Vancouver business selling $20,000 All-Star jersey signed by Michael Jordan

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – It’s not even game-worn, but it’s fetching a big price – the same kind of money you might use for a down payment on a condo, or even buy a car with.

However, if you’re looking to expand your sports memorabilia collection, there may be an All-Star jersey signed by Michael Jordan just begging you to buy it.

The ’89 all-star replica jersey bears the number 23 – the number Jordan wore toward the end of his career – and a signature in black marker on the ‘2.’

What would you do if you had about $20K to spend?

Well…this #MichaelJordan jersey is up for grabs via a #VancouverBC e-commerce business. It's not game worn, but it is signed, and can be yours for $19,500. pic.twitter.com/zp39v5n0Ev

— Ria Renouf ???? (@riarenouf) February 25, 2021

Phil Kinnimont owns ‘Rep Your Colours,’ an online business base in Vancouver, and says between the multi-part Jordan-focused documentary, ‘The Last Dance,’ and Jordan’s overall popularity, it’s not really much of a surprise that the jersey is going for this much.

“The Last Dance came out last year, the ten-part series [on HBO and Netflix]. Immediately, his pricing on everything almost went up 50% on all his signed goods, because people just sort of got reinjected with some excitement and who he was,” he explains to NEWS 1130.

Once that happened, it was an opportunity for more people who may not have watched Jordan play to learn more about him.

Speaking to @NEWS1130, Phil Kinnimont says it'll likely go to auction but he's had it up on the 'Rep Your Colours' site for a bit. "'The Last Dance' came out last year. Immediately, his pricing on everything went up almost 50%," he says.

— Ria Renouf ???? (@riarenouf) February 25, 2021

“I remember him, I watched him growing up, there’s maybe some people, you know, teens or early 20s who didn’t really see him play, but they know of the whole aura behind him. And this sort of reignited that conversation, and I think, unofficially, most people would agree that he was the first athlete that really crossed over from sports to global celebrity,” he notes, citing the shoe deal he signed with Nike.

“He actually wanted to sign with Converse, as you saw in ‘The Last Dance,’ went to Nike, and the rest is history. So it was really a crossover into that world, and really made it possible for all the athletes to cross promote and make money off their court or field or ice surface, whatever it might be,” he explains.

Kinnimont says it also comes down to good old fashioned supply and demand.

“The players command whatever they want. A guy like Michael Jordan doesn’t need the money, I imagine! I don’t want to speak on his behalf, but I’m just making an educated guess. If it’s worth his time, if you’re his supplier saying, ‘I want 500 of your signatures,’ and you go, ‘well, okay, but I want $5000 per signature,’ and they’re knowing that in the market, in their landscape, they can sell it for that price, then they’ll turn around and do it. So really, the majority of the money goes back to the athlete, because they’re signing away their likeness, or obviously, their signature,” he says.

As of deadline, Kinnimont says he hasn’t had any interested buyers – which isn’t a shock to him because of the price tag – but he notes that the jersey has also served as a great talking point that gets people buying other things from his store.

“It’s something I’m probably going to save for an auction; it’s not necessarily an impulse buy,” he notes.

He’s also been fairly busy, even with the COVID-19 pandemic in the background, as he’s heard from all sorts of sports fans who are looking to decorate their spaces with memorabilia at a more affordable price.

“When we did our pop-up shop, Christmas was really good. What I am finding is the pandemic is obviously affected everyone, and for some people…more than others, also thinking that a lot of people who are out there with a lot of money aren’t spending it on travel, on rental places and hockey games and concerts, and all this stuff. So there’s actually quite a few people out there who are working from home. If you’re crammed in your office all day at home as opposed in a nice office tower somewhere, you’re going, ‘it’s really nice to decorate this up with a really exclusive piece; I know it means a lot to me.’ Tiger Woods framed piece, or a Wayne Gretzky jersey, your Michael Jordan piece that might just keep the energy going in your office space, and the creativity going, and rewarding yourself, ” he explains.

He’s found the signed jersey has served as a great talking point when people might be looking to buy these kinds of goods.

“I don’t expect to sell 20 of [these expensive pieces] a year, but it’s a reason to get people in your store, talk about, and nice enough people take interest in the business, in a unique item, and it starts the dialogue. I think it’s done it’s job,” he suggests.

In the meantime, anyone who is interested in taking a look can do so here.