GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Bucks fans may be on the hunt for memorabilia to commemorate the team’s first NBA Championship in 50 years – but the Better Business Bureau is warning shoppers to be wary of online ‘deals’.
The Bucks are world champions. And that means scammers have already created sites to offer cheap knockoff merchandise to mark the event. Susan Bach of the Better Business Bureau says it happens every time a team brings the title home. So if you see a $26 Giannis jersey, you might want to save up for a different one.
“Immediately, we’ll see websites that offer very cheap knockoff merchandise – jerseys, T-shirts, other kinds of memorabilia,” Bach said. “Either the merchandise never showed up at all, or it was a very cheap replica. We’ve had people complain that the logos were glued on, that the players names were misspelled, the neck hole in one jersey was too small for any human to put their head through.”
That last jersey incident was reported by a customer in Appleton.
Bach reminds shoppers to do their due diligence to make sure a site is reputable.
“There could be spelling errors and grammatical errors, prices that are really just too good to be true, those are all signs that it’s probably not a reputable website,” Bach told WTAQ News. “If you see advertising for a really low price or a special or some kind of clearance sale, don’t click on that ad. Instead, go to the retailer’s website that you know to be true.”
It’s also important to keep your money safe, and to use a credit card when shopping online.
“Always pay with a credit card, because if the product never shows up or it shows up damaged or not as advertised, you can dispute the charge with your credit card company. That is always the safest way to pay,” Bach explained.
More tips and tricks to avoid cheap knockoffs and scams can be found at BBB.org.
