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The following is being posted (edited to meet eBay requirements) directly from DefLeppard.com as a service to the band, as well as to all eBayers who love them. I do not know the band members personally, and I cannot and do not take credit for the writing -- just passing their message on to you in their own words ...
"eBay, the "world's online market place", can be a great resource for fans and collectors. Everyone seems to be selling, everyone seems to be buying. No matter what Def Leppard item you're looking for, there's a good chance you can find it on eBay. CDs, bootlegs, books, photos, guitar picks, concert tickets, etc. It's all yours..... that is, if you're willing to pay enough.
"Ever since items signed by Def Leppard have been appearing on eBay, we have been getting questions about the validity of these autographs. It turns out that fake autographs are offered for sale with alarming regularity. It speaks for itself that we don't approve the sale of these fake items in any way, but unfortunately, there is not much we can do about it, other than to warn you -- which is exactly what we're doing here (as did Joe in one of his diary entries). We will show you the band's REAL autographs, some examples of authentic signed items, and some prime examples of items that are clearly not signed by the band, even though the seller has "proof".
"First, here are some examples of the band's real autographs:
"Please note that no two autographs are ever exactly the same, but the ones above can be used as basic indications. Also, Sav sometimes signs with just "SAV", and Rick does not always draw the little puppet. To give you some examples of items that have been signed by the band and are authentic, see the pictures below. You can see clear similarities between the five signatures above and the ones on the items.
"So far, so good. However, there are items that have been offered on eBay as "authentic" while, in fact, they are anything but. With some of them, even a blind man could see that these autographs do not even come close to the band's original signatures. [The images below are] some examples of such items.
"Of course, these are the more obvious examples of fakes, and it is possible that autographs that look real enough, are fakes as well. Another thing to keep in mind, is that sellers do not always realize that they are selling a fake autograph -- they may have bought it from another dealer and try to sell it through with the best intentions. However, there are some eBay sellers who do realize their items might be fake, and have been notified several times of the fact that the autographs on their items are fakes, but they choose to keep offering the same fakes. It will still be hard to tell which companies are legit and which ones are not, but do NOT get fooled by "signs of trust":
"The band and DefLeppard.com recently started reporting items to eBay, in order to keep fakes off eBay as much as possible (through eBay's VeRO program). We are also thinking about ideas to offer authentic autographs through this web site in the future. In the meantime, if you ever spot an item on eBay (or anywhere else) of which you're unsure it's real or fake, use the examples above as reference. If this doesn't help and you have a serious reason to believe that a signature is not authentic, don't hesitate to [go to DefLeppard.com and] contact us."
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Images and text are the exclusive property of and copyrighted by Def Leppard and DefLeppard.com.
They have been copied here to comply with eBay HTML requirements while still making them accessible to you,
the fans by whom this message is intended to be seen. Images may not be used for any other purpose.
"eBay, the "world's online market place", can be a great resource for fans and collectors. Everyone seems to be selling, everyone seems to be buying. No matter what Def Leppard item you're looking for, there's a good chance you can find it on eBay. CDs, bootlegs, books, photos, guitar picks, concert tickets, etc. It's all yours..... that is, if you're willing to pay enough.
"Ever since items signed by Def Leppard have been appearing on eBay, we have been getting questions about the validity of these autographs. It turns out that fake autographs are offered for sale with alarming regularity. It speaks for itself that we don't approve the sale of these fake items in any way, but unfortunately, there is not much we can do about it, other than to warn you -- which is exactly what we're doing here (as did Joe in one of his diary entries). We will show you the band's REAL autographs, some examples of authentic signed items, and some prime examples of items that are clearly not signed by the band, even though the seller has "proof".
"First, here are some examples of the band's real autographs:
"Please note that no two autographs are ever exactly the same, but the ones above can be used as basic indications. Also, Sav sometimes signs with just "SAV", and Rick does not always draw the little puppet. To give you some examples of items that have been signed by the band and are authentic, see the pictures below. You can see clear similarities between the five signatures above and the ones on the items.
"So far, so good. However, there are items that have been offered on eBay as "authentic" while, in fact, they are anything but. With some of them, even a blind man could see that these autographs do not even come close to the band's original signatures. [The images below are] some examples of such items.
"Of course, these are the more obvious examples of fakes, and it is possible that autographs that look real enough, are fakes as well. Another thing to keep in mind, is that sellers do not always realize that they are selling a fake autograph -- they may have bought it from another dealer and try to sell it through with the best intentions. However, there are some eBay sellers who do realize their items might be fake, and have been notified several times of the fact that the autographs on their items are fakes, but they choose to keep offering the same fakes. It will still be hard to tell which companies are legit and which ones are not, but do NOT get fooled by "signs of trust":
- certificates of authenticity: a COA is as useless as a piece of paper with the words "this is real" scribbled onto it -- both are easy to make and don't have any official meaning at all. If the autograph on the item is fake, it is just as easy to add a fake COA with it.
- high positive feedback rates: a seller with a feedback rate of more than hundred, sometimes thousands, does not mean it is automatically reputable. We have seen sellers with a feedback rate surpassing 10,000 and still offering guitars with fake autographs.
- photos of the band signing the item: sometimes, auction pages contain photos of the artist signing the item. But how often does the photo show the band signing something completely different than the actual item? With autographed CDs, it is very easy to use an old photo of the band signing someone else's copy, so it is definitely no guarantee that the item shown in the photo is the same item that is being offered. Most of these photos are just stock footage.
"The band and DefLeppard.com recently started reporting items to eBay, in order to keep fakes off eBay as much as possible (through eBay's VeRO program). We are also thinking about ideas to offer authentic autographs through this web site in the future. In the meantime, if you ever spot an item on eBay (or anywhere else) of which you're unsure it's real or fake, use the examples above as reference. If this doesn't help and you have a serious reason to believe that a signature is not authentic, don't hesitate to [go to DefLeppard.com and] contact us."
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Images and text are the exclusive property of and copyrighted by Def Leppard and DefLeppard.com.
They have been copied here to comply with eBay HTML requirements while still making them accessible to you,
the fans by whom this message is intended to be seen. Images may not be used for any other purpose.
Guide created: 08/09/06 (updated 01/16/09)
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