Some Pretty Expensive Imperfs On Ebay

I'd be curious in some comments on real vs. fake.
(Of course, there are some that are obvious; others not so.)

http://www.ebay.com/sch/Revenues-/6...amps&_sop=10

Most of these are actually genuine, but there are a few obvious fakes mixed in, plus some "questionable but possible" stamps that would have to be looked at in person (including some of the very expensive ones).

Some look quite bogus, but others are promising.

Just in case anyone was thinking of bidding on any of these, the seller's unspoken policy is that they will not allow anything sold on extension if it has a question mark in the title, even though they say they will in the listing. Additionally, the only extension they will allow is Bill Weiss's $5 electronic "identification" service, not actual extension to the PF or any other expertization service. This isn't intended to denigrate Bill or his services, but on items like these identification from an electronic image rather than in-hand examination is less than useless.

I guess APS membership doesn't mean what it used to...

Some people are in for some expensive life lessons:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CKStamps-US...351434233563

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CKStamps-US...400943745994

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CKStamps-US...400943701107

Eric got me on this one.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/35143425369....m1435.l2649

revenuecollector - just curious why you made the comment re the three examples cited in your post. Not being a revenue collector myself - wouldn't even know where to begin - I've been monitoring the interesting exchanges over time among yourself and the other collectors in this area to start to gain some small familiarity with the issues associated with collecting revenues. Are the items shown in the eBay links fakes or altered or misidentified, or some combination thereof?

Thanks.

The 3 examples are trimmed fakes and completely worthless. All of them. The ink colors, cancel types, and papers are all wrong for true imperfs. The first two are especially laughable. Over $1,300 for that trimmed R80c is just idiotic.

The two stamps I felt were worth gambles (beyond those that were definitely legit), were the R87a above first and foremost, and then the R84a, which *MIGHT* be legit.

Now that I think about it though, the seller's terms as I referenced above are a moot point. Now that the SNAD window is now 6 months, you have time to get a PF cert on a stamp, and if it comes back bogus you can get your money back through PayPal regardless of the seller's terms, so perhaps I should have bid...

Saw that Eric was the underbidder on the R84a also.

I expected Eric to win this. I can't believe that the seller didn't send it in to the PF for a cert. If it was bad it's $27, and if it's good he would more than make it up selling it later.

No offense taken at all. In fact I agree with you 100%.

But something buyers don't often consider (because they really don't know) is that if they buy a stamp that turns out to be altered (so that includes reperf, regum, repairs, etc) they have a TWO YEAR recourse for return under an APS Standing Resolution. So if the seller is an APS member they are held to much higher standards than found on sites like eBay, or the Seller's Terms. Those terms mean squat if the seller is an APS member. And the buyer does not need to be an APS member to be able to file complaints against APS members.

However as a 49-year Life APS member, I highly recommend that all collectors support their National Stamp Club and join!