It is tempting to make winning bid on a stamp which you have
been waiting for, and incoming offering bids are not many, when you
remember that it would draw many more bids in the past. I was trying to
buy one red nice China dowager stamp which would price typically at USD
$200. After realizing that I could not identify differences between a
fake stamp and a real dowager stamp by looking at the photos, I decided
not to bid now. too risky ...
Fake
stamp is for high profit, so it must copy rare stamps. Faker may as
well spend effort to fake a rare stamp. I would not concern about stamps
which have good design and generally sell below $30.
To spot whether a stamp is fake or not in Ebay, seller scoreboard is our best clue.
- seller feedback rating ( 100% is almost a must. )
- seller feedback score ( higher the better, equivalent to volume of completed transactions with many other buyers.)
- seller feedback score history I ( what is typical transaction amount in the past. If most are $1, and the stamp you are interested is expensive, it should ring an alert bell. Some sellers found a way to make many small bids and give highest positive feedback to themselves.)
- seller feedback score history II ( more distinct buyers in the past, the better)
- seller member since ( older the better. Faker usually changes accounts after buyer complaints)
- any negative feedback. If any, what did the buyer say? More than 2 negative feedbacks is an absolute No to me, regardless of transaction volume.
- Finally, rarity of the stamp compared to what seller sold before. If seller has not done much transaction before and suddenly selling a very rare stamp. This should ring another alert bell.
- Inventory of rare stamps of the same seller. There is one Ebay seller who once a month would post the most rare Ching dynasty 1898 $5 Goose stamps, MNH, non-perforated, XF, two together. The seller is from China, has little selling history and receive some negative feedback ratings. If the stamps are authentic, where would the seller obtain this inventory? quite obvious a fake one. In fact, I sent the seller asking for authenticity of the stamp. No reply.
- MNH condition is rare for stamps with age over 100 years. In those years, hinge was very common.
Further google search for fake stamp digs up complaints about certain EBay sellers, such as
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