eBay

sharmes6 · ‎04-02-2023

Hi,

Late last year I bid on and won two Star Wars movie posters (TFA and TLJ) which had apparently been signed by the cast at the premieres. I did a bit of research before bidding but TBH couldn't find much info, and the seller looked legit, with all positive feedback, about 60 sales, and included were a lanyard which was apparently issued to attendees of the after party where the items were issued, and a certificate of authenticity which had a numbered holographic sticker, as did the posters themselves.

I received the items, and the posters look amazing, are in mint condition, and I bought frames for them and had them on display. Then I posted pics on half a dozen facebook pages to show off my new Star Wars posters, and people loved them, but a couple of people who said they were in the know, pointed out that some of the signatures did not look correct. At first I shrugged it off, but then as I looked more into it, I found poster collecting forums online where they were discussing these type of cast signed posters, that were apparently signed by everyone atthe premieres, and they were pointing out that they were all fake and these kind of signings arranged by the studio never happened. I then did a little investigating on Ebay and found the same style of posters from different movie franchises, eg Iron Man, Avengers, Eternals, and found four different sellers with just one to three feedback, where the descriptions were identical and the wooden floor where the photos of the posters and certificates were taken was identical between all the sellers. Also, the seller I originally purchased from had no items for sale, and someone had recently left a negative review on their feedback saying they were selling fakes and they had notified Ebay of 20 different accounts which were then closed down.

It all sounds dodgy as to me, so I contacted Ebay. I informed them of all the evidence, gave them the sellers' alias seller names etc, but they have just started a regular return, and not an investigation or anything. Now the seller has replied to Ebay saying they will accept the return, but they also notified Ebay that they cannot supply a return shipping label. The seller is in the USA and I am in Australia. I have two concerns. Firstly I don't want to have to pay for return postage on an item that is counterfeit, secondly I do not trust the seller, and am concerned that they have given a fake address and name given their other online activities. If my return package just gets lost, or if they don't sign for it etc, because of that then I will not get my money back.

Surely if there are counterfeit items being sold Ebay should be escalating this case by default. I have also reported the other items that the seller's alias accounts have listed but,for some reason they are still up for auction, so there are about to be another dozen or so people who receive fake signed movie posters.

springyzone · ‎16-02-2023

That is very lucky, especially if, as gutterpunkz says, the accounts have not been closed down, which sort of implies that ebay has not yet classified them as frauds.

Just as a matter of interest, were you able to keep the posters, rather than having to send them back? I am assuming that was the case as you received no reply from the seller about supplying funds for a return.

I still think that any seller whose items were legitimately valued at $1000 would be keen to get the items returned if they were going to have to refund. They wouldn't just ignore messages completely.

sharmes6 · ‎19-02-2023

I have kept the posters, yes. I didn't want to pay another $100+ for return shipping, especially when I had doubt that the return address even existed or was the seller's valid address. Nor did I trust the seller to confirm they had received the items at that point.

Re identifying the authenticity I did contact Disney and Marvel about the items I bought and all the other items I suspected were fake, and just gave them all the seller's aliases. They both had a licensing/fraud reporting email which I used. I have done many searches since first bidding on the items and I have never been able to verify that these premiere signings ever occurred, and actually quite a bit of evidence that they did not occur. As can be seen in some other legitimate cases, if said signings do occur there is photographic evidence of the cast/crew signing the items. This is not the case with any of this seller's items. There was a lot of evidence pointing to the fact the seller and his identical aliases was selling fraudulent items. I can only assume that Ebay, Marvel and Disney are still looking in to it, as by this stage he has sold hundreds of these fakes, maybe thousands, as I've read that they have already shut down dozens of his other alias accounts.

gutterpunkz05 · ‎19-02-2023

The joys of collecting.

A few days ago, a bit popped up on antiques RS, with owner presenting 2 movie posters for valuation.

Turned out the one he thought was genuine, was fake, quite obvious when pointed out, but the item was still valued at many times his purchase price.

The second item that the owner thought was fake, turned out to be genuine, but was only valued at approx original purchase price

springyzone · ‎20-02-2023

Absolutuly never pay return postage costs when an item is defective.

On every site I have been on (including ebay), if there is a fault, the seller provides the postage.

Sometimes they don't and will tell you to dispose of the product.

I had that happen once where some of the glassware was broken. They refunded me the cost of the 6 glasses even though only a couple were broken. Mind you, I had bought them as a gift so that wrecked that gift, I had to go buy something else.

If your seller ignored the messages, it is because the postage costs more than printing some more copies.

I am glad it has all worked out for you. I hope you can enjoy the posters for decorative value, even though you know they are fakes.