I have been getting a lot of emails lately asking for authenticity of patches that normally wouldnt set off any red flags. I welcome these types of emails because I cant see everything, but still want to stay on top of the running scams. One of the biggest problems we are facing, especially in the authenticity of patches, has to be the available cheap jerseys from Asia.

Basically, what happens is a scammer buys cheap old jerseys on eBay that I shall refer to as “hongkongthentic” jerseys, because they are knockoffs of the authentics usually made in hong kong. Instead of paying 200+ per jersey these ones can cost as cheap as 10-15 dollars depending on which player is bought. The patches are all sewn on, and to an untrained eye, they look exactly like they do when bought from NFLshop.com. To those of the people who know, the jerseys come with colors that dont quite match up to the real thing, jersey patches on the wrong sides, and quality that isnt on the same level.

Hongkongthentic Adrian Peterson Jersey – NOTE: the jersey pictured is not the jersey the buyer will receive

Because the quality of the production is lower, it shows up when they are put into fake patch cards. The best way to avoid getting caught is to compare the dominant colors in the questionable swatch against a 1 or 2 color that no one would ever fake. If the colors match, that is one good part. If the stitching matches, even better. Obviously, the more popular the player and value associated with the card, the more at risk you are for buying anything above a 2 color patch. See, logo patches arent the only thing that get inserted now-a-days, as scammers often use 3 and 4 color patches to artificially bolster value. Because they dont have to pay much to get a big boost on a lesser value card, every card becomes suspect.

These hongkongthentic fakes ARE NOT easy to spot. Let me just say that right now. It is really sad that we cant even be confident when buying non-logo patches any more.