What's The Real Cost Of Cheap, Fake Football Shirts?

Side by side, location is nary evident quality betwixt these 2 Manchester United shirts - but nan genuine 1 would costs £85 to buy, and nan different conscionable £15.

Counterfeit shot kits are not a caller issue, but immoderate experts person raised concerns that nan sub-standard materials utilized successful their manufacture could moreover beryllium harmful.

"We conscionable don't cognize what's successful these kits - they could airs a wellness risk," says Louise Baxter-Scott from Trading Standards.

"They are poorly made but look legitimate, and nan unit of Christmas, positive nan summation successful costs of surviving creates a greater user vulnerability and pushes group towards a cheaper alternative."

And Chloe Long - lawman head wide astatine nan Anti-Counterfeiting Group - warns clone kits could moreover origin those wearing them to travel retired successful a rash.

"Wearing that portion could origin irritation," she says. "It could moreover origin much important problems - peculiarly if harmful toxins aliases dyes are utilized to manufacture those products."

Long has helped travel nan proviso concatenation of counterfeits, often originating from factories successful China.

Asked if location is grounds of toxins successful nan clone strips, she says: "It's very difficult to cognize retrospectively what's been put into nan product, but you tin spot successful immoderate instances that they could beryllium harmful.

"And they don't travel immoderate regulations. They're not bound by nan aforesaid legalities and regulations nan genuine manufacturers are."

Long says nan counterfeiters person nary morals, nary standards, and nan only point they are motivated by is price.

"Whatever they tin get their hands connected to make this look arsenic adjacent to nan existent point arsenic possible, they will do that," she says.

"So you don't cognize what could hap erstwhile you put that successful nan washing instrumentality pinch different products and, peculiarly if you're buying it for children, this is conscionable not a consequence that you should beryllium taking."

The reply successful nan immense mostly of cases is elemental - nan cost.

The value of a men's big Premier League garment varies from £60-85. Add badges and personalise it pinch names, and you could beryllium paying arsenic overmuch arsenic £120.

More and much fans are uncovering those prices excessively expensive, and buying fakes online - mostly from websites based successful China.

The BBC recovered respective websites connected which counterfeit shirts of each Premier League nine were being sold for arsenic small arsenic £12.

And erstwhile we approached fans extracurricular nan top-flight lucifer betwixt Liverpool astatine Nottingham Forest astatine Anfield, almost everyone said thet had bought one.

"It's truthful easy to," said Liverpool supporter Finn, who is successful his 20s. "Why would you walk £120 erstwhile you could get it for £20-25? And particularly for group of my property group that possibly don't person that overmuch money."

Another fan, who had travelled from Dublin pinch his 2 young sons, said charismatic replica shirts were "far excessively expensive".

"If you bargain nan original brands, I deliberation we're up to £70-£80 now moreover for a kids one," he said.

"But we had a bad acquisition precocious [with a fake] successful position of nan quality. It lasted a day."

All of nan fans we said to knew wherever to root nan clone kits from - and that they were very inexpensive - but nary were alert immoderate could beryllium made pinch sub-standard materials that whitethorn beryllium harmful.

And nan Anti-Counterfeiting Group says buying from immoderate of nan websites could beryllium incredibly risky, informing customers they could beryllium giving their individual specifications to organised criminals, and supporting organised crime.

It's not forbidden to bargain clone kits successful nan UK, but it is against nan rule to waste them. Anyone caught could look a situation word of 10 years and an unlimited fine.

In figures fixed to nan BBC, nan Premier League revealed its anti-counterfeiting programme helped prehend 1.1 cardinal items - worthy much than £70m - for nan play covering nan 2020-21 to 2024-25 seasons.

It besides helped region much than a cardinal online listings of clone products - astatine an estimated worth of £20.4m.

The Home Office says location is grounds that income of clone kits spike successful nan lead-up to tournaments, pinch a emergence expected earlier adjacent summer's World Cup.

Kit designer Rob Warner calls it a "perfect storm".

Warner utilized to activity for sports brands Umbro and Puma, and helped creation nan portion Italy wore erstwhile they won nan World Cup successful 2006.

Warner says it costs astir £10 to make an charismatic replica. He says nan mark-up is divided betwixt nan nine and brand, pinch nan second taking astir £70%.

He acknowledges fans will find that difficult to swallow, but adds a batch of exertion and investigation spell into nan improvement of master strips.

"The costs of making a merchandise is much than nan constituent parts," he says.

"You wouldn't locomotion into a edifice and bid a steak and chips and say: 'I'm not paying £20 for that - I could get a steak for £4 from nan supermarket.' You're paying for nan environment, you're paying for nan chef.

"It's a akin benignant of benignant of point pinch shot kits."

Warner does admit the general quality of clone kits has improved.

"It tin beryllium hard, moreover for master designers, to show nan difference," he says. "There are cardinal things to look retired for, but to each intents and purposes, your mean user wouldn't notice.

"Then, pinch nan value [of genuine kits] conscionable continually going up each year... arsenic overmuch arsenic I tin coming reasons why group shouldn't bargain them, I tin besides understand why they do."

The Anti-Counterfeiting Group says if it's not connected a reputable website and nan value is suspiciously cheap, it astir apt isn't genuine.

James Humphrey, who runs a retro shot kit shop successful York, believes it's each successful nan labels.

"With astir brands - for illustration Adidas and Nike - they person a codification and if you type it into a hunt engine, it will travel up pinch a image of that shirt," he says.

If a different garment appears, Humphrey says, it's a fake.

"Another bully motion to look retired for is pen marks," he says. "In factories making clone shot shirts, it's a personification physically checking it, and they make a small tick pinch a pen connected nan label.

"With legit shirts made for Nike, for example, they don't cheque by hand."

Humphrey's business has been impacted by nan detonation of counterfeit kits - and he's worried he whitethorn person to downsize aliases moreover close.

"It's a struggle anyway, pinch everything that's going connected pinch nan costs of living," he says.

"I'm not Manchester United aliases Real Madrid. I can't return nan hit. The money that I make successful nan shop goes to salary my bills, my taxes.

"Every small bit, each little garment sale, affects maine each day, each week. "

For thief and proposal connected really to hit scams, sojourn BBC Scam Safe 2025