SMH @ Price of Fake Cards

[thegrinningdemon]

I have been watching a few eBay auctions for what the seller describes as "imitation" cards. I never would have believed that someone would pay such an amount for a fake card. Check out this auction link.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Beta-Underground-Sea-Imitation-Cards-Magic-Gathering-/190620087475?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c61d7b4b3

Artwork featuring Underground Sea's art on a basic land don't fetch nearly this much. Even artist altered Revised Underground Seas do not always exceed the price this fake sold for. I just do not understand. Why not just get a NM-M revised copy from any online dealer. SMH.

[264505]

Maybe people want beta looking cards for their cube?

[thegrinningdemon]

Maybe people want beta looking cards for their cube?

It seems to me, that you could make your own.

[jamesh]

It seems to me, that you could make your own.

I couldn't.

I wouldn't buy a card like this but I can understand people that do. It's kind of like buying a fake diamond, a lot of people wouldn't know.

[cdr]

There's only one reason someone spends that much money on a counterfeit.

[Basaka]

I do not think selling cards like those is legal at all.

[thegrinningdemon]

I do not think selling cards like those is legal at all.

I thought the same thing. I thought it would sell for 20 or 30 bucks.

[snappingbowls | ಠ_ಠ]

Buy an "imitation" for -150 then resell for 1500.

x10 profit is just too appealing to some people who aren't impeded by any sense of right or wrong.

[dontbiteitholmes]

I do not think selling cards like those is legal at all.

It's not. WotC recently sued a bunch of those clowns that were doing this shit but obviously with supreme retards paying $100+ for fake cards there are plenty more fakers ready to take their place.

[thegrinningdemon]

I reason I noticed is the seller had a few real beta dual lands for sale and I noticed the ones he marked as "imitation" cards. Needless to say, I did not bid on the ones he listed as real.

[kusumoto]

This is why it's so scary to buy beta stuff. There's so much of this out there. The person that bought it is either going to play it in tournaments in a 'pimp' deck or much more likely going to try to sell it to someone as a beta card for huge profits.

Would be great if these cards weren't so valuable.

[jrw1985]

I don't even want to know how many of my duals are fakes.

[jamesh]

so much fear

there's nothing illegal about selling an 'imitation' card

if you're nervous about your purchases, i suggest you stop navigating to ebay.com

:smile:

[Royal Ass.]

so much fear

there's nothing illegal about selling an 'imitation' card

:smile:

Um, actually there is. It's called copyright and trademark infringement.

[RJM]

there's nothing illegal about selling an 'imitation' card


Ha. Go tell that to WotC/Hasbro's legal department, I'm not sure they agree with you.

[snappingbowls | ಠ_ಠ]

there's nothing illegal about selling an 'imitation' card

There's actually everything illegal about doing that. It's infringing on the intellectual property of Wizards of the Coast. It's illegal to steal someone's idea or concept and then sell it.

[thegrinningdemon]

There's actually everything illegal about doing that. It's infringing on the intellectual property of Wizards of the Coast. It's illegal to steal someone's idea or concept and then sell it.

What is great is the fact that if Wizards reprinted dual lands and power, many people would be upset, but is anyone really upset at this guy? It seems to me he is a bigger scumbag by openly profiting on others' work. I am not sure why eBay does not step up and remove these listings anymore. About three years ago, they removed one of my listings because I used the term "like new." But this guy is allowed to sell copyrighted material. I just don't understand.

[Dark Ritual]

Lulz people are morons. Why would you buy a fake card and pay double the price of a CE or IE copy that looks exactly like this card but with square borders. I guess someone is going to try to make 800 dollars off of this U. sea by trying to pass it off as real.

But this is actually illegal. Seriously. I don't know what moron paid 127 dollars for a fake u. sea but it must suck to be them. With 127 dollars you could just, you know, buy a real underground sea.

[snappingbowls | ಠ_ಠ]

With 127 dollars you could just, you know, buy a real underground sea.

That's the kicker to this whole situation, I think. If you wanted a Sea for playing Legacy then you would just buy a less than minty unlimited Sea, for around the same price as this fake. This is only worth having to rip someone off and effectively cheat them out of 1000-1200 dollars.

Anyone who wants the card because they "like pimp cards" should feel like a bit of failure for buying fake "pimp" cards...

[UnderwaterGuy]

Lulz people are morons. Why would you buy a fake card and pay double the price of a CE or IE copy that looks exactly like this card but with square borders. I guess someone is going to try to make 800 dollars off of this U. sea by trying to pass it off as real.

But this is actually illegal. Seriously. I don't know what moron paid 127 dollars for a fake u. sea but it must suck to be them. With 127 dollars you could just, you know, buy a real underground sea.

But you can't buy a beta Sea for 127.

The buyer is almost certainly buying it so they can try to trade/sell it as a legit card.

[thegrinningdemon]

But you can't buy a beta Sea for 127.

The buyer is almost certainly buying it so they can try to trade/sell it as a legit card.

I think he meant a real IE or CE copy.

Did anyone notice the buyer has over 800 feedback? Maybe he has another account in which to ruin his rating.

[Skeggi]

so much fear

there's nothing illegal about selling an 'imitation' card

if you're nervous about your purchases, i suggest you stop navigating to ebay.com

:smile:

http://media.gamerevolution.com/images/misc/obvious-troll.jpg

[xfxf]

So what's a good way to tell fake cards from the real ones? Purchasing from ebay isn't very safe appereantly. With such fakes, you could buy it and go on for years without noticing. You can attend to tournaments without anybody noticing it either. Only until someone does...
Is there a safe way to tell these things from their scans or some other way? Do anybody here purchase money cards from Ebay, Magiccardsmarket etc. from non vendor sellers with confidence?

[Koby]

Good way to tell is look for a thin blue line where the front and back of the cards meet. Try a bend test (and you don't need to meet corner to corner to spot a poor fake), a water test (small spot of water should bead on the card from the glossy ink), the coloration of the card looks suspect compared to other cards from the same set.

It's usually easy to spot some fakes, but there do exist very good fakes that pass many of the common tests.

WotC's Buyer Beware article (http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/feature/209)

[dontbiteitholmes]

Good way to tell is look for a thin blue line where the front and back of the cards meet. Try a bend test (and you don't need to meet corner to corner to spot a poor fake), a water test (small spot of water should bead on the card from the glossy ink), the coloration of the card looks suspect compared to other cards from the same set.

It's usually easy to spot some fakes, but there do exist very good fakes that pass many of the common tests.

WotC's Buyer Beware article (http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/feature/209)


Eww, Jesus Christ DO NOT BEND TEST CARDS, DON'T PUT WATER ON CARDS. If a card is "bend tested" enough or aged through wear and less than favorable conditions it will eventually give up the ghost and crease real or not. If water finds a single pore on the card or hits an aged spot where the glossy part has worn it will severely warp the spot, many valuable cards are worn, put 2 and 2 together, also this won't spot out rebacked cards.


BEST WAYS TO TEST CARDS WITHOUT POTENTIALLY RUINING THEM

1: http://www.amazon.com/SE-30X-Illuminated-Jewelers-Loupe/dp/B001T4OWZ0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325799341&sr=8-1
Magic cards have special printing that can't be reliably replicated without really advanced printing techniques. 30x magnification will route out 99% of fakes on the spot if you know what a real card looks like at 30x. Also look at the seam on the sides of the cards for the tell-tail layer.

2: Flashlight test. Take an old school flashlight and shine it up close and observe the way the light looks when it passes through the card, compare a known real card with the possible fake. Any notable differences are a red flag. The layer between real cards is a special material and is considered a trade secret. Any glued rebacks will immediately fall to this and most high quality fakes concentrate on passing other common tests and will likely also fail this test.

3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kfv0itanWfE
UV blacklight test. Real cards react to UV light a special way except for "Summer" edition cards.

[xfxf]

So how do you do all this on Internet purchases?

[dontbiteitholmes]

So how do you do all this on Internet purchases?

You check items you get to see if they are counterfeit then deal with that accordingly.

If you bought them on Ebay you are protected through the paypal buyer protections.

If you bought them from a store you return the items for a refund.

If you bought/traded them from a person you hopefully have someone trustworthy you can get your shit back from, otherwise small claims court or mail fraud charges.

If you are asking how to tell if something is fake before it arrives, there is no way. It's the internet and if someone is trying to scam you they can always just use a picture that isn't of a fake card anyways.