Fake postage stamps?

Kayalana99

Not having much luck with Ebay atm.

Sorry if you CBA skip this and read the bold bit I ramble!

I usally buy postage stamps off ebay as with having two kids its a pain to go to the post office...

I never bother with this unfranked crap I always buy 50 large 1st class on a backing sheet.

I brought some of a seller for buy it now £44.00 - now usally all stamps at auction go for the full £45.00 so quite happy, he sold 5 altogether to diff people in good time.

Got them all good.

Had a message from the seller to say he now had more listed...so I thought ok might as well as I would use them eventually.

His listing is selling them at £42.00 + £1.00 postage, thought this to be abit strange tbh as why sell them for less considering how fast the last one sold out, but wasn't going to complain.


Well I got them this morning and I noticed something 'off about them' and on comparing them to my other first class stamps I noticed that on the 2nd lot you can see all the watermark without moving it around (Stamps have Royal mail written all over them but you can't see it without moving it in light etc)

I.e in the white bit of the 1..you can see royal mail written in them clearly but not on the normal ones

I'm still not 100% they are fake - if they are fake they are smashingly good fakes, but if they are I don't want to use them as its for business purposes and the last thing I need is a neg saying fake stamp!

I cant seem to find a site that tells me how to identifiy them either - I thought this would be easy tbh.

I asked at local PO and she didnt offer much help other then bring them in to have a look at - but I'm worried if I take them down their and they are fake they will keep them (which they have every right to do) but I wont be able to reclaim my money back without the item to send back.

Thoughts? I could ask the seller directly but if they arent fake I don't want to annoy the seller.

Okydoky25

Quick google. This is actually on the eBay site.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/gds/How-to-spot-a-fake-stamp-/10000000006982349/g.html

Kayalana99

I'm really suprized how well this shows what I'm talking about but here its still abit blurry but the one on left is real normal ones and the right is what Ive brought and you can see the water mark from the photo;

Kayalana99

Okydoky25 wrote: »

Quick google. This is actually on the eBay site.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/gds/How-to-spot-a-fake-stamp-/10000000006982349/g.html

I did see that but it seems to be more about collectors stamps - if they havn't been used etc.

It does mention being able to see the water mark clearly though if stamps have been reused.

Lomast

Looking at that photo i'd be more concerned with the ones on the left, i have just looked at some of the many books i got from the RM post surveys and on the 1st class large on all of them the watermarks are clearly visable and can quite easily read the words royal mail

C_Mababejive

Bought.....................

Kayalana99

Lomast wrote: »

Looking at that photo i'd be more concerned with the ones on the left, i have just looked at some of the many books i got from the RM post surveys and on the 1st class large on all of them the watermarks are clearly visable and can quite easily read the words royal mail

Hmm interesting! I'll have to get more to compare but usally a water mark is only really visable if you move it around in the light like the first set are, not just clearly their on the stamps...but if you say you have a few.

If your still around if you lay them on a desk can you clearly see Royal mail written in the white 1 as in photo?

Just to add my phone isn't that great, the ones on left do have Royal mail written all over them but when held up you can clearly read it where as you can see it 100% of the time on new ones .

campdave

I shouldn't worry. The ones I get from the post office sometimes seem to have a more noticeable watermark.

George_Michael

Kayalana99 wrote: »

and they are fake they will keep them (which they have every right to do) but I wont be able to reclaim my money back without the item to send back.

If they are counterfeit and you get a letter stating this, you should win an ebay dispute without being required to return the stamps as ebay don't normally require fake goods to be sent back before issuing a refund.
Apart from the ebay requirements, counterfeit stamps can't officially be sent through the post as they are on Royal Mail's list of prohibited goods.

worbikeman

Kayalana99 wrote: »

Not having much luck with Ebay atm.

Sorry if you CBA skip this and read the bold bit I ramble!

I usally buy postage stamps off ebay as with having two kids its a pain to go to the post office...

I never bother with this unfranked crap I always buy 50 large 1st class on a backing sheet.

I brought some of a seller for buy it now £44.00 - now usally all stamps at auction go for the full £45.00 so quite happy, he sold 5 altogether to diff people in good time.

Got them all good.

Had a message from the seller to say he now had more listed...so I thought ok might as well as I would use them eventually.

His listing is selling them at £42.00 + £1.00 postage, thought this to be abit strange tbh as why sell them for less considering how fast the last one sold out, but wasn't going to complain.


Well I got them this morning and I noticed something 'off about them' and on comparing them to my other first class stamps I noticed that on the 2nd lot you can see all the watermark without moving it around (Stamps have Royal mail written all over them but you can't see it without moving it in light etc)

I.e in the white bit of the 1..you can see royal mail written in them clearly but not on the normal ones

I'm still not 100% they are fake - if they are fake they are smashingly good fakes, but if they are I don't want to use them as its for business purposes and the last thing I need is a neg saying fake stamp!

I cant seem to find a site that tells me how to identifiy them either - I thought this would be easy tbh.

I asked at local PO and she didnt offer much help other then bring them in to have a look at - but I'm worried if I take them down their and they are fake they will keep them (which they have every right to do) but I wont be able to reclaim my money back without the item to send back.

Thoughts? I could ask the seller directly but if they arent fake I don't want to annoy the seller.

If your stamps are unfranked with gum they are perfectly valid. Stamps with no gum or having a cancellation (postmark) are not valid as they have been used.
GB stamps haven't had watermarks since the 1960s.
Dealers can sell unused stamps cheaply because they buy individual lots or collections at stamp auctions, quite often realising considerably less than face value. A box lot may contain all sorts of stamps including unused postage which has a resale value like all marketable commodities.

Okydoky25 wrote: »

Quick google. This is actually on the eBay site.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/gds/How-to-spot-a-fake-stamp-/10000000006982349/g.html

This article refers to obsolete collectable stamps having individual value in the tens or hundreds of pounds (dollars) depending on mint condition. It isn't referring to common postage stamps for general use with a small face value.

centretap

Could it be they have been produced by different printers? I seem to recall seeing printers names on sheets of stamps in the past.