The majority of stitched MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL jerseys offered on the internet, and even many sold in retail stores, are bootlegs made in China. Unlicensed. Counterfeit. Fake. Yet they sell like crazy. If you go to any major sporting event, and know what you're looking at, you will see many if not most fans are wearing forged sports jerseys. Bootleg jerseys sell because of three reasons: 1. Cheap. 2. Cheap. 3 Cheap.

High quality authentic jerseys stitched with real cloth tackle twill name and numbers, like virtually all those offered by AutographsForSale.com, are not cheap.  There's a reason ESPN came to us to buy a Randy Moss jersey for Monday Night Football in 2016.  Moss signed our jersey and exchanged it with Odell Beckham Jr. (photo above).

At first glance a real jersey and a fake jersey may look very similar. However, there is a major difference in the materials used, particularly on the stitched name and numbers. Bootleg jerseys use the cheapest materials that APPEAR to be cloth tackle twill, but in fact they are not cloth at all but plastic or vinyl made to resemble cloth. That means several things. They may smell funny. They may appear shiny or wrinkly when they're not supposed to be. A jersey with wrinkly numbers is just plain ugly.

Bootleg jerseys are not made to last -- in fact one machine washing could be the end of the road. If you get an autographed sports jersey, the autograph will probably bleed or fade, sometimes at an alarming rate. As far as any patches or embroidery, the counterfeit sports jerseys will be missing detail or look a little (or a lot) off.

If none of that bothers you, knowingly buying or selling counterfeit sports jerseys is against federal law and people have been caught and punished.