and there is no way in hell anyone can convince me that a football shirt today can cost 90, 100, 150 euros. And if you guys in Britain find these prices high, imagine what they feel like to us, people in countries where “normal” salaries are a joke :-):-):-).
Going back though, if enough people pay full price for Adidas/Nike/Puma/etc to feel “we’re ok, we’re getting away with this”, I totally see why every couple of years they push the price up and up (and up and up).
Sorry for the long comment.
Cheers from Thessaloniki
The Brazilian club Fortalenza, which is located in the poorest region of Brazil, created a cheaper version of their kits which cost half the price of the original. What happend? Well the sales of fakes dropped significantly. Crazy how that works. They also gave you a discount if you gave them your fake shirt.
We’re all part of the problem. You owning 1,000 shirts is as much part of the problem because you help create a market outside of a teams fan base. A team/manufacturer can absolutely bake into the cost of a shirt the amortising cost of that shirt. If you can sell enough at £85 to fans knowing you can maybe take a hit but still still sell X amount of shirts at £50 at some point, it allows them to set the starting value of the shirt at a price point they know they can hit
It’s a really tricky subject but unfortunately the only way of really tackling it is to stop our insatiable appetite for consumerism and having to own everything that exists.
New kits should be release every 2 years as a minimum imo and shouldn’t cost more than 50 quid. I bought 4 fake kits in Spain over this past summer for €70 and I promise, the differences are way less noticeable than the Villa comparison in this video so it’s really hard to justify paying 80+ for one kit when I can get 4 for cheaper
The price of training gear now has ramped up ridiculously as well. Interestingly Newcastle’s Adidas originals collection although identical in design to Celtic’s pieces are 25-35% more for Newcastle’s items. Prices via both club shops. Track top $133 at Celtic $180 at Newcastle.
My mate bought a 'fake' Spurs shirt online and it looks like the real thing. I would definitely consider it. I don't buy full-price shirts, recently I've been buying a shirt if/when I'm at the airport and can buy one tax-free. This season, there's not many shirts I like at all. I won a competition at work and could choose any shirt I wanted and it wasn't easy to find one that stood out.
Nice episode. I hope you take shoots closer to the jerseys details in order to have a clear idea especially when you compare two kits. I remember that you've done that before and that was very interesting. Have a great week-end 🤙
Whole game has gone mad regarding shirts. Every club you go to charges £70+ at the start of the season. They then reduce them constantly throughout the year. By the end we're talking £20-30. Even then I imagine they still make money based on the fact an average shirt is £8 to produce. I don't blame people buying fakes. It's just a reflection of the money grabbing.
When the premier league started, what was the average use by clubs of their first to third kits?
I can understand new sponsors etc but the style and colour of the shirt changing each season is not on, if you want to have fans buying into it. Also the sustainability of it all.
I hear ya sister!
Adidas pay Messi £20million a year... That's why our shirts cost £££...
When it comes to DHgate, it depends on how long the shirt has been out for and what seller your going with. If you wait a good 3-4 months after it’s been released officially and then go with a highly rated seller with a lot of sales you usually get something that’s indistinguishable from the authentic
I used to buy one new kit every season. This the first year i stopped when the total was over $300 to ship to North America. Started buying replicas and the quality is exceptional. I put several chelsea kits side by side with authentics and they're nearly indistinguishable. Honestly Nike and Adidas did this to themselves. F🤬k them.
I would be interested to hear in a future video about designing the non-shirt part of kits like the shorts and the socks. Are they usually designed last or are they part of the concept from the beginning? I find it interesting that Adidas, Puma, and Castore all have stripes on all of their shorts this year (which I think looks terrible). I find it interesting because the shorts matter a lot to how the teams look in games but nobody really buys them so surely they matter a lot less
He looks like a counterfeit Bono. The fact he keeps defending the ridiculous £100 price tag for a T-shirt with a corporate logo slapped on is so annoying.
On a related note, the authentic Villa shirt looks more maroon than claret. What was the thought process to using this shade? Was it colour matched to an older shirt? Also, on the colour spectrum when does claret become maroon or indeed burgundy? In the future can you do an episode examining the complexities of colour variants throughout different clubs. Claret is a good example as it’s a shade that can be easily compared against the teams who use it as part of their corporate colours. Bradford City, Motherwell, West Ham, Burnley etc all use ‘claret’ as part of their colour palette and I suspect they all use different Pantone shades to represent that colour.
Apologies for geeking out on colour variations, but it’s a subject that intrigues me.
Let’s be honest, it’s a football shirt not a Stone Island t- shirt. It’s really interesting how the professional designers look at a football shirt and how much thought is put into it but it’s over engineered and that’s why it’s so expensive!!!! Most consumers are not bothered what different materials or textures the shirt has on it or what stitching is used. The shirt needs to look similar to what the players are wearing. The shirt is only relevant for a year and then not used again! For kids it’s even worse, I support Tottenham and once my 6 year old has dropped bolognese source on a white shirt it’s stained! The football shirt manufacturers are feeding the fake market and created their own problem due to selling shirts are ridiculous prices. A stadium shirt should be £35-£50 and a kids shirt £15-£30.
Too much white in Arsenal shirt is so wrong. Only collar and sleeves with red cuffs. Rest of the shirt torso red. Like navy detail
Love that the Kit Breakdown is back but please please please position in an overhead camera so we can see what you gents are talking about 😁
Something else to bring up. Not every has access to buy the official shirts in all countries. For example last years Adidas Roma derby kit was only available in Europe. I couldn't buy it here in America. Right now the European Adidas website carry far more kits and training gear than the American Adidas site.
I’m a Villa shirt collector and the last years the cost of the shirts have gone trough the roof. 1 Pro and 1 replica of all the 3 shirts with print and that cost about £650. I do understand why folks buy the fake shirts. Utv! 🤫💜💙
no sympathy with clubs and brands whatsoever,they are just butt hurt,because they are pricing people out of the game,sky tv have,ticket prices are 40 plus a game,i love my non real tops,i buy the official one at the end of the season when the are 20/30 quid
Good on you
I 100% agree that clubs and brands are out of their minds when it comes to pricing. However, I am still baffled by the customers who rush out to buy these overpriced shirts immediately instead of just waiting the four or five months for the price to drop significantly. Nike/Adidas/Puma aren't stupid, they are capable of telling when in the year people are purchasing their products, and if they thought that a majority were buying them at the discounted rate they would lower the prices.
Good episode chaps. You're spot on about Adidas knocking it out of the park this season. Made up that my club, Liverpool, are getting them in for next season. Really excited to see what they are going to bring to the table. Nike have been truly disappointing for us. Probably one or two good kit out of the bunch, and that's about it. I'll be glad we're getting rid.
For me, who has a 10 year old that wants the home, away, third and keepers kits, I can only get him one per season. I got him the home genuine shirt for the past 3 seasons. I refuse to pay for the shorts. The away, third and keepers I paid for fake replica. But someone who had a kit in the 90s that was just a standard "replica" - there were no "pro" shirts, and they cost the best part of £30, then I will continue to do this moving forwards whether they be from Turkey on holiday, or from these dodgy sites.
also, neither of us really care about the differences. They are cheap/replicas., you get what you pay for.
Also, when I was a kid 1 new shirt came out a season - either home or away. And that shirt, for £30, last me 2 seasons. I was happy paying £30 a year for a footie shirt. - When they started bringing out a new home AND away every year, it became an absolute disgrace. It's just like the cost of going to games as well - they've priced out the working class person.
When I was growing up clubs would keep a shirt for at least 2 seasons. Changing home and away in alternate years. Now you have at least 3 shirts each year which is why the counterfeit market has grown.
Thank you both for an interesting video, Middlesbrough football clubs home shirt is £57 but because of the away kit being sold out faster than ever,there are fake versions going around for £13 . Take care both xx
Love these videos guys. I think you’d really benefit from a top-down camera for these sorts of comparisons.
Yeah, I hear ya and thanks for the feedback
No is a good word sometimes. Kids nowadays spoilt rotten & it doesn’t do them any good in the longterm.
Yeah its a challenging one, kids of today ehh.
If brands didn’t hammer 3 kits 4 training kits and jackets etc etc every season at £60 plus each then the counterfeit market wouldn’t have boomed so much! The quality of counterfeits are different depending on where you buy them from too.
yeah, this is my issues, I feel it's been created by the brands
I would buy authentic kit when I really really like it but my boy is happy getting 5 or 6 DHgate kits rather than 1 authentic. All the kids are wearing fake gear so no one cares.
Great video and its interesting and quite refreshing to see experts have a couple of positive opinions about counterfeit shirts and the impact they have on the consumer (cost of savings etc) - thats the main reason why many purchase them .. because of the prices .. I get the other sides, slave labour, working conditions, some terrible construction but yeah the money saved is a big driver for some
I get the odd counterfit of new shirts for the kids, but then tend to get the original shirts on sale a season or 2 later for them and myself
I get that there are additional costs, but when these brands just chuck out template kits in different colours I just can't see it.
Its all down to profit margins and share price as the clubs only get a small % of revenue from the kit sales.
Will only ever buy the shirts come May when the manufacturer or club are struggling to shift stock and are offering 75% off or whatever it may be just to break even on the remaining stock.
You need to add more close up shots in post production. Especially during comparison segments.
if you find the right seller on Dh you can get some great Quality,the sponsors are printed right on the shirt so it wont peel off on the first wash,the material is just as nice
This. But many are an arseache.
Really enjoyed this guys!
Personally, I only ever buy genuine but hold off purchasing until later in the season when the kits are all discounted in the club shop. I can’t justify to myself splashing out £75-£85 for the sole reason of having a new kit now - especially when a shirt at that price is not even a player authentic.
It’s no wonder the DHGate market has boomed, and I can’t blame some people for turning to it though Robs point about counterfeits potentially being manufactured with banned dyes and glues is a great one I’d never heard or even thought to consider before.
Love the idea about creating a video to see how a DH Gate special holds up to compared an official shirt in 10 years time (though I think you’ll have a good indicator how it’s going by the end of this season even end of this season)!
I haven't bought any kits since I got Real Madrid home 08/09 home kit at the end ofthat season. They were just too expensive for me. This summer a club that I follow has changed from Macron to Adidas and had a big sale of their Macron merchandise from the stock to clear it out. I got a home kit with player name and number and all the sponsor stickers for less than half the price it was. Now they have Adidas kits which are good, but they only have replica kits available (both to sell and for their games). If I went to buy it with player name on the back and sponsor stickers on the shirt it costs exactly 134,00€ which in my opinion is waaaay too much for a replica version of a kit. Might as well wait for a sale, although they usually have a kit for two seasons so it remains to be seen.
I have also bought my first two knock offs... classic RM shirt and a current RM away kit in authentic version. For someone who used to make a lot of kits for PES games I can see the imperfections. But they are only noticeable when you look very closely and tbh for playing football with my friends I am happy enough with quality.
I’m happy to pay the price for a genuine shirt over a fake if the shirt lasts 2 seasons like it used to in the 80’s and early 90’s. Can I also point out how so many adidas kits are exactly the same template for multiple clubs. Just a simple colour change. And the quality of a genuine shirt isn’t as good as it’s often made out to be. There is also a huge difference in the design between fan and player versions this is so disappointing to see that the costs for a fan version is so high…..3 kits per season is a Joke. Can I also add that arsenal have a 4th white shirt for FA cup games (however I support the cause but this could be a simple emblem like the poppy in November…not an entire kit) great video guys
The argument of working conditions for factory workers is a valid point but if these big ath-leisure companies really care about working conditions too then they would would move their factories out of Asian countries that have much more relaxed “laws” on lunch hours, minimum wages, working conditions. And I say “laws” in inverted commas because they’re more like recommendations than laws and even still, they’re very poor recommendations. Move the factories to Europe particularly for Adidas, Puma, etc that are European brands and release a kit every 2 seasons which for me at least would actually justify a 70-90 quid jersey
Great video on an important subject. Yes the kits are too expensive, and I agree that I'd rather have one real shirt than 4 fakes. Hard to see where we go from here, but clubs like Brentford releasing a shirt and keeping it for 2 seasons is a good start. It's the same 2-year cycle that MLS and Adidas use for the league. (New Home Kit in 2023, used for 2023 and 2024 seasons, New Away Kit for 2024, used for 2024 and 2025 seasons etc.) Thanks for sharing your insights 👏
Hey guys, I wanted to chime in on the conversation about spending £1000 on football shirts for kids. That seems a bit excessive, don’t you think? It’s important to set boundaries and say no sometimes. I’ve bought from the sites you mentioned and plan to keep doing so, especially since prices are only going to rise in the future. Honestly, I’d much rather spend £45 on three affordable kits than shell out £300 for a few high-end ones. Just a thought-let’s rethink our priorities!
Depends on the supplier. Also the other question is, are they worth £90? Absolutely not is the answer.
During the 80's/90's as an Arsenal fan it was great as we only used to release 1 new shirt every season (New home one year and the away the next) and now its a pi$$ take and I am a Arsenal shirt collector. I love the team I support but with all 3 kits changing every season it is not on. It needs to be capped either on price or the amount of kits that can be produced. As you say some families have no choice when it comes to money. Good video
Good vid guys. Seen a wide range in the quality of the counterfeits last few years- I’ve one or two that have also fooled experts and you have to look for really tiny discrepancies against real ones. But at same time there are some really really shoddy ones and you don’t know what you’ll end up with
Is Craig for real!! Ridiculous comment. Justifying the cost to cover the kit launch video because they have paid some celebrities when a email from your club has the same effect . Unless Ozzy , Shearer or whoever is gonna pop it round your house are you ever going to look back at that video again 🤦
I’m Spurs and the Nike kits are getting dreadful and overpriced. Hummel are doing some very nice Coventry kits based on the City heritage yet can sell them at £30 cheaper than a Nike shirt.
The one factor you're missing here is that Hummel are not paying Coventry an 8 figure sum per year to the club for the privilege. Add that figure and that will push the price of a shirt up, even for a smaller brand.
Not saying what Nike produce is good for the price, I absolutely hate the Spurs replica. It's lacking design, looks cheap, feels constrictive.
The Spurs away kit this season is terrible. I know it pays homage to previous kits like the Umbro one and the sky blue in the.early 80s but it looks like a cheap deck chair. I miss the Hummel kits.
defo for real mate:) love em and that's what helps to create brands.
@Craig Not sure it’s still worth it but I do agree Adidas are smashing the kits out . Some of the best Spurs kits were Adidas and Hummel. What’s Nike’s excuse for £85? At launch I just got an email from the club 😂
My friend is a spurs fan with 3 boys (much he same situation as described in the video) who want all 3 spurs kits. Spurs it costs £75 per child, per kit before any names badges etc, a popular Chinese website it costs him £15 per child per complete kit, with badges and player names. He showed me them when they came, and, aside from some questionable stitch work, anyone but an expert really would struggle to tell the difference between real & fake.
Love these videos guys, if you could get closer camera angles of the comparisons it'd be even better 👍👍
The first example you gave of your mate buying 3 kits for each of his kids... has he ever heard of the word no? They're lucky if they get one shirt...
Edit: the other guy joked this. I'm serious...
I can’t justify buying any fake kits even if I can’t find the real deal. I’m a Bayern fan and I wasn’t able to get the 23-24 Oktoberfest kit and now I can’t find it besides some listing on eBay which there are many fakes and or fake kits at these side stores online. I want the quality and the real thing a professional player where’s not something cheap that won’t last
Been looking forward to this one
loads more to come mate.
Another great video chaps 👏
thank you sir
Got a fake pro England shirt during the euros then got one from sports direct I took back the ‘fake’ one for a full refund and kept the £150 shirt
😂😂that's smart
@@HolidayInn-vp2rk a majority of the fakes are almost identical plus companies like sports direct don’t resell stock they take back I did the same with the away shirt a few weeks back too
@@matthewsmith8727 could make a good profit there never thought of that I have a couple of club jerseys wonder if you'd get away with them
It baffles me that you two, being former kit designers, didn't even touch upon the topic of intellectual property/copyright. Other than all the issues you described regarding counterfeits, what the buyer has to realise is that these are criminals, not creatives. The big brands have done all the research, brought their creativity to do the design work as well as marketed the whole story which makes the thing coveted in the first place - that's why you want to buy it and wear it! Yet the criminals are copying another man's work to earn a quick buck. Buying counterfeits is disrespectful towards the club and brand.
There's no point bringing copyright law up, because it is based a country to country basis. Adidas and Newcastle can try to sue these factories, but the Chinese courts will support their own every time.
@@JoeLanza80 I'm not talking about law, I'm talking about morality
It’s simple, 99% of the issue or challenge for parents is the prices of the shirt. That’s why DHGate and the likes are so popular. People don’t care about the research, creative.
I don't suppose you've heard of Robin Hood? Who gives a f if the big companies are being ripped off.
Don't you think if they lowered the price of the genuine shirts then people would be less likely to go and buy the fakes?
Can you test the chemicals and glues? like lead? The total 90 counterfeits are horrendous by the way!
The kids don't care if it's real or not. We have a mix of real and fake, and my son can point out the difference, but he's still happy to wear the fake. I'd be interested in the quality of factories where the fakes are made.
Agree that Adidas are making great stuff recently, but do you not think this season, they are making the badges too big??
I know a lot of people buy fakes for the kids because they won’t know much better.
yep, thats a really fair point, but you might not be happy if you know of the chemicals that go into them:(
You've bought villa tops that's a problem, buy bigger teams and the replicas are faultless. They've never managed to get the claret colour right on replica shirts
Elite Liverpool Jersey 24/25: £100
Replica Liverpool Jersey: £65
DH Gate Liverpool Jersey: £15
Tell Me Where The Value Is?
The Counterfeit Villa shirt colors looks better than the real one, to me the Claret is too dark and the blue is too bright almost looks white on the authentic one. Ethically there's still a big question mark from the working standards and conditions for the workers amongst the big brands they're still on very little wages
When it comes to cost for me the shirts cost about £5 to produce including all overhead costs like producing and shipping etc.. The Villla shirt is bad but most kits looks spot on in terms of colour and even the fabric feel. Counter fitters are better than ever now. It hit and miss every season with them as i have family members who only buy them now as they are simply priced out of the replica shirts. They would pay for replica shirts if they were fair. I refuse to pay more than £30 for a shirt and always get them a season late on sale for my collection. While designers have to design these that adds £1 a shirt on max as they sell millions of these shirts. Official shirts are also made in China even if not the same factory. Adidas make their shirts in China, Vietnam, and Indonesia. Where they no doubt pay pennys for the shirt to be made (material costs aside).
Kits are not like fashion brands. Wearing a decent enough fake is good enough for most people. Let alone the young kids who have no clue (again If decent copy).
Clubs and suppliers got too greedy, fakes got better and supporters grew wiser.
Can anyone hook me up with the vintage burgundy 02 Hillsborough arsenal jersey in XL #14?
Isn't Arsenal's burgundy jersey from the 05/06 season?#14 Henry?
There's nothing wrong with fake shirts (apart from potential poor working conditions). I had a fake Man United top when I was a kid and absolutely loved it. I knew a real shirt was too expensive for my parents and I was just delighted to wear something that rep'd the club
i have a hard time believing that the authentic brand jerseys are really produced in factories where working conditions are much better if at all compared to the fakes. obviously the quality is different, but as far as working conditions go all these corporations go for the lowest cost and lowest amount of worker rights in order to generate the largest profit margin. thats just the reality of capitalism. and i have yet to see believable proof they arent exploiting the hell out of these workes, bc it doesnt exist. so the quality argument i can get behind, but these corporations have never been concerned with "ethical" behavior. they will do as much as they can get away with, simple
Been collecting for 25 years, bearing in mind most of these replicas are barely any cheaper than a match worn, nah .... unless I am getting 30-50% off I won't touch a replica shirt. DH Gate is totally fine. Things really have changed and for the worse.
So long as fans are willing to be bent over, clubs will continue shafting. It's pretty simple: costs of official shirts are increasing because the clubs know that gullible fans will pay the price.
If clubs actually cared about their fans they could easily sell shirts at £20 for season ticket holders without any significant impact on finances.
I also don't buy the argument about factories. It has been proven that Nike, Adidas etc can't effectively monitor their supply chains and there is loads of dodgy stuff going on in supposedly 'good' factories.
It’s not 100 quid for a kids full kit. It’s significantly more. I brought my boy to the emirates last week. He’s 8 and we got him the New Jersey and it was £80 just for the T-shirt. If I was to get him the full kit it would be £120. Fuck that! I’d rather give my money to gangsters and criminals than billionaires.
I’m not sure using the money spent on marketing the kits justifies extra costs for the end customers. The shirts are worn/advertised every week on the pitch and tv/youtube, do the fans really need a video of Ginola/Ozzy!???
bono wants his glasses back
Ha ha ha cheeky twat,... much like Bono I have the same issues with my eyes,...... Fuck all:)
if all of your kids are seriously asking for all three kits of a football club EVERY season you have absolutely failed as a parent
wouldn't have too if the kits stayed around a bit longer
wouldve been good to see newcastle one , colour not being an issue lol
the official shirts cost £7 to make, so clubs make £100 profit each time they sell it, i’ll stick to DHGate atleast im feeding a chinese kid in a factory while getting my cheap shirt
that's not including all the extra costs such as marketing and promoting the kits, etc
@@SoAaron_ why are you defending these big companies? It's so odd to me
@@jbri1 I'm not defending them but its just a fact they spend more money than just the cost to make the shirt itself. I'm not saying that justifies the current price but it would contribute to it a little.
Also the manufacturer, Nike, Adidas etc gets most of the money. Club probably gets 10 / 15 per cent,maybe slightly more with bigger clubs.Of course,the club gets their equipment sponsored for all their teams. Not that I'm defending them,the kits are a ridiculous price.
The 'ethical' argument is quite funny to me. You're privileged if your reason is ethics
The Man United shirt advert is absolutely brilliant btw
I agree with all you say, I’ve just paid £55 for a pair of authentic Man Utd shorts! which is ridiculous, another bugbear of mine is the England team mainly wear white shorts (Change) of late but you can’t buy these.
Also United have home change shorts (black) and home change socks(white). It's just a rip off ,in the 80s the 3kits would last 2 seasons and socks and shorts would be interchangeable between home/away.
Official kits are just too expensive. We can't afford them. If they were used for two seasons, maybe it's different. IMHO you think too much about the jerseys, manufacturers and brands, and too little in the actual football fans.
Happy to pay £20 for a full kit for my 10 year old
Soon as I heard the word v+lla, turned off
If you're unemployed... it's unattainable to buy a shirt.
But if you're a working man, spending eighty-five on a shirt that your kid,
will want to wear every single day... for an entire year, works out at,
twenty-three pence a day. In a world where a single pint is eight quid.
For each pint... that's the equivalent of a month of your kids' happy face,
in his teams replica shirt. That isn't too bad, is it?
Your kid is wearing the same top every single day? Now that's child abuse
That's some insane mental arithmetic to justify the ridiculous price. 😅
I don’t want to pay for “all the razzmatazz”
Just show me a picture of the jersey… if I like it I’ll buy it.
Mad take that.
3 kids 3 kits
If you applied ethics’s to the argument, what about club owners, hypocrites and shills, GTF
The point about value appreciation over time is a big one for me as that's something top of mind as a collector. If I buy a fake shirt, after 2 years I might be inclined to throw it away but if I buy the real thing, it's value can go up the longer I keep it to the point where it could become priceless. A fake shirt is money spent, a real shirt is money invested.
And that's one of the problems with football shirt collecting. Too many d**k heads who view it as an investment, not a passion
Just don’t buy the kits
People are not paying for razzmatazz 😂😂😂 go DHgate there great, Liverpool retros are shocking as they can’t even have the adidas sponsor or 3 stripes as there currently sponsored by Nike, they are great, don’t get ripped off
£40 is a far price
As someone with multiple friends who own a lot of shirts, my friends fall into either of the two camps:
1) Believe that the DHGate versions are good enough to wear and not be obvious fakes and would much rather pay the far smaller cost. As for the ethical issues, it’s the ‘out of sight out of mind’ mentality.
2) Then the other camp, which is where I sit. Yes, they’re very expensive. But, if you do really want a shirt that much but can’t afford the price, you can always wait until April/May and then buy a shirt for a cut price on the club website. I own over 50 shirts now (and counting!), and all of mine are real. I want to be able to look back on them one day with fondness and know that they’re all legit and of course worth a pretty penny too. As a collector, there’s nothing worse to me than knowing a shirt in my collection is fake, I’d rather just hand it into a charity shop.
Have you compared many replicas side by side with authentic kits? I have a fake version of every authentic kit I own and the quality is nearly indistinguishable. There are slight differences with number/name placement. When it comes to big club fakes, without doing a side by side in depth comparison 99.9% of people would not be able to point out a difference.
@@based.mr.brightsideadmittedly I haven’t, but as a collector it’s knowing they’re not genuine which is enough to put me off. Mind you, the thought of not putting extra cash in the pockets of the Glazers is enough incentive to buy from DHGATE!!
Ive got fake kits from 06-12/14 ish and they all looked great. They looked the same as when I brought them. Just not my size soo dont need them. Would always want a real one but not against a fake for a few circumstances where kits are not possible to get hold of would never buy a fake for my club though ever.
"Made by slave labour " 😂
Now do your phone and electric car batteries!