I bought a counterfeit!

[biffcrash]

Last Sept. 2019 I bought an autographed Frank Sinatra and rat pack friends, signed baseball. The seller said his dad & family were friends with Sinatra in the 60s. That's where the ball came from. A couple of days ago, I found identical balls made by a very talented artist named Mike on ETSY. He sells them as replicas for $45. I bought mine for $399. How can I change feedback, warn others, stop the seller from more ripoffs?

[reallynicestamps]

You can add a Response to your own feedback or to the seller's feedback indefinitely.

The most effective FB is calm and factual.

You can also alert etsy that "Mike" is selling counterfeits.  They are sloppier than eBay about fakes but at least you can try to help others.

[7606dennis]

Bummer!  I'm not sure why you believed the seller's story back in 2019 without some form of authentication but it seems like a bit of a pricy error in judgement.  I would advise that you take a bit more care when making purchases and do a more in-depth research of an items provenance.  It might help you to avoid racking up more bid retractions on your record, not to mention saving you a bit of cash.

I'm not familiar with ETSY's policies so I'm not sure of their stand on replica items.  Of course, I'm not sure why the RAT PACK would be signing baseballs either.   

[*lady*madonna*]

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@biffcrash wrote:

How can I change feedback, warn others, stop the seller from more ripoffs?

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Over a year later, there is nothing you can do through Ebay.

[reallynicestamps]

There used to be a comic website called REGRETSY which basically made fun of real (and horrifying) items sold there.

Etsy was not amused.

Then regretsy started publicizing etsy sellers who were selling items purchased wholesale in Asia and others who were stealing copyright material from original artists and passing the items and designs as their own.

Etsy went ballistic.

The site owner got a screenwriting job in the UK and closed down the site as more trouble than she was willing to be bothered with, but the bad rep for faked "original" products remains.

[biffcrash]

Thanks, Dennis. I am usually very cautious about buying anything signed. I took my time &  spoke to the seller through many emails & asked him all about the background story & attempted to verify each piece that I could. I compared the autographs, looked up the seller's family name in the early 60s to verify his story. I  researched the history of the family & Sinatra. Everything checked out. It was an item supposedly passed down through the family given in the early 60s. I even checked out the possibility of 3-D printing. What I couldn't imagine is that there was a very gifted artist named Mike on ITSY who was fabricating one-of-a-kind pieces that would look completely authentic without being out n out copies. I will add to my feedback but I wish there was a way to warn buyers of someone passing replicas as real. I guess this IS it.

[biffcrash]

 Thanks, LM. I'll do that. I know it's way too late to do anything about it with eBay legally, but I do want to warn others about this so it doesn't happen to them.

[biffcrash]

Thanks, RNS. I will leave additional feedback. that's all I can do via eBay at this stage. I will try to be as calm as possible and stick to the facts. The guy who makes these on ETSY, MIke, actually sells them as replicas & makes it clear upfront, just what he is selling. I did send him a message & told him that one of his replicas had been sold on eBay as real. I suggested he but a small maker's mark or ID so that his great work cannot be re-sold as real. I also sent the eBay seller a message telling him that I discovered what the baseball actually was. I made no threats or was emotional. I simply said this message is to let you know that I know what you sold was a replica. Thanks for the suggestion.

[iart]

Have you tried to contact the seller?

We sell some autograph items (usually books, posters or photos), most are too low value to send out for a COA. But we would offer a refund forever if a buyer found that the items weren't legit.

Contact the seller. What you do after that depends on their reply. I'd like to hear how this turns out.

Good luck!

[oldwestgold]

I have some oceanfront property in Kansas that I would sell you cheap.