One of the biggest hurdles in buying authentic football shirts is tracking down a seller that can actually give you the product, especially if you are wanting something authentic rather than a reproduction run or a hand-made replica. While all football merchandise is technically a "replica," some are far more authentic than others, and narrowing your focus down to a Gerrard shirt can mean that you have to search even harder to get what you are wanting.
Choose your Shirt
Before you can start looking, you should ideally know what kind of Gerrard England shirt you are looking for. After all, there are a lot to choose from, and there are only so many authentic examples of each: do you want the Liverpool 2009-2010 away shirt? There might only be 100 left in your country up for sale. The England 2006-2008 away shirt? Perhaps there is closer to 200. Your decision impacts what you will be looking for.
The differences between the shirts can also matter because some stand out more than others. A lot of Stephen Gerrard shirt options (based on the shirts worn by the man himself) are similar in terms of their basic design: mostly white with red or blue highlights, then other details depending on the year and where the shirt was used. It is easier to mix up these shirts compared to, say, the red 2006-2008 away shirts.
Consider Quality
Do you want your shirt to be in perfect condition, or just very good? There are only so many Gerrard shirt owners willing to sell theirs, and many people will have kept their own in a state where it can never get dirty or muddy. Others will have worn it often enough to leave permanent damage or dirt on the material, and some might have even stitched up rips and tears that they have caused while wearing it.
The quality of a shirt changes how much you will have to pay on average, but it also impacts how the shirt looks and feels. If you are focused on getting pristine versions of your favorite Gerrard shirt designs and won't settle for anything below 'very good quality,' then your list of options just shrunk – and your average price went up.
On the other hand, there is not always a reason to justify buying a damaged shirt unless you plan to fix it up yourself. If you are not wanting to take care of the damage yourself, then paying more for an excellent-quality option can be a much more convenient option. It all depends on what you are looking for and how important quality is to you.
Price
Price is king when it comes to any replica memorabilia, no matter what it is. Unless you have plenty of money to spare, you will probably be trying to keep the price down, and most people will gravitate towards the cheapest option that they trust. Keep in mind that certain shirts are worth more specifically because of when they were made, how they look, how many there are, or even how many are left in good condition.
Not all excessively low or high prices are scams, though. Some people don’t understand the value of what they are selling, either undercutting it (usually people who aren’t sports fans and see the kit as a generic piece of clothing) or over-estimating it (people with a lot of team pride, or who idolize certain players).
Finding a Marketplace
There are a lot of ways to buy older shirts online, but if you want a good (and more importantly, real) Gerrard shirt, you need a site that can offer it safely. Some online marketplaces are full of scammers and fakes that will reproduce valuable items and sell them as the real thing, whereas others are more controlled to prevent that kind of problem from happening.
There are a lot of sites out there that you could use, but when you want a Gerrard shirt or something else that is equally specific, you need to look at related sites first. Certain online marketplaces have been specifically founded to let sports fans sell their memorabilia in a safe and reliable way, minimizing the chance of fakes being put up and bought for high prices. Others are more general but still try to control items so that fakes and scams are much less likely.
