Why Cheap Fake Band Tees Are Everywhere & Why That’s Making the Real Ones Priceless

The internet made it easier than ever to wear your favorite band. But it also made it way too easy to fake it.

Thanks to the rise of Print-on-Demand (POD) services, made with DTG & DTF methods (or Direct-to-garment / film) that shed off your fabric after a couple of washes and definitely doesn't last decades like traditional screen printed stuff - think Redbubble, Teespring, and a thousand sketchy Etsy storefronts — we’re swimming in counterfeit merch. These sellers don’t need stock, quality control, or even permission. All they need is an image to rip and a manufacturer to drop-ship it straight to your door. No one checks, and not all fakes are obvious.

🚩 Common Red Flags for Fake POD Tees

• The Price is a Trap. It’s always suspiciously cheap. But let’s be honest - even £10 is too much for something you’ll want to bin the moment it arrives.

• Missing Back Print. If the original had a back design and this one doesn’t, it’s a lazy replica.

• Blurry, Soft Prints. No sharp detail lines. These are often low-res rips from legit listings, scraped by bots.

• Generic Sizing Charts. Often included as image 2 or 3. Bonus red flag if the product photo is awkwardly duplicated across variants.

• Absurd Size Range. XS to 4XL? For a vintage tee? Nah. That’s mass production in disguise.

• No Copyright Info. Or worse — licensing details that are barely legible or clearly photoshopped.

• Shady Packaging. If your shirt shows up in a nondescript Amazon-style brown bag... yikes.

• Suspicious Seller Accounts. Either no reviews at all, or glowing reviews that feel too good to be true. Bots, hacked accounts, or just throwaways.

• Modern, Cheap Blanks. Think thin fabric, generic black size-only tags, and none of that soft, lived-in feel real vintage has.

Here's a couple of examples:

And the biggest giveaway?
No soul. These shirts don’t carry any story, wear, or emotional weight. Just someone flipping designs for a quick buck. But here’s the twist: The flood of fakes is actually making authentic vintage even more valuable.

Originals Stand Out More

You can’t fake wear. Real vintage tees have that perfect storm of cracked prints, faded cotton, and stories soaked into the fabric. Single-stitch hems, tour dates, sun damage, ketchup stains — that’s the real stuff.

Collectors Are Getting Smarter

People are learning what to look for: labels like Hanes, Brockum, Giant, Screen Stars. The right licensing marks. Legitimate print dates. Collecting is evolving from impulse buys to serious sleuthing.

Scarcity

Every day, more real vintage shirts are lost forever — damaged, tossed out, or kept in private collections. Meanwhile, interest keeps growing. That imbalance is pushing prices up.

Ownership Has Meaning Again

When fakes are everywhere, the real thing becomes sacred. A true vintage tee isn’t just a shirt. It’s a relic. It’s a connection to a moment in history, worn by real fans who were there. You can’t mass-produce that. 

BUT...I Got Burned Too - Here’s What Happened

If you’re feeling infuriated reading all this — like the soul of underground culture is being hollowed out by bots and grifters - I get it. You’re not alone.

Even I got caught slipping.

A few months ago, I bought what looked like a solid Metallica Fixxxer Redux tee from an online marketplace. The listing seemed totally legit:

• Casual user name (redacted).
• Marked Used.
• No flashy sizing chart
• Low-res, casual photos like someone clearing out old stuff from their wardrobe.

In other words, it looked real. But I was dead wrong.

 

 

When the shirt arrived? Cheap blank, blurry print, no character. A textbook fake.

 

It’s a classic example of how tricky the landscape has become. With bots generating throwaway seller accounts by the dozen, the market’s flooded — and even seasoned collectors get caught out.

Moral of the Story?

I really don't know, the world is F'd - people want to make a quick buck at the cost of quality at every corner from passionate fans only to underdeliver lose trust in the world once again - do your due diligence. Look for exactly what you need, watch out for red flags - trade with other collectors where possible & buy from businesses who care.