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Exposing eBay Forgery Seller barryjanvrin

Hi, Gang.

A while back, I made a post about eBay seller barryjanvrin and the constant flow of fake autographs he has been selling, mostly signed entertainment trading cards.

http://www.ebay.ca/sch/barryjanvrin/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_...

This seller has over 10,000 positive feedback (with no negative feedback) and appears to have no limit to the forgeries he sells and will continue selling. So, I tried something different. I am pretty familiar with John Hillerman’s signature (from the T.V. show Magnum PI), and when I saw seller barryjanvrin selling 6 Hillerman forgeries I decided to buy them (total cost $22 plus shipping) and move this issue into the sellers front lawn. When the cards arrived, I immediately filed a PayPal dispute regarding the forgeries I had received. The seller was quick to contact me and offer me a full refund. Here is the message he sent me:

Good morning!

I am very sorry to hear that. I do my best to reference every autograph in my collection. I just turned 67 and my eyes aren't as sharp as they once were. I have never intentionally sold anything that's not legit. I do understand your frustration. Please return the items and I will refund your payment.

Barry

I immediately sent the cards back.

Soon after the first email, the seller sent me a second email stating:

I'll issue your refund as soon as I receive them. I have been collecting since I was 15 yrs old and I have always enjoyed doing so. It is very frustrating and disappointing that too many are now not authentic. I have mostly stopped adding to my collection. I am now just trying to sell it and down size. I do the best I can but sadly I'm not always accurate. I do apologize.
Thank you!

Then a third message:

Good morning,
Have you put these items in the post?
Thank you

At this point, I sent the seller a reply:

Here's the thing... I appreciate that you will be refunding my payment once you receive the cards, but it has been made aware to me by fellow members of Autograph Magazine Live, through PSA/DNA quick opinions, and my own investigation that most, if not all of the autographs you are selling are 100% fake. It also appears that you have been selling fake autographs for quite some time. I'm not sure how to proceed except to leave negative feedback warning other potential buyers not to purchase items you are selling and to advise eBay of the same.

I have yet to hear back from the seller, although they have stopped all of their current listings, obviously waiting to see what I do next.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Dom Vito Castiglione on September 18, 2014 at 5:21pm

He's planning on what to do. You will most likely get a message to you saying something like he's not responsible cause he sells them for another person. Or, hey these 3rd parties have gotten things wrong in the past. Let me send you this article I found that goes to show you PSA is not perfect and has made mistakes before.

You should tell him to send every item he sells to GA. I bet his success rate will be in the 90%

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Permalink Reply by CJCollector on September 18, 2014 at 5:56pm

Nice work, Peter!!!!

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Permalink Reply by Peter Lougheed on September 18, 2014 at 6:34pm

Thanks, Chris.

Coming from you (the Robin Hood of the battle against forgeries) that is a great compliment!

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Permalink Reply by CJCollector on September 18, 2014 at 6:36pm

Thank you, Peter.

Great to have collectors like yourself who go out on a limb to protect the hobby. There are many great collectors on this site that do that.

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Permalink Reply by michelle on September 19, 2014 at 10:08am

+1.

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Permalink Reply by hitmanten on September 19, 2014 at 9:01am

Would be nice if more put something like this to use to shut down some of the scammers and forgers out there - or at least let them know there are eyes on them. #AutographEqualizer, lol