Tens Of Thousands Of $ Of Discount Forever Sheets

How can this not be stolen material?

Who is missing all this postage and not noticing? If you click on any auction, you will see that multiples are available/sold
https://www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_od...ver&_sacat=0



https://www.ebay.com/itm/USPS-Forev...AOSwRZVdmQt2

I would also think that the USPS would have investigated this volume for any possible counterfeit stamps.

But note that there are website/companies who broker postage stamps. They buy unused stamps at a discount and then resell them, so it may be that this seller is a stamp broker and he is selling his purchased stock on ebay. Here is a link to a stamp broker https://www.returnmystamps.com/
NOTE: I am not recommending this company, I do not know anything about them. Simply offering a potential alternative explanation.
Don

Thanks for the link. However he is paying 70% of face, which is more than the ebay auction is selling them for. D_reeves would be better off ending all his auctions and selling all his inventory to the link you provided.

Understood, I did not mean to imply that this seller and the link I posted were the same party. I was only offering 'stamp broker' as potential alternative explanation.
Don

A reason that D_reese chose ebay instead of this broker might be the terms of the broker:

Because the hand is quicker than the eye.

1) Some legit volume mailer buys a giant pile of genuine postage.

2) An insider scoots the good stuff out the door, replacing it with counterfeit.

3) The counterfeit stuff is used on mailings.

4) The good stuff is sold & re-sold ... and ends-up on ebay.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey (who knows that this scenario makes more sense for coils than it does for sheetlets, and who assumes that the current seller is just a legitimate middler)

This truly has the appearance of a shady business scheme. It may be embezzlement, or it might be just phoney business expenses.

If they have the receipts for payment of postage, but sell the postage at 80%, it looks like easy money for the crooks. If they add counterfeit stuff to the mix (may be overly greedy), it gets a little riskier, but certainly more lucrative.

I agree that it appears fishy, but illegal activities in such a public way seems unusual. The public account history reveals to the world that they have sold tens of thousands of dollars of stamps over the last two years. Most criminals stay in the shadows; I would be surprised if this had not already been looked into by ebay, the USPS, and the IRS.
Don

If you are responding to my point, you are proving my point, eg, that the hand was quicker than the eye.

The counterfeits are long gone, having been used in mailings.

This lot is clean, genuine postage ... only.

There was no theft reported, because there was no theft detected.

The seller might be the second or third buyer of the lot.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

They are counterfeit. Search SCF for "counterfeit forever" and you get 99 results. Google the same in general and you will see that it is a massive problem. The estimated loss to the USPS in 2010 (this is not a new problem) was 134 million dollars. It has been reported on by Linn's as well as all of the mainstream media. The Postal Inspectors are aware of it. ebay is aware of it. The Mom and Pop stores that sell them are aware of it. There might be a few that are actually real face but for the most part they are counterfeit and it is one of the worst kept secret's ever.

Would this problem go away or at least be less if we went back to denominated stamps?

That the Postal Inspection Service lacks the resources to go after the bodega resellers is beyond question.

That the Postal Inspection Service lacks the will to take-out brazen wholesalers on ebay is beyond reason.

Be a crime fighter. Make a deal with the Postal Inspectors. You'll buy the lot, SNAD (Significantly Not As Described) the counterfeits, give them the tracking number for the free return, and ship.

If the shipment is delivered, you've done your part to earn your refund; if they bust down the guy's door seconds later, that's his tough luck.

As I have, uh, suggested at length, these are the genuine stamps ... the counterfeits are long gone.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey (who will not initiate the sting because he does not want to get stuck with thousands of genuine forever stamps)

I just read this thread and hit the link to the webpage at ebay. And poof, the seller has no items for sale. Takedown?

All sixteen items including the item in question still listed and for sale.

"I agree that it appears fishy, but illegal activities in such a public way seems unusual. "

It has been reported over and over in Linn's that the Postal Inspectors are aware of counterfeits being sold on ebay, but fail to do anything about it. Sticking with the fishy theme, they just don't give a clam or a carp if the amount in any particular case is less than some huge value. They should have a chat with the folks at the IRS who randomly go after small fish in an effort to keep us all in line.

But the Postal Inspection Service would not collect ten percent of the taxes recovered ... unlike, say, John Q Public.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey (who thinks you need to know more than you do before you drop that dime)