Fake Signed Harry Potter Books on Ebay
JK Rowling is entering the fight to stem the tide of fake signed first editions of her Harry Potter books.
There are some notorious sellers on ebay you have listed countless items supposedly signed by Joanne Rowling which clearly are not genuine.
The scam is profitable though - just as misrepresenting reprints as first editions and rare books.
Many ebayers are naive and fall for this scam, they also tend to be bargain hunters by nature making them ever more susceptible to the con.
The author herself is now complaining. Needless to say ebay initially washed their hands of the matter saying they cannot police the site themselves, their members have to report the auctions.
The problem here is that they very rarely deal with complaints like this.
They then turned and said that the VERO holder had to make the complaint, according to Jo Rowling, she has done this to no avail.
It is all bad publicity for the online auction house at a time when confidence among buyers is already very low.
How can I tell if a signed Harry Potter is genuine or fake ?
You would really be best advised to buy from a professional full-time book dealer. Make some enquiries and get references etc, check them out on the internet. Check their ebay feedback.
One crucial pointer is the Private Auction
When you see this on a (non adult material) book auction it usually means one of two things:
1: Shill bidding, low start no reserve then bid up or padded to protect the seller or drive up a bidder
2: Something wrong, a fake signature or a reprint claiming to be a first. The private nature means nobody can contact bidders and warn them.
Private auctions are genuinely used to protect a bidders identity on item of an adult nature or something which may be deemed ‘embarrassing’ to purchase in a public domain.
When you see collectable books listed as a private auction it should ring alarm bells
If you are a serious collector of first editions and rare books we always recommend using professional booksellers - especially for something like a signed Harry Potter.
See Also
Harry Potter ebay Rip Off
