Counterfeit Forever Stamps

(emphasis added)

Candidly, the percent of counterfeit stamp sales as a result of this is likely to be a tiny fraction of one percent of all counterfeit stamp sales. Stamp collector interest in counterfeit stamp just doesn't the move the needle compared to the amount being sold to actually be used.

I also disagree that these counterfeits used on cover have any appreciable market value. If you look that the Scott listings for them, not only are there a myriad of them for any given stamp type, but they are not differentiated well in Scott at all. I find it highly unlikely that this will be a collecting focus for any major segment of the collector base.

NOTE: I am talking strictly about the current Forever stamp counterfeit stamps. Counterfeit stamps on cover which predate the Forever era are quite collectible, primarily because we weren't overrun with them.

ebay has a category under Specialty Philately called Fakes & Reproductions. If you want to buy an Inverted Jenny or some Zeppelin fakes this is where they are. The counterfeit forever stamps are not being sold there. They are being sold as genuine US postage stamps in violation of ebay's own policy on counterfeits. Just because a seller refunds the money if caught, it still doesn't mean they haven't violated ebay's policy on selling counterfeit goods. The sellers probably claim they didn't know they were selling fake stamps and refund the buyers' money, so ebay looks the other way.

By contrast try to find listings for counterfeit Rolex watches. ebay does care about those and monitors that merchandise far more carefully.

And there's a reason that nobody uses that category... that's not where buyers search. Same thing with coins and replicas, restrikes, etc. If you want eyeballs on your listings they have to be in the same category as the genuine items. That's why historically sellers have jumped through hoops to NOT list in the fakes/counterfeits/replicas categories.

What if we all started buying counterfeit stamps on ebay and immediately reporting and returning them as counterfeit?

This wouldn't be a serious problem for ebay. Their systems could simply flag sellers who receive numerous counterfeit complaints and automatically shut down or restrict those accounts.

That could also create a meaningful disincentive for counterfeiters. If selling counterfeit stamps resulted in repeated returns and complaints—and ultimately getting their ebay accounts shut down—it would make the business much less attractive and profitable.

I know a guy who collects the counterfeits (most people who did gave up once it became a flood). He bought from every suspicious seller. If he got a new version, he kept it. If it duplicated a counterfeit he already had, he returned it. ebay ended up suspending him.

Priceless

I checked out Alibaba since they are a major supplier of Chinese goods and found many listings for counterfeit Forever stamps. This seller is offering 100 "stamps" for $6.79 or $5.89 if you buy more than 20 lots.

What caught my eye is that they are even counterfeiting the 2026 4 cent flower stamps. Why would anybody buy 100 fake 4 cent stamps for $6.79 when you could buy 100 real ones for $4.00?!

The other thing I noticed is that these fakes are not being drop shipped directly from China. It says they are US local stock. Wherever this US warehouse is, it really needs to be raided by the postal officials.

https://www.alibaba.com/product-det...8b4a9f97e9a7

Would love to see some Eliot Ness type action taken by the Feds against these criminals...

I'm not sure that we'll find another Elliot Ness to investigate this issue, but it does seem worth the time and effort to write to our US senators and representatives about this. I suspect they have no idea about the extent of this problem (particularly how much revenue the USPS is losing because of counterfeit stamps). It would be nice to find an issue like this where elected representatives could work across the aisle to solve a significant problem.

Because the folks counterfeiting them apparently don't know much about our postal economy.

They are targeting a very specific market. They pick flower-themed stamps because they're likely trying to appeal to wedding planners and people sending wedding invitations. That makes some sense: weddings generate a lot of mail, and someone looking to cut costs might be tempted by a cheap-looking bulk deal.




The price of the counterfeit stamps appears to be going down.

Not too long ago, you could see offers around $25 for 100 counterfeit first-class stamps. Now, similar listings are showing up around $6.95 or $6.79 for 100.

If those prices are representative of the broader market, that suggests increasing competition among counterfeiters. As more sellers enter the market, they have to compete on price.


The declining price tells us about how crowded the counterfeit market has become.

Yet the major US Catalogue Company issued a standalone catalogue just for the fakes.

Like it or not the area is ripe for much study.

My favorite covers are those registered covers with forgeries. Covers which had to be handed to a postal employee for acceptence and processing.

The average postal worker (and even the average collector) doesn't know how to tell the difference.

But the collectors who have a real interest learn how. All it takes is study, and people who want to learn will do so. Just like any other area of the hobby.

Sorry for not being clear. I was responding to "Covers which had to be handed to a postal employee for acceptence and processing."

My clerk is happy to cancel a cover for me knowing that it is a counterfetit, as long as I don't send it thought the postal system.