23 replies to this topic

[David Nishimura]

eBay seller jeffriad up to more of the same:

Fake 51 in Nassau

Also yet another fake bandless Duofold Senior and some Mandarins that I'm not going to be bidding on.

I will refrain from pointing out the giveaways (no sense giving a tutorial to the fakers), but they will be obvious to anyone with much experience or knowledge of genuine examples.

David

[Teej47]

Well, he does say it's an "original pen"...

Tim

[FarmBoy]

eBay seller jeffriad up to more of the same:

Fake 51 in Nassau

Also yet another fake bandless Duofold Senior and some Mandarins that I'm not going to be bidding on.

I will refrain from pointing out the giveaways (no sense giving a tutorial to the fakers), but they will be obvious to anyone with much experience or knowledge of genuine examples.

David

Agreed. It would be the first one I've seen...

[vintage penman]

Am I right in thinking that there are some original bits on these pens ? If the Duofold nibs have been faked then they look pretty convincing....

[Jiffypens]

Is there nothing we could say to ebay that they could use to get rid of the this seller?

[David Nishimura]

Of course, these fakes aren't built from scratch. Most rare pens are variants of common pens. The faker here is making caps and barrels and laser-engraving them, in many cases copying genuine examples that he has himself bought on eBay (some from colleagues of mine).

eBay will do nothing. They don't care. And if anyone was to attempt to explain why these pens are fake, that would simply educate the faker to make his next batch all the more difficult to detect -- meanwhile, he'd claim to eBay that he was just reselling pens he'd bought from someone else, and would get at most a warning.

[JB Apelbaum]

Hi David,

Could you tell me the reasons why the bandless Duofold is a fake? I haven't purchased that pen but would be most interested to know.

Regards,

Barry

[Hex]

Is his Sheaffer a fake as well ?

It looks pretty good to me.

[David Nishimura]

Is his Sheaffer a fake as well ?

He is clearly selling a mix of genuine pens and "enhanced" pens. There is no point in faking a common, low-value pen.

It's a pity he doesn't use his talents more constructively. The skills necessary to make fake hoods, barrels, and blind caps for 51s could just as easily be applied to making honest fantasy replacement parts. He'd probably be making more money putting together fantasy pens (like Ariel Kullock's, for example) than trying to dupe collectors. The problem with his business model is that it depends on models that are valued highly only by those who have more knowledge and experience (just try to get a user to pay market price for a Nassau 51, a bandless Duofold, or a Mandarin!), who of course are much harder to fool.

[Euro Vintage]

Is his Sheaffer a fake as well ?

He is clearly selling a mix of genuine pens and "enhanced" pens. There is no point in faking a common, low-value pen.

It's a pity he doesn't use his talents more constructively. The skills necessary to make fake hoods, barrels, and blind caps for 51s could just as easily be applied to making honest fantasy replacement parts. He'd probably be making more money putting together fantasy pens (like Ariel Kullock's, for example) than trying to dupe collectors. The problem with his business model is that it depends on models that are valued highly only by those who have more knowledge and experience (just try to get a user to pay market price for a Nassau 51, a bandless Duofold, or a Mandarin!), who of course are much harder to fool.

Wished I had seen this post before dealing with this seller

The section threads on my Mandarin Yellow remain razor sharp after 80+ years !

Too late now to ask for a refund

But I have to admit: they look very very good

The colour match to my other original pens is superb

BTW, he changed his eBay name to yeujeff now

Hopefully this post will help some others when they google him (jeffriad or yeujeff) and is directed here

Edited by Euro Vintage, 08 July 2012 - 11:50 PM.

[Euro Vintage]

Of course... eBay will do nothing. They don't care.

+1

However, one can prevent other collectors from falling into this con artist' s trap by posts like this one.

Similarly, the fireproof way to stop a scammer is to stop the money rolling into his lap.

That can be achieved by reversing the PayPal purchases - within 45 days of the sale date.

With the help of Google, I was able to locate this post.

Hopefully, others will be able to do the same.

As we often say, knowledge is power.

He has changed his username recently to yeujeff.

It is possible he will morph into something else again, soon.

If it is too good to be true, .... then it is possibly a fake (pen from Korea)

[Greg Minuskin]

I really appreciate this thread and alerting me to these fake pens. I have informed others I know if this seller so that we, us professionals, will not get burned by this seller!

[Parker Quink Turquoise]

Well, he does say it's an "original pen"...

Tim

Thanks for a good chuckle with that post.

[Euro Vintage]

eBay seller jeffriad up to more of the same:

Fake 51 in Nassau

Also yet another fake bandless Duofold Senior and some Mandarins that I'm not going to be bidding on.

I will refrain from pointing out the giveaways (no sense giving a tutorial to the fakers), but they will be obvious to anyone with much experience or knowledge of genuine examples.

David

Sadly, I have to report that it appears this Korean guy's pens are being re-circulated on eBay.

See pen 1 and then pen 2

Decide for yourself if the photos are identical or not.

Seller of pen 2 bought the same pen from yeujeff (jeffriad) four months earlier (see here)

The virus of fraud is out & about.

Tri

Edited by Euro Vintage, 18 July 2012 - 03:41 AM.

[matt]

The second seller didn't even bother to take new photos, just recycled them from the original sale, nor did he correct the mis-spelled "Nassua" color. Claimed it was found in an estate - he's more dishonest than jeffriad/yeujeff. He also sold a 2-jewel mustard a week later....

[David Nishimura]

Not nice.

I've been looking at the yeujeff/jeffriad fakes, and it seems that a good number of the double-jewel 51s have blind cap jewels that appear to be newly made, not being of the correct color. I would expect that the tassie rings are also newly made in most cases.

[John Danza]

Not nice.

I've been looking at the yeujeff/jeffriad fakes, and it seems that a good number of the double-jewel 51s have blind cap jewels that appear to be newly made, not being of the correct color. I would expect that the tassie rings are also newly made in most cases.

Is this guy making his own caps, or using originals and refurbishing them? They look a bit too good.

[John Danza]

Sadly, I have to report that it appears this Korean guy's pens are being re-circulated on eBay.

See pen 1 and then pen 2

Decide for yourself if the photos are identical or not.

Seller of pen 2 bought the same pen from yeujeff (jeffriad) four months earlier (see here)

The virus of fraud is out & about.

Tri

I wonder if this new seller is a U.S.-based collaborator with the Korean guy, to give the pens some appearance of legitimacy? The only alternative is that it's one of our own that's seen this thread and realized they got taken and are trying to get out of them. I think our folks have a lot more integrity than that.

[david i]

I wonder if this new seller is a U.S.-based collaborator with the Korean guy, to give the pens some appearance of legitimacy? The only alternative is that it's one of our own that's seen this thread and realized they got taken and are trying to get out of them. I think our folks have a lot more integrity than that.

Really? And here I thought you'd been to a pen show or two

-d

[Euro Vintage]

The second seller didn't even bother to take new photos, just recycled them from the original sale, nor did he correct the mis-spelled "Nassua" color. Claimed it was found in an estate - he's more dishonest than jeffriad/yeujeff. He also sold a 2-jewel mustard a week later....

+1

"found in the wild"

That was the "honest" claim.

But by and large, I remain positive that this is a small minority that is giving us a bad name.

The last (and only) pen show I was at, many tables were un-attended for hours while the dealers are having a walkabout looking at others' pen offerings.

Tri