I was looking through some of the goalkeeper gloves available on Amazon for the next review when I saw a couple of options that seemed odd to me. Essentially, they were Adidas gloves at ridiculously low prices. This happened a couple of times, and at first, I didn’t think much of it. Then I realized a lot of people can be tricked into buying no-name brand gloves that are essentially Adidas knockoffs.
With that in mind, I decided to create this article. Why are there cheap Adidas gloves on Amazon? I’m talking about really cheap gloves. I saw a pair that is going for 12 dollars that seems to resemble many of the modern Adidas models. Are you getting one of the best deals of your life here? Maybe they are old models that some stores just had in stock.
After quite a bit of research and making a purchase here and there, I think I’m ready to address the issue. The obvious problem with online shopping is that you don’t get to see the product you’re trying to buy before making the purchase. In this situation, you could effectively end up buying a cheap copy of what you thought was a brand-name product.
That’s the first conclusion that I quickly came to. Not all of the gloves on Amazon that look like Adidas gloves are made by the German manufacturer. That poses another question though. Can these knockoffs be a good option to wear in goal? Even if they’re not brand name products, if they work fine why not buy them? We’re going to leave the morality aside here and go through whether or not it makes sense to purchase some of these cheap options.
Some Gloves Are Not Made by Adidas
This is the first thing that I realized, and I talked about it already. Some of these gloves are not made by the Adidas brand. In many cases, we’re dealing with Chinese counterfeits. There’s just no way to be able to sugarcoat this. To their credit, a lot of these brands don’t necessarily say that the gloves are made by Adidas. Where is the confusion, then? It’s pretty simple, the glove is made to look exactly like an Adidas model.
The gloves will feature color schemes and even some decals on the glove that are almost identical to what you can find from the real Adidas models. What gives them away? Usually, the price tag is the first thing that’s fishy. You’re going to see these gloves priced at 12 dollars when even the cheap Adidas models start at around 30 dollars or maybe 25 if you’re lucky.
When you click on the product, that’s when you really see what’s going on. Like I said, in most cases, the product description does not say that they are Adidas gloves. They are just made to look so much like the real thing that many people probably fall into the trap. This could be a bit of a learning point right here for any product that you want to buy online, especially on Amazon. You could get scammed with one of these no-name brands, thinking you got a great deal for the real thing.
What’s The Risk of Buying No-Name Brand Gloves?
Maybe you didn’t get the gloves you were hoping for, but you probably paid quite a low price for what you got. So what’s the big deal with these scams? Well, one of the things that I always talk about on the site is the importance of goalkeeper gloves and their ability to provide protection to your hands. Many people love cheap products until they rip after the first use, or after you get hurt using them.
Those are the two main risks that I would be on the lookout for. The problem with poorly made gloves is that they can rip completely to where your hand is going to be bare in one use. It’s not like you’re going to start seeing signs of wear and tear from the first use. If that happens, and they don’t rip apart, you’re actually ok. The biggest problem is that one dive to a low ball, and you could be left without a glove at all.
Another issue is that these gloves are usually not sized right. Even with the pro versions of certain models, you can’t truly trust the sizing. In fact, I would make the argument that I wouldn’t buy the premium model of any brand unless I’ve had gloves from that brand before. That’s an argument for another day. When these gloves are so poorly made even if you have the right size there’s a chance that some finger slots are thinner than others. There are a lot of things that can go wrong and very few that can go right.
The Price Is Not The Same For Every Size
This is perhaps the biggest issue that you’re going to find. What Amazon does is give you a price range for the gloves. It goes from 15 to 50 in some cases. You may see that 15 first and think you’re getting the best deal in the world. Then when you go to make the purchase the price for the gloves in your size is closer to 50. A disclaimer in this situation, these in many cases are Adidas gloves. The problem that we’re seeing here though is called price dripping.
The fact that you can find Adidas gloves at “15 dollars”, but the price will change depending on the size makes it hard for consumers. I don’t love the practice. I’m not sure if it’s an Adidas thing or an Amazon situation. You just want to make sure you look into the product and figure out what the real price of the Adidas goalkeeper gloves might be. In many of these situations, you are getting Adidas gloves. They are just not going to cost 15 dollars.
There Are Better Options at Similar Price Ranges
Maybe at 12 dollars, where you may find some of these counterfeit options, you won’t be able to find too many great alternatives. What I have been able to find through the years, and what I’ve recommended on this site are good options within that 30-dollar range. Also, many brands will drop the price of their gloves when they just can’t compete with more established names. Puma has been doing this for years in the American market.
They just haven’t been able to find their grip to compete with Nike, Adidas, and some of the more established brands. What they do is they take their medium-tier options and put them at low prices. Storelli is another brand that has a great middle-tier line-up. Rinat is another one of those brands that had plenty of options in that 30-dollar range.
Again, I get it that it’s not 12 dollars, but doesn’t it make sense to pay 25 to 30 dollars for a pair of gloves that you’ll actually be able to comfortably wear for 3 or 4 months? Someone may be reading this thinking I bought one of these cheap pairs, which worked great. That’s actually great, but the problem is that it’s a bit like hitting the jackpot.
In fact, if you can get one of these gloves that are actually properly sized, but the colors are kind of messed up, that’s a win for sure. All I’m saying is the bet doesn’t make much sense in my book. If you’re going to take a flier on a pair of gloves, I’d look for a pair with one of the brands that I mentioned earlier.
What are the Cheapest Adidas Goalkeeper Gloves?
Right now, you may be able to find any of the “training versions” of the different models within 20 dollars. In looking through the available options, I found the Adidas Predator training version in size 5 at 15 dollars a pair. As I said in the paragraph about the size issue, you could find situations where you’re hitting the jackpot. Adidas has been known to drastically change the price of their gloves depending on the size.
Another thing to watch out for is potentially used products. I’ve seen people out there who do buy used goalkeeper gloves. That’s not something that I would ever recommend. It’s not sanitary in my opinion, first and foremost. I do understand that some people can have trouble paying full price, but you’re better off either with a counterfeit or a lower-cost option. I just mentioned that there are plenty of good deals to be had if you look hard enough.
The cheapest Adidas gloves are going to be the training version of their models. A lot of times the training version is nothing like the match version. Even the match version of the gloves can be a low-quality option. Does it make sense to purchase these lower-quality versions just to say that you have an Adidas glove? With the risk that you may end up with counterfeit? To me, it doesn’t, but I’d understand people who feel comfortable doing this.
Final Thoughts on Why There are Cheap Adidas Goalie Gloves on Amazon
There are two main things that you want to watch out for. The first one is counterfeits they are out there, and you could be putting your health or your kid’s health at risk by going with those products. As I mentioned, it makes more sense to buy gloves from other brands at lower prices. Many of these brands are making quality products; it’s just that they can afford to keep their prices low. Rinat is the perfect example, I know where they manufacture the shop is really not massive.
The other issue is the pricing situation. You can look at the glass half full for sure in this situation. If you see a pair that has a really low number you lose nothing by giving those gloves a look. Maybe the 15-dollar option is the gloves in your size. You can’t rule that out. When you look at a price though that seems too good to be true you want to put that detective cap on.
What you don’t want is to walk into the traps of buying the counterfeits. The other thing that you really don’t want is to buy used or defective gloves. If the color scheme is what’s defective and that’s why they’re on sale you’re fine. If it’s a problem with the finger slots or some issue with the strap it’s just not worth it.
I don’t want to overvalue goalkeeper gloves in general. I do think though that when there are decent options out there at good prices it doesn’t make too much sense to take a flier on some of these brand-name products. Just because they are Adidas gloves at a decent price.
