Counterfeit Forever Stamps

Does ebay remove it or does the seller remove it?

@StampSlacker: I deliberately left the seller's name out because I wanted this discussion to focus on how ebay handles suspected counterfeit stamps and feedback, rather than turn it into a public accusation against a specific seller. If you'd like to know which seller it was, feel free to send me a private message.

@eyeonwall: Fair questions, and you caught an error in how I described the timeline. I did not discover the problem and then go back for seconds.

Purchase #1 was a block of four for under $10. Only a few hours later, before receiving or inspecting it, I placed Purchase #2 for three booklets. For the larger purchase, I had actually intended to buy sealed booklets from a different seller so I could be confident they were genuine, but I mistakenly ordered from the same seller again.

I received and inspected Purchase #1 afterward, found the problems, and later found similar problems when Purchase #2 arrived. I've corrected the timeline in my original post.

As for needing more stamps, I build multiple topical collections, so I often need more than one example of the same stamp. For stamps I didn't already have, I also compared against canceled examples shown on USPS cancellation pages.

@revcollector: ebay removes it. The seller cannot directly remove feedback. The seller can request removal from ebay, and ebay decides whether to remove it. In my case, ebay Customer Service told me the feedback could be removed because the seller had worked with me and refunded the transactions.

Here is ebay official policy regarding counterfeit postage stamps (worth a read):

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/...licy?id=4276

Is ebay following its own policy?



John

Clearly the policy is directed at items such as counterfeit clothes and handbags, etc. as always, stamps are such a small part of their business that they really don't care very much.