Counterfeit Forever Stamps

For some reason because these crimes involve postage stamps there is a different standard. Replace the stamps with fake concert tickets to Taylor Swift and refunding the money erases the crime? It's all so cynical. I have to wonder if the DOJ is actually looking at making examples of a few sellers and widely publicizing it.

18 USC 502 the punishment for knowingly producing, selling or using counterfeit postage stamps is 5 years in prison and $5000 fine PER COUNT.

Thank you, sochummy, for your clear description of what was te proper metods used in such transactions. However:

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. For copyright-specific third-party listings, platforms rely on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Safe Harbors is what protects ebay, Hip and others. They are not nor can they realistically be responsible for verifying the correctness of every listing in all subject areas.

Your claim of counterfeit is no more strong than the sellers claim of not counterfeit. How ebay handles such transactions protects all parties of the transaction, seller, buyer and ebay. And, only ebay suffers a loss, specifically the fee associated with a sold listing.

Just like drugs, the driving market force are not the sellers buy the many buyers looking for a "deal" on postage. as noted by the US Postal Inspection Service to be sure, only purchase Forever stamps from the US Post Office. While a shipping charge may apply, there is no sales tax.

Be aware tat ebay IDs can be bought and sold or otherwise transferred. Large feedback for a seller in no way impacts the veracity of the Forever Stamps sold.

Now my question to you, sochummy, is why are you buying Forever Stamps at discounts on ebay and expecting them to be valid? If you want someone to blame, blame the source, as all of the counterfeits are generated in China.

@Parcelpostguy: I think you misunderstood part of my post. I did not buy these stamps at a discount, nor was I looking for cheap postage. I am a stamp collector and bought them as collectible stamps. My comment about heavily discounted Forever stamps referred to the broader counterfeit problem on ebay, not to my purchases.

I also understand that ebay cannot authenticate every stamp in every listing. That is not what I am asking them to do.

My concern is much simpler: I reported what I found after examining the stamps and left feedback describing my experience. The seller refunded me, and the feedback disappeared. A refund settles the money issue, but it does not settle the authenticity issue.

If ebay cannot determine whether the stamps are genuine or counterfeit, that's understandable. But then why should a refund alone be enough to remove a buyer's warning about what they received?