How To Tell If You Have A Fake Molten Basketball?

How can you tell if you have a fake basketball? Are fake basketballs common in the UK? When buying from leading basketball retailers like Sportsballshop you are safe in the knowledge that they buy direct from the brands distributor so the ball will always be a genuine ball. Thankfully, we have never had a situation where a ball turns out to be fake.

However, if you buy basketballs from a re-seller on auction sites or from outside of the UK, how can you tell if the ball you have in real or a fake. We were lucky enough to be sent a fake from a customer who had purchased a ball in Europe. They were concerned and thought it looked odd. The ball was a Molten BGM5X basketball. Indeed when checked by Molten in the UK, it was confirmed to be a fake basketball.

What Are The Signs A Basketball Might Be Fake?

It was obvious when pointed out to me but at 1st glance the ball looked ok. However when I went through the checks Molten had provided it was clear this ball was indeed a fake ball. On a genuine Molten BGM5X basketball the quality of the cut of cloth to the seams is to a very high standard but this isn't the only difference

• A genuine ball will have the barcode printed on and not embossed
• On a genuine ball the date range for the FIBA approval is printed on and not embossed
• A genuine ball will have the @FIBA branding printed and not embossed
• On a genuine ball the text showing the country of manufacture and PSI information, around the valve is printed and not embossed
• As mentioned the quality of cut where the cloth meets the channels is to a high standard. All edges are glued however, on a fake ball the cut is poor. In some cases the edges don't even have glue holding them down.
• The way the pebbles are positioned are also a tell tell sign too

What Should I Do If I Have Purchased A Fake Basketball In Error?

If you think you may have purchased a fake basketball contact the manufacturer within your country. Send them photo's or a video of the suspect ball and explain your conserns. Also take note of the barcode too as this number is often not the correct barcode.

I created a useful video to show you the difference between a genuine and a fake basketball

If you have any comments please leave them in the comments box below or on the Youtube channel and I will try to respond. If you know of other reasons why the ball could be a fake let me know.

Tags

Basketball Basketballs Buying guides Category_Basketball Category_Products Sports Ball Shop

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