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I've recently seen on Ebay people shelling out $100s OF DOLLARS (about $300 a piece on the avg!) on WW2 era German and Japanese flags. Let the buyer beware that Ebay of course takes no responsibility (unless you have paypal) for these fake auctions and can do nothing about them unless YOU the buyer and/or Ebay member inform them of this fraud being perpetrated on their site.
So how do I know that these items are fakes? Based upon my previous Ebay guides on FAKE SILVER , German Nazi armbands and Holocaust concentration camp armbands as well as various patches and insignias, one does not have to be a genius to figure out that these items are all coming from the same sources (Russian or Indian factories bought for pennies!). The following are therefore some guidelines for the Ebay consumer to knw if he has bought a fake. Please read and if it has helped you, please vote positively as it is the only way others will not for these cons in the future and if people complain to Ebay, they may get them off their site permanently.
1) The first hint that should tell you it's fake is the newness of the piece. Some of these Flags look as if they were made yesterday! (They probably were). We are talking about a 60+ year old piece of cloth. If it looks new IT IS NEW!
2)Many of the con artists go overboard in trying to makeyou think that you bought the real thing by giving you a "certificate of authenticity". This too is a fake and the people who give the certificate are probably also selling fakes of the same kind mentioned in this and my other guides. ONE CON MANS CERTIFICATE IS NOT WORTH MUCH MORE THAN THE ONE WHO IS SELLING IT! This is big business for all of these space robbers!
3)Take a look at the other auction items that the Ebay seller is offering. How many different flags does he have for sale? These guys are usually greedy and can't wait to sell one at a time. Where did they get all of them from?! A collector? A museum? China? Except for the latter, there were very few collectors of such items since there weren't too many flags left after the War. A sign that the seller is a con is his selling many different flags from as many different places and types.
4) Also notice if the seller has other WW2 items. While this may not prove anything, notice that all of the items he has look NEW! They probably are!
5)Lastly, check the sellers previous sales-feedbacks over the past 2 months. Just how many of these flags has he sold? A sure giveaway is that he has sold 3 or more just in the past 2 months. These con artists are usually located in Poland and Germany ( there are also sellers in the USA who have also joined the bandwagon), where the worst cases of Nazi abuse of prisoners took place.
NOTE! There are honest Ebay sellers who sell the same items as NEW and they say so in the description. For about $5 you can get these flags here on Ebay instead of throwing away 100s of $$$ on these con men!
Now that you have spotted these fakes, what can you do about it?
1)Go to the bottom of the auction page which you bought the item and REPORT IT TO EBAY! Every auction has a link to report suspicious items, fakes and forgeries. Refer this guide to Ebay. Ask Ebay to ask experts in this field to verify if what i am saying is true.
2)Demand your money back from the seller and tell him if he doesn't you will give negative feedback. The seller should refund your entire amount + the postage which you had to send the item back. Send your package by registered mail!
3)Report the seller to a governmental agency for committing fraud. See my other guide on FRAUDS ON THE INTERNET for the proper addresses.
4)VOTE FOR THIS GUIDE AND ALL MY OTHER GUIDES! By doing so you raise my number in the ratings and more people will see my guides! Thank you for your time in reading this guide.
Guide created: 12/19/07 (updated 09/16/08)
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