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Authenticity is Everything
eBay forgers and forgeries with positive feedback
Hey everybody, hoping that you are having a great year so far,
I wanted to share some of my experiences browsing autographs on eBay. Last year has been great for me in terms of collecting, since I've gotten many great finds, some of them through eBay. I've managed to get some great items from RACC trusted sellers, and re-sellers as well. Some of my favorite artists either don't sell their autograph at all, or have had autographed merch in the past, that is not being sold officially anymore.
But of course this didn't come immediately, as I've always had to stumble upon a bunch of junk forgeries and bad sellers peddling them. One such case was an interesting one:
There is a seller on eBay with two accounts, both have had 100% positive feedback over the last few months. I'm not going to say who this individual is, but I will say that this seller refers to himself as an "authentication company", but actually just sells junk items he got elsewhere, with his home-made toilet-paper COA attached to them.
When I confronted this individual about it, via private messaging, he said that I am disturbing his business, and then he threatened me and said that I've "crossed a line and made it personal", and that "I will pay for what I've done".
This isn't the first time I've stumbled upon such a case - there are some sellers on eBay with 100% positive feedback, who sell junk items that they got in bulk, from forgers, and when you confront them about it, they deny the facts.
Some of the junk "companies" that I've stumbled upon on eBay and outside it, include:
-Fan Mail Direct fanmaildirect.com
-Fan Mail Direct Wholesale fmdws.com
-Triple L Memorabilia
-Global Authentics / GAI
-Classic Sports Collectibles LLC
-Poster Memorabilia (how did these nutcases get a registered trademark?)
-InPersonAuthentics / InPersonAuthentication
-Collectible gifts - https://m46cloud3at.com/
-Any seller that is selling a Hollywood "cast signed" poster with a "Neflix holograph": Example here
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on
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With feedback being meaningless (apart from someone getting something shipped correctly), I have given up some time ago trying to accomplish much of anything beyond the odd purchase for my collection or something someone is looking for and have asked me for. I do appreciate the list you posted!
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Permalink Reply by Yony Mark on
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It's not about feedback being meaningless (you can actually find lots of scathing feedback outside of eBay about some of these "authenticators"), it's about differntiating the feedback of a seller and the authenticity of the item he is selling.
Feedback for me is meaningful, as it should be for anybody, but only in the case where I've inspected the seller's inventory and I am sure the items he is selling are genuine.
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"It's about differentiating the feedback of a seller and the authenticity of the item he is selling."
I am not sure about that.
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You stated 5 days ago "...100% positive feedback from an honest seller just means that the item will most likely be packaged and shipped to you, and that the seller's communication is good. The feedback is absolutely unrelated with the authenticity of the items for sale..."
So perhaps I am not understanding you.
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Yes, what I said in Steve's post (which is what you quoted) is exactly my point.
I think I should've written "differentiate the item from the feedback", since in most cases where I've found a seller peddling tons of forgeries, he had 100% positive feedback.
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Permalink Reply by crazyrabbits23 on
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Is it grossly overpriced when checked against comparable listings? Probably fake.
Description is completely over-the-top when describing the item, or giving some kind of "this is my mother's prized autograph that she got 50 years ago and is a cherished heirloom" story? Fake.
Multiple shill bids within the first hour of the auction? Likely fake.
Some of the best items I ever bought were small-scale listings from clients who either mislabeled the item, downplayed the significance of the item or put up at a reasonable price that just got "lost in the shuffle". Plenty of good deals out there to be had, but you have to be judicious and do your research.
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Either overpriced or underpriced. In most cases I've seen it was actually underpriced, for example a signed George Harrison vinyl record for 50 USD.
Yeah, an over-the-top description is always cringey. It either implies that the seller knows he's peddling a fake, or that the seller is completely ignorant. In both cases I'd stay away from the listing.
+100000 on your last point! It's the same for me actually. Many of my favorite items came from sellers who were selling a specific type of thing (for example a seller who sells only vinyl records) or from people who were clearing their card collections and also had concert posters here and there for concerts they went to.
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Permalink Reply by Jeffrey A. Savoye on
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Many years ago, when you could still see and contact the buyer of an item on eBay, there was a seller listing a printing of "The Raven" as it appeared in the American Review of February 1845, which is arguably the first printing of the poem. (I won't bore you with the argument versus the Evening Mirror printing, as it is not the important point here.) It was the authentic issue of that magazine, but it had clearly been removed from a bound copy of the magazine and it had originally paper wrappers added from some other issue. It is precisely the presence of paper wrappers that would make it very valuable, as the bound copies are more common and the wrappers were typically removed when binding a full volume. To cover the wrong date on the wrappers, someone had clipped 1845 from the title page of the volume and pasted it over the month.
I knew enough about the format of the paper wrappers for that magazine, and the name changes, to realize what had been done, and I contacted the seller to provide the information. I did so in a way that was not harshly critical, mocking or accusatory. It was merely along the lines of "There appears to be something problematic about this item . . . " and providing the details, with documentation to support my claims.
The reply was swift and threatening. It had not initially occurred to me that the seller was the person who had probably made this concoction, but it was clear at that point. Ultimately, the item sold to a prominent dealer, who had purchased it specifically because he knew it to be fake, and, after examining it, demanded his money returned.
There have been some very good Poe items on eBay, including at least two authentic original Poe letters. I have bought some very nice items of this sort, although not autograph material, which normally exceeds my financial means. Over the years, there has been less and less of such material. It remains a mixed bag, but the scammers seem to be gaining the upper hand these days.
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Interesting, thank you for sharing. In the case that you mentioned, wouldn't it make sense that the vintage magazine still have a value to collectors, without the paper wrappers?
I'm a magazine collector myself. Although I don't collect magazines that are THAT vintage, but I have some magazines that originally came with a poster, CD, or even a collector's cartboard box, but I bought them either second-hand, or at a news stand, and they came without the extra collectible item. I still love them and they hold value for me, since I mostly read them, but in recent years I've only bought the complete collector's editions online, and not from news stands.
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It would, but in the original bound form, especially if the volume was in poor condition, it is the difference between a few hundred or even $1,000 and $10,000. The seller was attempting a very profitable upgrade. Ironically, by removing the bound issue, he has probably at least slightly harmed its value. (And he probably destroyed whatever value the copy might have had from which he removed the paper wrappers.)
I do see bound copies, often rebound because the old bindings suffered from wear and use, go for fairly ridiculous prices. Such is the popularity of Poe's most famous poem. Many first printings of Poe's works survive in the form of bound volumes of the magazines, which was the common practice of the day.
Individual issues came out each month, usually starting with January and ending in June or December, depending on how the subscriptions per volume were designated. (Six issues to a volume is the most typical, and although it was best to conform to a calendar year, some magazines run a volume as, for example, March to August, etc.) In the final issue for the volume, pages were included for the title page and the index. Generally, the material on the wrappers was intended to be disposable, usually just a list of contents for that issue and a prospectus for the magazine or a related periodical. Because so many copies were bound, which helped the pages to survive the ravages of time, individual copies in the original form, with the paper wrappers, are much rarer and thus more desirable.
I have a number of Poe first printings in magazines with the original paper wrappers, including, as one of my most prized, a first printing of "The Cask of Amontillado" from Godey's Lady's Magazine for November 1846.
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I purchased an Elvis item last year but on arrival I could see that it was clearly printed.
It cost me £1500. I returned it as 'not as described'. The seller then said that the item was returned damaged even though id packed it really well. Ebay stepped in and I got my money back and he kept his !!
He then re- listed it and sold it again !
I called Ebay about it, gave him negative feedback and the feedback was removed two days later !
Seriously you couldn't make it up.
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Well... I think it was on your side to ask for photos and make sure that you know what you're getting. Also, given the fact that Elvis has been dead for over 40 years, I'd except the second-hand market of his "autographs" to be flooded with mostly forgeries. The authentic stuff has probably been authenticated and graded ages ago by JSA / PSA / Beckett.
The Ebay system is rigged in favor of the sellers, regardless of their item. For any seller, it's always possible to re-list a bad item after a while. Unless he's selling or buying something illegal, ofcourse.
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