Do sellers really not know when it's a facsimile signed ball?
 

http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/fr0AAO...Dg/s-l1600.jpg

Are some people that innocent that they don't realize they are selling a printed/facsimile signed ball?
I've seen this too often where sellers think it's authentically signed but it's clearly printed on the ball. Plus, the signatures aren't even facsimiles of the real autographs!


http://www.ebay.com/itm/122333816455?ul_noapp=true

I've done enough estate appraisals to say that, believe it or not, many people do not know a "real" autograph from a printed one. Some estate people even have have a "let the buyer decide" attitude about it (not the ones I work for!)

I think people post those balls with a "well it might be real, let's see what happens" point of view, and unfortunately some buy with the same thinking.

I get photos of these balls several times a week from people not in the hobby.
They truly believe they have something that has been signed.

I wrote to the seller of that facsimile ball.
Here is his classy reply:
"You don't know that for sure. And does my description say authentic ? I believe it is but don't know for sure that's why I didn't say it was. If your not interested please don't send opinions."

Yeah, I also wrote to him this morning and he wrote back pretty quickly, actually. He said that the ink smears and that his "collector" friend even verified it looked real. :) I didn't want to push him too much as I feel he was innocent in his intentions. If he was a real "con" guy, I'm sure he would just ignore our messages, but he was trying to address my concerns (and he wasn't rude about). I've written to guys on ebay about obvious fakes and they just get really angry sometimes.

Judging by the other stuff he sells (and the size of his hands/fingers), I'm guessing he's just a kid.

He must not have reached the grade in school that teaches the difference between "your" and "you're".

typical complete idiot loser scam-bay jackmehoff reply... I believe Santa Claus is coming to town on Dec 24th too, but it doesn't make it so. Darn fool kids.

Santa comes on the 25th, which explains the disappointment and skepticism in your house :)

I'm always waiting up on the 24th for him to come down the chimney and drop off a FAKE Facsimile ball like the obvious one here and I'm always disappointed. Will have to try that 25th thing>>>

I'm Jewish, but doesn't Santa come "the night before Christmas", on the 24th? ;)

I like how Rudolph signed on the stitching too.

Yep, I stumbled upon many Dodger balls like that doing my Garvey searches and finally just stopped trying to "help" people by telling them the good news. I became convinced that more than half of the sellers knew exactly what they had and were trying to be vaguely deceptive. Occasionally there was a thankful person who didn't know and appreciated me taking the time to tell them or at least that is what they politely told me.

+1

I've run across many sellers listing souvenir baseballs and I have no doubt the majority of them know exactly what they're selling.

I see the same thing with my project; sellers will try and pass off the fascimile signature on the back of a 1953 Topps as authentic, even though the black ink in the player bio is clearly printed on top of the red ink signature.

wouldn't a FAKE facsimile be authentic?

Yes the seller should be able to tell they are preprinted but so should the buyer

I have told this story before but it bears repeating.
A guy calls me up and says he has a Yankee ball with Munson. He wants to bring it to me.
I meet him in my lobby. He brought his two sons with him.
He pulls out a facsimile ball. I tell him what it is.
Now he is screaming at me, in front of his two sons, saying he himself got this ball signed in the clubhouse and that I am definitely wrong.
I tell him that maybe he did get a ball signed but not this one.
(I am very glad I did not let him in my apartment).
Some people are just born liars.

That guy's playing dumb intentionally. He knows it's not real but wants plausible deniability. The telltale signs are all there...low feedback rating, no returns, the offer of "ask any questions" putting the onus on the buyer, never calling it authentic and then setting the price high enough that the average, honest schmo will come along and think it's the real deal.

And the guy would win any battle with the seller because he never misrepresented the ball in his description.

He uses the words signed (2x) and signatures.
I would think those words would be enough to make any buyer a winner in a dispute.

It is a signed ball...It has signatures on it. They're fake signatures but it is a signed ball.

When you sell something it is implied that you are saying it is authentic as to how you describe it. Offering a "Babe Ruth signed baseball" then saying "I never said it was an authentic signature," or offering a "diamond ring" then saying "I didn't say it was a real diamond" doesn't work. That's would be as legitimate a legal defense as saying you can't be held liable for the deceptive description because you had your fingers crossed behind you back when you composed it. He says signed and signatures, end of story. A stamp isn't a signature, and stamped isn't signed.

The price kept dropping on this ball and the ball has sold for $25.

I wonder if the buyer knows. Even at $25...that's a tad high for a souvenir facsimile ball.