WARNING. Seller jefstep82 selling all reprints as real
 

I don’t know if he has a genuine card in the whole bunch...

https://ebay.com/usr/jefstep82

All of his recent buyers who haven't noticed "reprint" further down in the listings (as they praise how great the transaction was in his feedback).....

I’m trying to educate myself in spotting fakes (back into collecting after a long time). I can see pretty obviously unnatural corner “wear” on a lot of these listings, but not all of them. Other than that (and the “reprint” in the fine print :rolleyes:), what are the giveaways?

He just has the decimal place in the wrong spot on all of his cards. That's all. For example, the 1955 Koufax should be $4.50 not $450. :D

As you mentioned, the unnatural corner wear. Also, the "cracking" on the surface of the card. Here are a couple of examples.

1966 Topps Palmer RC (very noticeable on the right side with the blue background)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1966-Topps-...0AAOSwqY5fh6b4

1971 Topps Clemente (very noticeable in the white uniform)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1971-Topps-...AAAOSweFJfhhqF

Thanks! Much appreciated.

Here's a look with comparisons...

There are a few common characteristics with the type of fakes this seller has. The main one is the overall blurriness of the cards. The text and images are blurry. Another one is the corner wear as mentioned, real cards typically don't get sand paper taken to the corners. Also, another big one is the crackled effect mentioned that you can see on some of them. Real cards don't crackle like that. Color is also another sign. Really well centered cards can be another tip off to a fake. You can see different paper characteristics of different types of cards. Depending on the card they were made with specific paper and ink that is a characteristic of the type of card. Cracker Jack cardboard has a distinct look, T206, Goudey, they all have a certain look that is hard to replicate.

Go through all of this sellers cards and compare them to graded cards if you want to inform yourself. (Yes grading companies get it wrong once in awhile, but it's a decent baseline usually)

It's a shame that this seller is doing things by the eBay book since he is discreetly listing them as reprints. Deception at it's best.

Can’t find him on eBay


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Not reprints, counterfeits. One is legal the other is not. If manufacturers like Topps would put the pressure on Ebay that Coach and Tiffany's and other companies do, this shit could be shut down. I have no idea why Topps doesn't want to protect their intellectual property. People get burned enough times on crap like this they leave the hobby which hurts Topps in the long run. They can't seem to get it into their head that a bad secondary market does, in fact, hurt them.

Thank you for breaking it down, good info to know

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Is the production of counterfeit cards mostly limited to much older ones, or does this extend to current product? If it's not impacting the stuff that they sell now, they probably don't view it as a threat.

Plenty of modern and ultra modern counterfeits too. Go check out some raw base Trout rookies with no foil embossing.

Ugh. Hate to see it.

What Trey said. Trout and Tom Brady are counterfeited by the thousands. It just frustrates me how short-sighted Topps is on this issue.

Can this guy somehow be reported and his buyers refunded?

The listings can certainly be reported, how eBay responds is a different animal. It comes down to the technicality of these being reprints or counterfeits since he puts in his listings that they are reprints. To me they are certainly counterfeits, but how much does eBay care? There are millions of just sports cards listed on their site, let alone all of the other items. I wouldn't be shocked if there are well over a million counterfeits listed in all sorts of categories on their site.

Yeah, it's a shame. Someone like this being so obviously deceitful. You really have to be careful looking that the listings. Buyer beware.

Beyond that they are listed as reprints, most sellers if they were authentic
would specifically mention that the card is authentic, original or "guaranteed authentic."

The descriptions are false and fraudulent. For example, saying "1960 Topps CARL
YASTRZEMSKI Rookie Boston Red Sox #148" (Lifted from description) is saying
the card is original. That's what that description without qualifier means. In a listing,
saying it false twice and correct once won't hold up as defense in small claims court.
Which is not to say the bidders shouldn't notice that it's listed as a reprint.

On this Clemente card the corners are funky. The cards have a white coating on
darker cardstock, so the stock beyond the upper left corner should be
darker not brighter.

The odd wear on the front of the Palmer showed above stuck me as add too.

Another one is, despite the edge wear, I don't think a single one of his cards has a
single wrinkle or crease.

But these are far from horrible fakes. Many fakes are obviously bad at first glance.
I remember those Cincinnati guys trying to forever hawk their "blue eyed" T206
Honus Wagner. The problem is that anyone familiar with the card knew it was a fake at firt glance.

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/CXQAA...Ru/s-l1600.jpg

wow - I came across him today on ebay (Seaver RC card) and started looking through his listings and thought his cards were counterfeit too. Most were perfectly centered, weird corners, colors off on a few. I was going to post a link but came across this. I saw the Jim Brown RC in the feedback. I think the buyer paid $400. That really sucks.