Fake signed books

PatrickBateman · Dec 18, 2016

Geminii23 said:
Well that was quick! Got a response from Rareandsigned... "Thank you for your email. Yes, I am delighted to confirm everything looks great and we can issue you certification if required." Color me impressed. Though I didn't really have any doubts.

PatrickBateman - Comparing your images to mine, I think anyone could believe that those were legit at a glance. So don't be too hard on yourself. I would definitely contact eBay about that seller though. Have you also demanded your money back?

That is fantastic! I’m happy your signed books came back OK!

The seller gave me a refund and canceled the other books I was bidding on. Here are the messages--they are in reverse order so start at the bottom:
-----

Your previous message
Okay, great. Since I am so new to this, I don't want to take a gamble. Thank you for understanding. Feel free to cancel all my bids.

booksandcomicsandthings:
Hello, Just read your other text, No I did not get a quick opinion, They look real to me, You can always get an quick opinion from PSA or JSA. You can cancel your bids If not satisfied, I do not have a problem with that! Thanks, Bryan.

Your previous message
I just had these authenticated and it turns out they are all fakes. Did you do a quick opinion at PSA or JSA before listing?

booksandcomicsandthings:
I don't authenticate the signatures myself, I compare them to the other ones being sold on E bay, amazon, Abe Books, and few other sites I check on, You can do a Quick Opinion at PSA or JSA on any of the books I sell. I sell all kinds of different items! My main focus is comics, I usually have over 500 items listed at a time. Don't have that many right now listed because of the holidays and a death in the family has set me back a bit. I hope this helps, Good luck in the auctions, Thanks, Bryan.

Your previous message
Can you tell me about the history of the signed Stephen King books you are selling? How are you authenticating the signatures?

Thanks!
Andrew

-----

What I think is the biggest bummer that I think the seller is knowingly selling fakes and the comments about getting it authenticated a way to cover his ass(ets) and not get kicked off ebay. Additionally, as soon as someone mentions that a family member has died in an ebay message, it is an immediate red flag for me. A comment like that is supposed to elicit sympathy: “how could a person like this lie? After all they have been through.” The books I returned and canceled my bids on were eventually put back up on ebay and sold to others. That's why I'm so grateful for this SK community, so together we can keep sellers honest!

Geminii23 · Dec 18, 2016

PatrickBateman said:
The books I returned and canceled my bids on were eventually put back up on ebay and sold to others.

That is the most troubling thing to me in all of this. I understand that this seller "might" not have been guilty of trying to sell them to you maliciously and could have legitimately been ignorant to the fact (though if they are trying to sell books as "Signed" they should do their due-dillegence and get the signatures authenticated). But once you brought to their attention, the fact that they put them right back up to sell to some other unsuspecting person is pretty despicable. I understand a seller not wanting to fork over 30-60 dollars for certificates of authenticity, but considering that rareandsigned will send them an email analysis for free - there really is no excuse for misrepresenting signed books.

Moderator · Dec 19, 2016

Dana Jean said:
Moderator -- do we allow links to these fraudulent places as a warning for others?

I'm okay with that. I will add, though, that I have no idea how Raresigned is authenticating the signatures. They do not come to us to do so.

misery chastain loves co. · Dec 20, 2016

When it comes to buying a signed book I do one of two things:
Buy an S/L which you know is the real deal or, if you're looking for something flatsigned, buy from a legitimate book dealer. I have NEVER bought a flatsigned book from eBay but have bought several S/L's on there. I just don't trust it these days as there are so many fakes out there. I stick with Bett's or Gerald for anything flatsigned.
SK's signature has changed over the years. I like to compare the earlier ones to the latest and you can see some slight differences.
I am no book dealer and I collect solely for me. I love the thrill of the hunt!

Tjjammer · Jan 9, 2017

I also collect just for my personal collection. I have so many SK books that I have collected over the years that I was amazed at the number of them when I did an inventory. Now I am on a quest to 1) find DJ's for the ones that have none and 2) get at least one book signed. (don't know how I;ll go about that.) And which one(s) to get signed: Carrie, Firestarter, etc. yes, I have most of his early works. Nothing like having a first edition in our hands.

NYCollector · Apr 8, 2017

PatrickBateman said:
That is fantastic! I’m happy your signed books came back OK!

The seller gave me a refund and canceled the other books I was bidding on. Here are the messages--they are in reverse order so start at the bottom:
-----

Your previous message
Okay, great. Since I am so new to this, I don't want to take a gamble. Thank you for understanding. Feel free to cancel all my bids.

booksandcomicsandthings:
Hello, Just read your other text, No I did not get a quick opinion, They look real to me, You can always get an quick opinion from PSA or JSA. You can cancel your bids If not satisfied, I do not have a problem with that! Thanks, Bryan.

Your previous message
I just had these authenticated and it turns out they are all fakes. Did you do a quick opinion at PSA or JSA before listing?

booksandcomicsandthings:
I don't authenticate the signatures myself, I compare them to the other ones being sold on E bay, amazon, Abe Books, and few other sites I check on, You can do a Quick Opinion at PSA or JSA on any of the books I sell. I sell all kinds of different items! My main focus is comics, I usually have over 500 items listed at a time. Don't have that many right now listed because of the holidays and a death in the family has set me back a bit. I hope this helps, Good luck in the auctions, Thanks, Bryan.

Your previous message
Can you tell me about the history of the signed Stephen King books you are selling? How are you authenticating the signatures?

Thanks!
Andrew

-----

What I think is the biggest bummer that I think the seller is knowingly selling fakes and the comments about getting it authenticated a way to cover his ass(ets) and not get kicked off ebay. Additionally, as soon as someone mentions that a family member has died in an ebay message, it is an immediate red flag for me. A comment like that is supposed to elicit sympathy: “how could a person like this lie? After all they have been through.” The books I returned and canceled my bids on were eventually put back up on ebay and sold to others. That's why I'm so grateful for this SK community, so together we can keep sellers honest!

New to this forum but had to reply to this once I saw it. Booksandcomicsandthings is the same seller on ebay as allstarbooks2010. This guy is a Stephen king forgery factory. Between these two accounts he sells over 400 SK "autographed" books a year. I have confronted him and he laughs at me. I have reported him to ebay several times to no avail. He has 5 listed under allstarbooks2010 as I type this. That account alone has sold 67 including the current ones since December 29th. Booksandcomicsandthings account has sold around 45 since that same date. One account sells from Cumberland, Maryland and other from Ridgely, West Virginia which happen to be right next door to each other with a state line in between. Has sold thousands since 2010. After the current ones end under allstarbooks2010 he will list one day auctions under other account. Alternates between the accounts. Sold 10 this week already. He knows they are fake because he signs them himself.

FlakeNoir · Apr 8, 2017

NYCollector said:
New to this forum but had to reply to this once I saw it. Booksandcomicsandthings is the same seller on ebay as allstarbooks2010. This guy is a Stephen king forgery factory. Between these two accounts he sells over 400 SK "autographed" books a year. I have confronted him and he laughs at me. I have reported him to ebay several times to no avail. He has 5 listed under allstarbooks2010 as I type this. That account alone has sold 67 including the current ones since December 29th. Booksandcomicsandthings account has sold around 45 since that same date. One account sells from Cumberland, Maryland and other from Ridgely, West Virginia which happen to be right next door to each other with a state line in between. Has sold thousands since 2010. After the current ones end under allstarbooks2010 he will list one day auctions under other account. Alternates between the accounts. Sold 10 this week already. He knows they are fake because he signs them himself.

Welcome to the site. :smile:

I know it's very difficult to get these things removed, but will tag Moderator in any case, as she may want to look into this. Thank you.

PatrickBateman · Apr 8, 2017

NYCollector said:
New to this forum but had to reply to this once I saw it. Booksandcomicsandthings is the same seller on ebay as allstarbooks2010. This guy is a Stephen king forgery factory. Between these two accounts he sells over 400 SK "autographed" books a year. I have confronted him and he laughs at me. I have reported him to ebay several times to no avail. He has 5 listed under allstarbooks2010 as I type this. That account alone has sold 67 including the current ones since December 29th. Booksandcomicsandthings account has sold around 45 since that same date. One account sells from Cumberland, Maryland and other from Ridgely, West Virginia which happen to be right next door to each other with a state line in between. Has sold thousands since 2010. After the current ones end under allstarbooks2010 he will list one day auctions under other account. Alternates between the accounts. Sold 10 this week already. He knows they are fake because he signs them himself.

We need to shut this seller down. Any ideas? Reporting his listings to ebay doesn't seem to be working...

twiggymarie · Apr 9, 2017

I'm just waiting for King to show up in Texas someday, and I'll get the ones signed I want.... Think he'd laugh me off if I showed up with a wheelbarrow full of his books? :m_fingers:

GNTLGNT · Apr 9, 2017

...I say welcome to our two newest members!....

FlakeNoir · Apr 9, 2017

GNTLGNT said:
...I say welcome to our two newest members!....

NYCollector is new... yes, where were my manners?! :blush:

(going to go fix my post right now.... thank you Scott. :smile:

)

NYCollector · Apr 10, 2017

Thank you for the welcome everyone, appreciate it.

NYCollector · Apr 10, 2017

PatrickBateman said:
We need to shut this seller down. Any ideas? Reporting his listings to ebay doesn't seem to be working...

The only thing I can think of is endless reporting him to eBay from multiple people. I actually called them Friday and have reported his listings in the past but still see them active all with bids. Both accounts have perfect feedback. I tried buying one with new account but once he saw the shipping address cancelled the purchase. I wanted so much to get it and get a refund with ebay's guarantee and leave negative feedback stating it was a forgery. If he at least got bad feedback it might stop others from doing business with him. So many of his books get listed and re-sold by others. Ebay is flooded with his fakes.

Machine's Way · Apr 10, 2017

I just took a look at his ebay profile and sales. I reported all of his fake SK titles. They are obvious fakes, only one is done halfway decent. It seems as the only profile he has actively up is the allstarbooks2010, and currently has 5 fake signed books for sale all with bids on them. I think its safe to say that all the other books he has for sale that are "signed" are fakes as well. This kind of sh*t really pisses me off.
I also have to wonder at the volume this guy is selling and the amounts of money involved if there isn't a serious crime going on here. I mean anyone defrauding people by purposely selling fake items is committing a crime, but the one offs and little stuff here and there goes unnoticed or no one cares, but this guy looks like he runs a full on counterfeiting ebay scam and not only should be stopped by ebay but legal action should be taken in some form.

Moderator · Apr 10, 2017

twiggymarie said:
I'm just waiting for King to show up in Texas someday, and I'll get the ones signed I want.... Think he'd laugh me off if I showed up with a wheelbarrow full of his books?

I know (think?) you're kidding but you wouldn't get past the book signing staff with more than one book. :smile2:

Signings at which you're allowed to bring older books are almost non-existent these days as Steve prefers to either pre-sign the book he is on tour for or the bookstore sponsoring chooses a book of his that they want to sell rather than allowing pre-owned books in if it's in-between a new release.

NYCollector · Apr 10, 2017

Machine's Way said:
I just took a look at his ebay profile and sales. I reported all of his fake SK titles. They are obvious fakes, only one is done halfway decent. It seems as the only profile he has actively up is the allstarbooks2010, and currently has 5 fake signed books for sale all with bids on them. I think its safe to say that all the other books he has for sale that are "signed" are fakes as well. This kind of sh*t really pisses me off.
I also have to wonder at the volume this guy is selling and the amounts of money involved if there isn't a serious crime going on here. I mean anyone defrauding people by purposely selling fake items is committing a crime, but the one offs and little stuff here and there goes unnoticed or no one cares, but this guy looks like he runs a full on counterfeiting ebay scam and not only should be stopped by ebay but legal action should be taken in some form.

Just scroll the feedback and you'll see the volume and how far back it goes. Also at your my eBay page click on advanced in upper right and you can check the sold box and down lower you can type in seller ID and see sold history for past 90 days. Then you'll really get angry at the volume. Once these 5 sell he'll list more under booksandcomicsandthings.

Moderator · Apr 10, 2017

NYCollector said:
New to this forum but had to reply to this once I saw it. Booksandcomicsandthings is the same seller on ebay as allstarbooks2010. This guy is a Stephen king forgery factory. Between these two accounts he sells over 400 SK "autographed" books a year. I have confronted him and he laughs at me. I have reported him to ebay several times to no avail. He has 5 listed under allstarbooks2010 as I type this. That account alone has sold 67 including the current ones since December 29th. Booksandcomicsandthings account has sold around 45 since that same date. One account sells from Cumberland, Maryland and other from Ridgely, West Virginia which happen to be right next door to each other with a state line in between. Has sold thousands since 2010. After the current ones end under allstarbooks2010 he will list one day auctions under other account. Alternates between the accounts. Sold 10 this week already. He knows they are fake because he signs them himself.

I used to have a direct contact at Ebay but haven't been in contact with him in years so he may no longer work there. I'll see what I can do about contacting them regarding this. Perhaps it will carry more weight coming from our office and they can ban this seller and make sure he doesn't just open a new account under another name.

Machine's Way · Apr 10, 2017

NYCollector said:
Just scroll the feedback and you'll see the volume and how far back it goes. Also at your my eBay page click on advanced in upper right and you can check the sold box and down lower you can type in seller ID and see sold history for past 90 days. Then you'll really get angry at the volume. Once these 5 sell he'll list more under booksandcomicsandthings.

Oh I looked, I am very active on ebay and sell alot. What this guy is doing is criminal. I reported all his fake items.
There really should be something more that can be done than just simply reporting this scumbag.

Machine's Way · Apr 10, 2017

Moderator said:
I used to have a direct contact at Ebay but haven't been in contact with him in years so he may no longer work there. I'll see what I can do about contacting them regarding this. Perhaps it will carry more weight coming from our office and they can ban this seller and make sure he doesn't just open a new account under another name.

This exactly, I was hoping you would do something here as coming from you might like you said, carry more weight. This person not only needs to stop these fake sales, but needs to be legally punished for it. I doubt that will ever happen tho.

twiggymarie · Apr 10, 2017

I know (think?) you're kidding but you wouldn't get past the book signing staff with more than one book. Signings at which you're allowed to bring older books are almost non-existent these days as Steve prefers to either pre-sign the book he is on tour for or the bookstore sponsoring chooses a book of his that they want to sell rather than allowing pre-owned books in if it's in-between a new release.

I was kidding, but the mental picture was pretty funny to me. :m_oops:

Though, if you wanna give me a shout-out the next time he's here in Texas, I'd go buy whatever they're promoting just to get to meet him! I'd love you forever! :m_loveu:

Fake signed books

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MORE Count Chocula please.....

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The idiot is IN

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