Fake signed books

[peripheral]

Hi there (my first post on this forum, although long-time reader and collector),

Just wondering if anyone knows of any process in reporting fake signed King books that are for sale on eBay, etc? The place is full of fraudulent signatures and eBay don't do anything about them.
Cheers

 

[Dana Jean]

Welcome peripheral!

 

[king family fan]

 

[Spideyman]

Hi and welcome.

 

[Srbo]

Welcome!
Could you please post links to the siggies you think are fake, so people can take an educated guess and inform e-bay if they indeed are fakes?
Hope it was my post on FB that brought you here.

 

[GNTLGNT]

....not sure the King legal team would find it worthwhile to start vetting whether signatures are all genuine or not...it would seem like a lot of work for little return....and Ebay is not in the business of determining validity of signatures-however they WILL pull listings down and ban Sellers if a case is made against them....

 

[Neesy]

Hi there (my first post on this forum, although long-time reader and collector),

Just wondering if anyone knows of any process in reporting fake signed King books that are for sale on eBay, etc? The place is full of fraudulent signatures and eBay don't do anything about them.
Cheers

Welcome to SKMB


Like I learned in grade 12 law:

Caveat Emptor

It is a shame that people try to profit from stuff like this but, "buyer beware"

It's similar to the people phoning you up to tell you your computer has a virus and they are from Microsoft

My son got taken in by that scam

 

[peripheral]

Welcome!
Could you please post links to the siggies you think are fake, so people can take an educated guess and inform e-bay if they indeed are fakes?
Hope it was my post on FB that brought you here.

It was I think! Cheers

 

[peripheral]

Thanks for all of the welcome messages everybody! Yes, it's frustrating to see so much fraud online with King's signatures, but yes, I agree with the "buyer beware" idea - if you're going to spend $$ on a signed book, get educated on it.

 

[GNTLGNT]

Thanks for all of the welcome messages everybody! Yes, it's frustrating to see so much fraud online with King's signatures, but yes, I agree with the "buyer beware" idea - if you're going to spend $$ on a signed book, get educated on it.

 

[Machine's Way]

This will always be a problem, I have seen some of the worst fakes on ebay. I have reported some, some get caught and take the listing down ect. But there are no real repercussions against the seller. I remember a thread where someone found an obvious fake from the Maine event for Finders Keepers, I along with other board members Bombarded the seller with questions and they eventually just took down the listing without responding. The bottom line is you can never really know, unless you trust the seller, know the seller or obtained the book yourself. I have had success selling signed King on Ebay, but god forbid Mr. King signed a little sloppy that day, or the loop is a little wonky, lol. People think when he signs 400 books in a sitting that they all should look like the one perfect one they have seen stamped on his books.

 

[Machine's Way]

I guess I should also take a moment for some shameless self promotion, I have LEGIT signed copies of "END OF WATCH" for sale if you are interested. Just shoot me a PM.

 

[Brian's Twinner]

Cool.

If I should score a SK book via Amazon that has a genuine signature, great. If it's a fake, swell.

"It is the story--not he who tells it."

 

[Nomik]

on signatures:Yes, it would be nice to have a signed copy of a Stephen King book - I guess. What would i do with it?
1. read it
2. If it were signed - just signed (I think his signature varies a little; i know mine does because of my fine motor coordination and impatience) why would I want it? Another green eyed monster to contend with? No thank you.
3.If it were personally signed; see above.
4. If i were in dire need of roof and food - would I sell it?
no.
I'm just a "fan girl" Good lord, I hate that term. That is what it boils down to though. it would distract me from reality.

 

[Geminii23]

Hi there (my first post on this forum, although long-time reader and collector),

Just wondering if anyone knows of any process in reporting fake signed King books that are for sale on eBay, etc? The place is full of fraudulent signatures and eBay don't do anything about them.
Cheers

I too have often wondered about this. I have only gotten one signed book from eBay (as a gift) but it was a numbered edition so pretty confident that it is a legit signature.

I have almost pulled the trigger on a few auctions for signed copies of various SK books, but too afraid that I might be getting ripped off.

 

[PatrickBateman]

I recently purchased some books from booksandcomicsandthings on ebay and had the signatures authenticated by rareandsigned.com. All of them came back as fake. Raresigned replied: "Andrew. These are all fake. We saw them on eBay ourselves and reported the seller"

If you are going to buy on ebay, ask someone to authenticate it. A quick yes/no is free and all you have to do is send them an email with a picture. My whole experience with buying a signed SK book really turned me off. I stopped looking for signed books and I'm just going to enjoy reading the books. That's what I like about SK books anyways, the stories.

Hope this helps and hope you all can learn from my mistake.

Here are the pictures. All of these are, according to Raresigned, fake. :-(

 

[Dana Jean]

I recently purchased some books from booksandcomicsandthings on ebay and had the signatures authenticated by rareandsigned.com. All of them came back as fake. Raresigned replied: "Andrew. These are all fake. We saw them on eBay ourselves and reported the seller"

If you are going to buy on ebay, ask someone to authenticate it. A quick yes/no is free and all you have to do is send them an email with a picture. My whole experience with buying a signed SK book really turned me off. I stopped looking for signed books and I'm just going to enjoy reading the books. That's what I like about SK books anyways, the stories.

Hope this helps and hope you all can learn from my mistake.

Here are the pictures. All of these are, according to Raresigned, fake. :-( View attachment 18696 View attachment 18697 View attachment 18698 View attachment 18699

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

 

[Nomik]

Hello and welcome. I don't have anything signed yet by SK, but I do not have a few other signed books, the authenticity of which cannot be contested. I guess this is irrelevant. Hope you like it here.

 

[Geminii23]

I recently purchased some books from booksandcomicsandthings on ebay and had the signatures authenticated by rareandsigned.com. All of them came back as fake. Raresigned replied: "Andrew. These are all fake. We saw them on eBay ourselves and reported the seller"

If you are going to buy on ebay, ask someone to authenticate it. A quick yes/no is free and all you have to do is send them an email with a picture. My whole experience with buying a signed SK book really turned me off. I stopped looking for signed books and I'm just going to enjoy reading the books. That's what I like about SK books anyways, the stories.

Hope this helps and hope you all can learn from my mistake.

Here are the pictures. All of these are, according to Raresigned, fake. :-(

So I am now curious how much of an authority these guys at Rareandsigned actually are. I sent them a few images from my own books and will keep you posted on what I find out.

I have a total of 5 signed SK books at this point. Not one of the signatures looks identical but I wouldn't expect SK or anyone to be able to sign their own name 100% the same in every book. Case in point, Justin Cronin inscribed two copies of City of Mirrors, one for each of my sons - right in front of us. Neither of those signatures look identical either and he did them back to back while we chatted. I guess I should have taken photos with him so no one would question it, but my cell phone had died while I was in line. lol

 

[Geminii23]

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?