jjjoejr Posted November 7, 2014 Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 I'm in Toronto and I have to say there are less and less local jersey stores these days. I met up with Jersey Baron the other day for a cash deal, and he told me that he's been doing this for a couple of years now. I'm just wondering if any of us has realistically looked into this and wants to try to change the retail authentic landscape? I still find it hard to justify a blank one costing $300! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsl135 Posted November 7, 2014 Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 I have looked into it, yes. I can tell you a few things. First, Reebok will not give a contract to an online only retailer. You MUST have a brick-and-mortar store. Secondly, you're not going to change the landscape of the retail authentics. You don't just get to charge whatever you want, and make a small profit. Reebok will be monitoring your sales, and you can't devalue their product to what you think is "fair." They'll simply terminate your contract if you're always selling them for $200 for example. You can't constantly have the jerseys on sale. The MSRP is $300 and they're going to expect you to sell their product for their price most of the time, rather than just devaluing it and selling it for less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjjoejr Posted November 7, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 This is interesting as JB doesn't have an actual store. I do know that he has a warehouse for his inventory. That's not technically an actual store. Thanks for the info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsl135 Posted November 7, 2014 Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 This is interesting as JB doesn't have an actual store. I do know that he has a warehouse for his inventory. That's not technically an actual store. Thanks for the info. That may be how he's getting around it, but there's theories that he also must know someone who works for Reebok, because he is able to get custom orders made of things that others don't seem to be able to get (Ducks throwbacks, Stadium Series for all teams, etc.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfitz804 Posted November 7, 2014 Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 I have thought about how cool it would be to be the Jersey Baron of the United States. I'd need a new title though. I was thinking the Archduke of Jerseytown might be cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devilsguy Posted November 7, 2014 Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 Count Jersula I have thought about how cool it would be to be the Jersey Baron of the United States. I'd need a new title though. I was thinking the Archduke of Jerseytown might be cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guam64 Posted November 7, 2014 Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 I have thought about how cool it would be to be the Jersey Baron of the United States. I'd need a new title though. I was thinking the Archduke of Jerseytown might be cool. Jersey Guido Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfitz804 Posted November 7, 2014 Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 Jersey Guido It's slmost embarrasing that I live where I do and I missed that one. I hereby promise that if I ever become a jersey retailer, I shall be the Jersey Guido. Guam gets 5% of the proceeds on all Jagr jerseys for coming up with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aroomadoomie Posted November 12, 2014 Report Share Posted November 12, 2014 I too am currently looking into this, I have dealers licenses for a couple companies but have been unsure how to get a reebok one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsl135 Posted November 12, 2014 Report Share Posted November 12, 2014 I too am currently looking into this, I have dealers licenses for a couple companies but have been unsure how to get a reebok one I just contacted Reebok's corporate website when I was interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chazberg Posted November 12, 2014 Report Share Posted November 12, 2014 It's an interesting thing for me to think about, because I always felt like if someone was truly able to break through and, among other things, explain to the average (a.k.a. dumb) fan why their knockoff looks ridiculous, and that shelling out some extra money for a real jersey was worth it, they could really make an impact on the industry, and maybe could cut down on the rampant knockoff epidemic. I feel like a very straightforward and transparent approach would be valuable-- "Here, this is an authentic jersey. It has x, y and z features. It is what they actually wear on the ice. It is made in Canada. Now look at this horrible knockoff for comparison. The indian head's face is the wrong color. You're actually stealing from your team by purchasing this" etc. etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guam64 Posted November 12, 2014 Report Share Posted November 12, 2014 You're actually stealing from your team by purchasing this In my case that would only encourage me to buy fakes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsl135 Posted November 13, 2014 Report Share Posted November 13, 2014 From my experience with it, 99% fans who are willing to buy fakes will NEVER care about wearing what it worn on the ice. They want to get a jersey that looks close for as cheap as possible. They won't shell out several hundred dollars for the great quality because they just don't care and think it looks "close enough." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guam64 Posted November 13, 2014 Report Share Posted November 13, 2014 They won't shell out several hundred dollars for the great quality because they just don't care and think it looks "close enough." You can also say that about the Washington Capitals and their personnel decisions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjjoejr Posted November 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2014 I have actually never bought an authentic outside of eBay prior to the Edge days, do you guys remember what the regular retail authentic price was back in the CCM/KOHO days? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimcutta Posted November 13, 2014 Report Share Posted November 13, 2014 They won't shell out several hundred dollars for the great quality because they just don't care and think it looks "close enough." You can also say that about the Washington Capitals and their personnel decisions. Hey-yooooo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMLFAN Posted November 13, 2014 Report Share Posted November 13, 2014 I have actually never bought an authentic outside of eBay prior to the Edge days, do you guys remember what the regular retail authentic price was back in the CCM/KOHO days? I bought an authentic CCM Sharks jersey from a local store back in '99. With customization and tax it came out to around $300. The Koho leafs jerseys I have from the early 2000's have price tags of $279 and $239 on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MountainKing Posted November 13, 2014 Report Share Posted November 13, 2014 (edited) It's an interesting thing for me to think about, because I always felt like if someone was truly able to break through and, among other things, explain to the average (a.k.a. dumb) fan why their knockoff looks ridiculous, and that shelling out some extra money for a real jersey was worth it, they could really make an impact on the industry, and maybe could cut down on the rampant knockoff epidemic. I feel like a very straightforward and transparent approach would be valuable-- "Here, this is an authentic jersey. It has x, y and z features. It is what they actually wear on the ice. It is made in Canada. Now look at this horrible knockoff for comparison. The indian head's face is the wrong color. You're actually stealing from your team by purchasing this" etc. etc. A buddy of mine owned a pretty successful retail store in the Chicago area and tried this approach. It doesn't work, most people don't care, all they care about is in their head is they think they got a good deal. My bud is still in business but the retail portion of his business is gone because it just wasn't worth keeping open anymore. It's a very difficult business and you're really kidding yourself if you think you could open up a store, educate people and then make a killing off of it. Owners are doing this daily and it's failing. A great example was I wore a jersey to work a few weeks ago and somebody who had a knock off asked me about mine and why it's so fancy. At the end of the conversation he said he's okay with his because it only cost him $40 and would never spend anymore than that on a jersey, that right there represents about 90% of the sports fans out there. Nobody cares about the stealing aspect, especially when you're trying to tell them you're stealing out of the pockets of people who already make millions.... Edited November 13, 2014 by MountainKing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hockeyjerseyssuck Posted November 13, 2014 Report Share Posted November 13, 2014 (edited) It's an interesting thing for me to think about, because I always felt like if someone was truly able to break through and, among other things, explain to the average (a.k.a. dumb) fan why their knockoff looks ridiculous, and that shelling out some extra money for a real jersey was worth it, they could really make an impact on the industry, and maybe could cut down on the rampant knockoff epidemic. I feel like a very straightforward and transparent approach would be valuable-- "Here, this is an authentic jersey. It has x, y and z features. It is what they actually wear on the ice. It is made in Canada. Now look at this horrible knockoff for comparison. The indian head's face is the wrong color. You're actually stealing from your team by purchasing this" etc. etc. That won't work. Knockoffs solve a problem for a big chunk of consumers that feel jerseys are too expensive. They don't care about quality. The only way to chance this is for NHL and Reebok to take things into their own hands and start a marketing campaign that equates wearing knock offs to being a loser fairweather fan who isn't cool enough to care about supporting their team. Make fans embarrassed to wear knock offs, and manufacture official jerseys as a status symbol amongst fans. Edited November 13, 2014 by hockeyjerseyssuck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyersFan376 Posted November 13, 2014 Report Share Posted November 13, 2014 Dropping their prices wouldn't hurt either Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfitz804 Posted November 13, 2014 Report Share Posted November 13, 2014 Wouldn't matter what the price was. If authentics were $200, those inclined to save money by buying a fake for $50 would still do it. The cheaper the real jerseys are, the cheaper the fakes may be... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyersFan376 Posted November 13, 2014 Report Share Posted November 13, 2014 Maybe, but you never know Authentic pricing will always be out of their range i would imagine, but Premiers should be lowered to cater to them without too much of a loss (not that i know anything about their economics) I can kinda understand defending fakes and the efforts behind them for a couple hundred dollars worth of savings, but if you're only saving $40 or something like that... Idk, at the end of the day most people just suck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMLFAN Posted November 13, 2014 Report Share Posted November 13, 2014 A great example was I wore a jersey to work a few weeks ago and somebody who had a knock off asked me about mine and why it's so fancy. At the end of the conversation he said he's okay with his because it only cost him $40 and would never spend anymore than that on a jersey, that right there represents about 90% of the sports fans out there.This sentence pretty much hits the nail on the head of why the "educating the consumer" approach would fail miserably. People buy fakes because they're cheap and "good enough". Nothing Reebok, the NHL, or any retailer can do to change that mentality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aroomadoomie Posted November 14, 2014 Report Share Posted November 14, 2014 A buddy of mine owned a pretty successful retail store in the Chicago area and tried this approach. It doesn't work, most people don't care, all they care about is in their head is they think they got a good deal. My bud is still in business but the retail portion of his business is gone because it just wasn't worth keeping open anymore. It's a very difficult business and you're really kidding yourself if you think you could open up a store, educate people and then make a killing off of it. Owners are doing this daily and it's failing. A great example was I wore a jersey to work a few weeks ago and somebody who had a knock off asked me about mine and why it's so fancy. At the end of the conversation he said he's okay with his because it only cost him $40 and would never spend anymore than that on a jersey, that right there represents about 90% of the sports fans out there. Nobody cares about the stealing aspect, especially when you're trying to tell them you're stealing out of the pockets of people who already make millions.... Was it triple threat? I saw they closed the storefront like a year ago Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devilsguy Posted November 14, 2014 Report Share Posted November 14, 2014 Even better is when you get the people who say "the fakes are better than the real thing!" and then go on about how the NHL.com jerseys suck. Yes NHL.com jersey customization sucks but if you are buying from NHL.com you are doing it wrong. Just a quick google search will point you in better directions. This sentence pretty much hits the nail on the head of why the "educating the consumer" approach would fail miserably. People buy fakes because they're cheap and "good enough". Nothing Reebok, the NHL, or any retailer can do to change that mentality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.