Went looking for some cheap satchels on eBay and very very cheap (too cheap) stamps caught my eye.
First here https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/256961257968 and then when I searched I saw they were everywhere. They are $65 for $360 face vale. No chance they are real at that price. Zoom in and check out that grainy printing - real ones do not look like that!
The old saying 'If it's too good to be true, it usually is'
You make it sound like the legit ones are not scammed by dodgy ebay drop shippers and the other 98% of sellers.The APost tracking etc has been gamed for decade/s. Not a peep from APost,ebay or the ACCC to clean it up. You haven't stumbled on a mystery, your tripped over the main game.
I have to admit to being a bit shocked by the blatant bold faceness of it. I haven't seen counterfeit Australian stamps (that I knew about) before but these
- they are not even good fakes. They are crappy inkjet tier.
You're assuming they're fake because they're cheap. While that may be the case it's just as likely they're simply stolen. I worked at a place where the bloke in charge of the mail room was stealing satchels and selling them cheap on ebay. Turns out Aust Post actually investigates these things, or at least they did back then.
The OP is correct, zoom in. The printing is bad, these are fake.
Yep they could be stolen, I thought of that too but zoom in on that eBay image - they are grainy AF. They real ones are quite crisp. I use them all the time.
Am sure they are fakes.
Do they investigate the BS ebay tracking scenarios where things are supposedly located somewhere in Australia, (@ point of sale) and then the tracking says 'we've got it' and it has not even arrived on Strayan soil? (rhetorical)
Buy some , if they turn out to be fake, send them to the ACCC and some others to the media. See who acts first (if at all)
EDIT: The $3.60 ones sure are the preferred bait.
Zoom in and check out that grainy printing - real ones do not look like that!
Yeah these are fake….
That said, lots of cheap ones are real. People knock them off from work and trying to move them.
There are 16 listings for the $3.60 ones many at less than 1/3 of face value
https://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_nkw=%243.60+stamps&_saca…
Many more for other stamp values
Seems like there is another 'little industry' in selling (presumably) fake stamps on blank Australia Post satchels for about 60% of the regular satchel price.
Lots of listings. Example: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/365653690890
Imagine forking out a hefty sum for Express Post ebay product,(supposedly here) , and it is drop shipped, takes the extra 2-5 days anyway, and it arrives with fake stamps on it, that you paid real money for. Meanwhile the sound of crickets from the main players,LOL.(me hearties)
End of the day, maybe fake stamps match the APost level of service service.
Zero feedback is a red flag, why would you buy anything from a seller with no feedback
Some accounts seem to quickly come and go lots of fake sellers and fake stamps.
It seems to be a 'little industry'
It's the ebay approved business model.
(ergo> If it is known behaviour and tolerated AFTER multiple reports, it's a deliberate action/decision)
this is old news, theres been fake australia post on ebay for years and years
Old news for some, new news to others! I was kind of shocked at the blatant-ness. Not even trying with print quality,
What of Australia Post & eBay? They are just 'whatever'?
Busy pegging up the real ( freshly washed) moolah on the clothes line?
Interesting thanks.
I always had the idea that counterfeiting & forging stamps was serious stuff - I notice that it was the Federal Police that charged them too
Yep, money and stamps crimes are definitely a fed area.
Post and communications are Federal government responsibility.
Just like you would be very unlikely to have Fed Police book you for speeding when in a State (unless on Fed territory like an Airport)
They placed Shaheryer on a toilet for more than three hours to question him, at one stage asking if he "wanted to do number ones or twos".
Hahahah! Oh, the humanity! What a weird interrogation tactic… 😂
Reverse water-boarding,perhaps?
I mean I would have told them 'it's OK ossifer, I vote LNP, am not a member of a union, and love smoking confiscated durries. I would have then asked (politely) for an audio-book (about Bear Grylls) and a little privacy.You need to know your audience.
Oh, that’s going to end up on the Rolt’s Roundup, for sure!
I have received several parcels from ebay with obviously fake stamps and nobody at auspost noticed, all the way from from the sending post office to my local postman.
I also occasionally get parcels where the sender has reused stamps that did not get postmarked.
Once, I got a parcel where all the stamps were reused AND some of them were fake.
APost probs buy all their stamps (as fake ones ) off ebay. Then sell them on. Win,win.
I also found these a few weeks ago and did a bit of Googleing and its been going on for years. People have written to MPs and APO management says they need to fix this as it's costing tax payers (via APO) millions and APO keep raising prices without doing anything to stop the fakes.
I also reported a few listings to ebay as counterfeit, what do you think eBay's response was????………. Our AI looked at it and We haven't removed it but thanks.
Unbelievable what you can get away with these days.
Ebay knowingly selling counterfeit stamps and proffering from it but no one does a thing 🤨
Money launderers paradise
Yes, these stamps are fake. I've received shipments purchased via eBay that used the counterfeits and compared genuine stamps to them. There is a very clear difference under a magnifying glass.
Anyone using fake stamps needs to know this crime is as serious as using fake money. It's no joke. And no, no one is going to sell you $150 worth of stamps for $50. They're all counterfeit, and you run the risk of your recipient having to go to the post office to pay for the shipment. Is that worth the risk to your reputation? Plus there's the risk of legal consequences on top.
I submitted the fake stamps I received to my local post office, along with links selling these on eBay. Maybe Australia Post care, maybe not. We'll see.
Maybe Australia Post care, maybe not
Maybe if it gets to someone who has it in their KPI.
Experience tells me APosts KPIs got lost in the mail.
Companies put their price up to a ridiculous amount and crims will then increase their sales of stolen/cheap/counterfeit/import versions then the companies have to raise their price again, and it goes on.
Bit like tobacco then
That may be a partial cause, but given the overt and widely known scams like this and the APost ebay alliance, I'd say because these fake stamps etc are there in broad daylight & being discussed openly, proves there is a lack of any meaningful action. Which = complicit in the absence of action, aka part of the problem.There are multiple legal and govt orgs who could & should be acting and going hard on illegalities like this.Clearly there is no deterrent and even less effort by enforcement, on consumer and other laws in this space.
Right, even eBay don't remove them when direct shown evidence, for some reason
It would probably take public embarrassment to get some action - say an article in a major newspaper or TV exposure.
Am somewhat amazed that Australia Post don't protect their brand and revue source a bit more than this
As someone said above, part of the reason is they're lazy.
They use customers to make up the losses, by raising rates. Meanwhile their shit unreliability and service amplifies. There is a minister responsible for APost. Flick them an email and cc in the mainstream media.
Everyone knows the stamps on eBay were fake. The $1.70 stamps are coming onto the market at only 20% of their face value. But the bigger problem is that eBay allows the sale of counterfeit stamps.
OK. Thanks