Every now and again I’d go looking for Washington Nationals apparel online for me, my wife or my son. I noticed though, that the online stores all seemed to have the same inventory. Here’s an example:
MLB Shop
http://shop.mlb.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=3465743&cp=1895815.1902048
The Sports Authority is slightly different
http://www.sportsauthority.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=3465743&cp=3077576.715323.1895815.1902048
More of the same with Dick’s Sporting Goods, but I don’t think I need another screenshot.
The reason the looks the same is because they ARE the same. The same products with the same model (who looks really happy to be there!), and URLs are some variation of the same values. Only the prices and “co-branding” are different. The price of the old Nats jersey is $5 more on the MLB Shop site.
Researching it a little further, it turns out that many of these online shops are handled by the same vendor, GSI Commerce. They have the market cornered it seems on fan gear online. If you are looking for something specific, like I have with a script Washington shirsey in the past, that’s a problem. Thankfully, I’ve gotten that shirsey, because otherwise I’d be out of luck.
So, I guess I might have to be the Mrs. her own Nats jersey now?