|
SEPTEMBER 7, 2005 at 3:36 PM
Posted by GERI
Source: JKRowling.com
JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books, has updated
her web site with a warning to all her fans about the fraudulent number of autographed & unauthorised items that have appeared for sale on eBay.
From the update:
A recent perusal of the e-Bay stocks of 'signed' Harry Potter merchandise was quite alarming for the person who allegedly signed these stacks of books, posters and even, in one case, an unauthorised biography that I would never, and have never, put my signature to. As far as I could tell on the day I dropped in, only one of the signatures on offer appeared genuine. There seem to be a lot of people out there trying to con Harry Potter fans. The same is true in respect to the huge number of unauthorised Harry Potter e-Books and audio digital files that users of e-Bay have offered for sale to Harry Potter fans.
I would be delighted if the online community of Harry Potter fans canvassed e-Bay directly, asking that they be protected against this exploitation.
Reader Comments (239)
Your Thoughts
click to write...
Copyright © 2002-2010 HPANA. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. 
HPANA is an unofficial fan site, in no way affiliated with J.K. Rowling,
Scholastic Books, Bloomsbury Publishing or Warner Bros. Entertainment. All
trademarks and copyrighted material are the property of their respective owners.
About HPANA | Movie 6 | Send a news tip | Contact us | Privacy policy
226-239
Order of Merlin, 3rd Class
Points: 1418
Wanta House Elf says:
It is pretty hard for EBAY to police this stuff. No one but her knows for sure whether she really signed the items. So unless she is going to check weekly and dob in the liars, there isn't much that can be done probably.
Posted Sep 7, 2005 at 10:30 PM EST
Auror
Points: 2559
TonksUSA says:
That is like a macery to JK and her wonderful books! And why would people be dumb enough to believe she would sell things on eBay?
Posted Sep 7, 2005 at 10:32 PM EST
Auror
Points: 2252
cjoyath2o says:
I am glad that she came out and said something. Some people are really naive about that stuff. You really have to be careful about stuff like that because unfortunately there are a lot of crooks out there...
Posted Sep 7, 2005 at 10:32 PM EST
Insufferable Know-it-all
Points: 5058
Happy Hedwig says:
It is truly sad what people do in order to get money. Conning people! That is just a horrible thing to do.
Posted Sep 7, 2005 at 10:35 PM EST
Squib
Points: 108
XxX-hp superfan-XxX says:
I hate the people that takes advantage from famous people like J.K. Rowling, they are so evil!! :S
Posted Sep 7, 2005 at 10:36 PM EST
Witch
Points: 975
Professor Granger says:
I have always wanted an autograph, but unless I can get it first hand I wouldn't pay over the internet or whatever. It is sad though that you can't trust people like you used to be able to. I think I actually heard about someone posing as Dan once and was asking for five dollars as a "donation" for signed pics. It turned out to be a scam though.
Posted Sep 7, 2005 at 10:39 PM EST
Order of Merlin, 2nd Class
Points: 1661
shivon says:
WHy do people do stuff like that? It is so stupid. Some one out there wants to make a profit off of JK's success and scam loads of HP fans. It's really a shame.
Posted Sep 7, 2005 at 11:04 PM EST
Order of Merlin, 2nd Class
Points: 1600
jenn007a says:
Thats horrible that people exploit fans like that! And just to make some money, its just disgusting!
Posted Sep 7, 2005 at 11:07 PM EST
Ethereal Fairy
Points: 3077
harrypotterfreak_4life says:
Why are there still some people out there who are trying to take advantage of others?!? I mean there is a little thing called morality and principles!!
Posted Sep 7, 2005 at 11:26 PM EST
Head Girl
Points: 468
Laura_Granger says:
Interesting very interesting...
Posted Sep 7, 2005 at 11:50 PM EST
Head Girl
Points: 468
Laura_Granger says:
They shold not get away from that.
--Laura--
Posted Sep 7, 2005 at 11:51 PM EST
Witch
Points: 971
IceQueen. says:
Thats not very nice now is it? Let's hope people have enough common sense to not believe that rubbish...
Posted Sep 7, 2005 at 11:55 PM EST
Order of Merlin, 4th Class
Points: 1357
swiffy says:
Its disgusting how people try to make money off ANYTHING, and I mean ANYTHING. Look at this for instance!
It would be cool to get a signed copy though, but that's very unlikely. I wish JK would still sign books...
Posted Sep 8, 2005 at 12:06 AM EST
Squib
Points: 167
Jeanie says:
That's really sad, I've bought and sold stuff over e-bay and it's all been really good. I never sold or bought fake stuff/ stuff with signatures though. I agree that a signature is so much more meaningful if you get it yourself.
Posted Sep 8, 2005 at 12:15 AM EST
Guardian of the Realms
Points: 5601
A&Agang says:
These people are just mean. They are making money off of devoted fans.
Why won't e-bay do something about the things that are being sold on their site that are not genuine.
Posted Sep 8, 2005 at 12:17 AM EST
Head Boy
Points: 461
argonaths says:
That's so stupid...and why would you even buy something that you didn't get signed...?
Posted Sep 8, 2005 at 12:31 AM EST
Order of Merlin, 3rd Class
Points: 1465
Moon Dragon says:
I'm really glad to hear that Jo is warning people off buying the fake autographed grear. I find it really hard to trust ebay and I personaly wouldn't buy any autographed gear but I could see why people do.
Posted Sep 8, 2005 at 12:43 AM EST
Wizard
Points: 787
Beyondfreedom3 says:
We have seen all this before. It's great that she looks for things like that, though. It helps us to not buy the imposter stuff. I have always been leary of buying anything with a signature on it, on ebay. Absolutely no way to tell if it is real.
Posted Sep 8, 2005 at 12:44 AM EST
Head Girl
Points: 450
natural-born-weasley says:
That sucks these people want to make money with anything.
Posted Sep 8, 2005 at 12:46 AM EST
Student
Points: 252
FoolofaTook says:
That would be horrible to buy something on Ebay that ends up not being the real thing.
Posted Sep 8, 2005 at 12:51 AM EST
Hogwarts Valedictorian
Points: 2826
Lily*R/Hr says:
I can't believe people do this kind of thing, it's so mean! I would be so devastated if I spent that much money on something that turned out not to be authentic. Then again, I probably wouldn't buy something that risky (not to mention expensive) on ebay : )
Posted Sep 8, 2005 at 1:03 AM EST
Head Girl
Points: 471
Artymus Pax says:
It's a hopeless battle with eBay. It grows worse each day. I've had bootleg software sold to me, contacted the software company, gotten them info on the seller who was burning these copies, and reported it all to both eBay and Paypal. It's a waste of time. Unless a company hits eBay HARD, they won't follow up. Paypal, since being absorbed by eBay, is even worse. While they still have a category requesting restitution for an 'item not as described,' they will just respond, "It's not our business to do quality control." Better to report never receiving it. Their little Squaretrade deal is a laugh, too. They won't actually do anything unless you pay them to mediate.
Don't even get me into what happens when you get undeserved retaliatory feedback. Example, won two items from one seller, never got them, etc. etc. By then they had wracked up something like 130 negs in one week and made their feedback private, stating that 'they would neither leave nor accept feedback.' Right? Wrong. You can still leave negative feedback, people just can't see what you said. So I did. Then immediately got the most ridiculous negs going, "BAD EBAYER, BAD!!! JUST LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE DONE!!"
Childish, ridiculous, so I contacted our 'close-knit, like-minded, trading community' and was told, "We don't regulate feedback. Even worse, turns out later on that the business had some psycho employee running rampant. The business finally figured it out, fired him, sent out the merchandise, and requested that all the neg feedbacks that were left to me and 100s others be removed.
'Close-knit, like-minded, trading community' - No, we don't regulate feedback. Argh.
It's all about the money. The recent trend is for well-established seller who you have used numerous times apparently realizing they're going under, so let's just list a bunch of crap, get as much money as possible, and RUN!
I don't have to mention that the most eBay will do for that, if they get maybe a couple hundred complaints in one week, is 'suspend' the account?
Posted Sep 8, 2005 at 1:04 AM EST
Student
Points: 234
hpfan#3 says:
How pathetic those people are. Who in the Dark Lord's name would want to waste their time on conning others like that. They must think we're dumb, but I for one would never buy anything signed from e-bay because I know that there is a 90% chance that the signature is fake.
Anyway, it's more special if you get it signed yourself instead of buying it from someone else. That was sweet of JKR to warn us of it I think we should do what she said and write to e-bay explaining what's happening. They must put a stop to it.
Posted Sep 8, 2005 at 2:16 AM EST
Prefect
Points: 370
Hermione "Hermy" Granger says:
I can't believe people would drop that low just to get their hands on some money... I mean really... I'm glad that JK is concerned for us.
Posted Sep 8, 2005 at 2:26 AM EST
Divine Intervention
Points: 2619
PhantomFingers says:
People are out to get us! I'm gald that I've never been tempted to buy one, because I know they're probably fake. Jk rarely goes to book signings, because they are sio overwhelming. But...
Well done to JK for reminding us!!
Posted Sep 8, 2005 at 2:42 AM EST
Not the Messiah!
Points: 3735
icabarburus says:
Whilst I have bought stuff on e-bay before, I'm definitely very wary about claims of "signed" mechandise when I buy. I definitely wouldn't buy anything supposedly carrying the signature of someone famous. There are enought low-lifes out there trying to make a quick buck by hunting on naive fans.
This isn't a slur against all sellers on ebay - I've had some brilliant dealings with genuine sellers, but there are scumbags out there! So buyers, beware of all purchases!
Posted Sep 8, 2005 at 2:45 AM EST
226-239
Back to top of page