Stamps on eBay

mimi1234

So I saw a listing advertising 100 1st class stamps on ebay for about £30.  The seller has sold a lot over the last few weeks.

Would these be fake given they are so cheap? They are advertised as new.

I'm tempted to buy some but I'm worried they'll be fake.

I thought I had made a huge saving when I purchased 100 for £65 last time I bought some off ebay!

cymruchris

There's a chance they could be fake - there's also a chance they could be stolen - if it's a one-off sale from the seller - it may be that it's leftovers being sold off - but if they have multiple listings, it may come under the first two options. Royal Mail do obviously give discounts to people who buy huge numbers of stamps - but it's not that big a discount that you could then sell them for £30 and make a profit.

mimi1234

Having looked at the feedback, one person left a negative saying they are fake but everyone else is giving positive feedback. Hmmm.

Brywalker

They might be previously used ones.  Some of these listing will say in the description "These stamps have already been used for their primary purpose"  or "For philatelic use only".  

cymruchris

mimi1234 said:

Having looked at the feedback, one person left a negative saying they are fake but everyone else is giving positive feedback. Hmmm.

Put your 'MSE brain' head on for a moment - the current price is 76p for a first class stamp - 100 x 76 = £76.00.

There is no way in the world that Royal Mail would sell people 100 stamps for let's say £27.00 so that the seller could make £3.00 profit per sale. That's almost 1/3 of the retail price. 

Even if they were 'old' stamps - they haven't been in that price range for years. 

Everyone likes a bargain - but if it sounds too good to be true................

Spoonie_Turtle

There may be in teeny-tiny print somewhere at the very bottom of the listing saying that they have already fulfilled their primary purpose, or that they are for philatelic purposes only. Unfortunately the weasel-worded disclaimers mean RM can't do anything about it (I've asked, because I was so angry that people are making nice sums of money from unsuspecting people who believe the stamps are usable).

cymruchris

See that last line?


You've only got to read the descriptions to know that they are either fake or second hand - either way - they aren't new genuine ready to use stamps.

Spoonie_Turtle

Huh, they actually say used as well, even virtually admitting to washing the stamps ('no nasty smell where chemicals have been used')

mimi1234

cymruchris said:

Even if they were 'old' stamps - they haven't been in that price range for years. 

Everyone likes a bargain - but if it sounds too good to be true................

Oh I completely agree with you, it's just that these ones were flying off the shelves.  It didn't say anything about being philaharmonic or used, it just said new and unused.  I was like "wow, I have to buy these!" but the other part was like "hmm, they could be fake".

Just a question, on normal stamps they have royal mail printed onto them in tiny little letters.  I'm just looking at some stamps I got from the Post Office.  On some of them it says "royal mail" in a straight light and on others it says "layor liam" as in it is printed backwards but the lines are sort of diagonal.  Is this normal?

misterthrifty

The seller is being completely honest about them, he will have bought bags of used stamps probably from charity shops, sorted them & removed them from the paper. 
If you use them it's likely they will get through, it's possible that some will be stopped and the recipient (or you) will have to pay a fee to get the letter. Occasionally RM prosecute people using a lot of them.

mimi1234

Sorry for being really dense but if they are advertised and still on the backing paper, how can they be used or from the charity shop? Or do they stick them all on the white backing paper?