After viewing some guides on eBay that alert buyers to fraudulent eBay seller practices (What? Does this really happen? I hear you ask. You better believe it does!) I have resorted to this guide to alert buyers of autographed books to the many fakes being hawked on eBay. In particular a certain seller who REGULARLY sells autographed books that 100% fakes. Warning: If you plan on bidding on any private auction for a signed book from oddball-books you are almost certainly getting a fake and a rather obvious fake signature at that. That’s why he makes them private auctions, friends. So no one can contact the potential bidders and warn them that they are drooling over a fake.

Before you bid on ANY signed book I urge you to use Google or any other search engine to find a genuine example of the author’s handwriting. The internet is at your disposal. USE IT! Research your items. Granted there are genuine slip-ups, but there are predators out there who are gearing their auctions to the gullible and raking in the dough on utter forgeries. Don’t be a sucker! There is a website (fadedgiant.net) that has excellent examples of genuine autographs.

If you think you have found a fake author autograph on eBay, I would like to hear from you. I am a professional bookseller who wants to put an end to this practice of selling forgeries on eBay. I am talking of signed books and only writer and author autographs. I cannot help with any other type of autograph. Send me a message and I will definitely help you find proof as to the signature’s veracity.