Watch Out For Counterfeit USPS Forever Stamps On eBay

Liz Morton
Liz Morton


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eBay is seeing a current flood of counterfeit USPS Forever stamps listed on the marketplace as scammers look to make a quick buck from buyers trying to beat the postage increase in this week.

The real cost of a forever stamp went from $0.58 to $0.60 yesterday, along with increases in media mail and several other USPS services.

USPS Postage Rate Changes July 2022
USPS rate changes are coming July 10th - here’s what you need to know!

An alert reader sent me this egregious example of a clearly suspicious eBay listing showing 200 Forever Stamps being sold by a low feedback seller in China at a very steep discount that works out to ~$0.20 each.

Odds of these being counterfeit stamps? 100% in my book. 👎

Espresso Drinks US Postage Stamps - Booklet of 20,coffee Flag————FROM USA,200PCS | eBay
Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Espresso Drinks US Postage Stamps - Booklet of 20,coffee Flag————FROM USA,200PCS at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

I'm also seeing quite a few suspicious looking listings that show a US location on the listing, but the seller account is registered in another country.

Many of these accounts are registered in China but I'm also seeing quite a few in the UK as well, which makes me wonder if the scammers may possibly be using compromised accounts.

2018 US 2 Rolls of 200 American Flag FOREVER - Unopened! USA FREE SHIPPING | eBay
2018 US 2 Rolls of 100 American Flag FOREVER - Unopened! USA FREE SHIPPING

At the very least, I recommend always checking the seller's feedback page to see where the account is registered and what their feedback ratings say.

But honestly, what I really recommend is - don't buy Forever Stamps on eBay or other 3rd party marketplaces, period.

It's clear eBay is not policing their site and taking appropriate action to protect buyers from these scams, so the best advice I can honestly give is to completely steer clear of them and only purchase stamps from USPS verified and approved vendors.

More info from the United States Postal Inspection Service:

Counterfeit Stamps - USPIS
To ensure your trusted communication arrives without delay, the Postal Inspection Service wants you to be aware of--and avoid phony postage.

Have you purchased stamps on eBay or other marketplace you later discovered were fake? Tell us about your experience in the comments below!

eBayUSPSFraud

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Liz Morton is a 17 year ecommerce pro turned indie investigative journalist providing ad-free deep dives on eBay, Amazon, Etsy & more, championing sellers & advocating for corporate accountability.


Recent Comments
Avatar Placeholderterry5513 hours ago
Sales down 40% from last year, this is gonna be a small business killer
Avatar PlaceholderJaeLynnYesterday
I've had this happen a few times, and it confused me. One seller alleged that they had to use Amazon's services to make sure I got my item in time. I recently bought something simple, and the seller made a mistake. They'd sent me 3 different messages, one of them too early, telling me they hoped my item arrived in perfect condition. The next day, the item was marked as shipped, and I got an official Ebay shipping email. The seller was using direct messages to give me item updates. If I wanted Amazon, I'd have used them myself! lol
Avatar Placeholderlessthanthreerecords2 days ago
Happening to me too. On my active listings page (with the full list) it looks fine, but when I click on them, many have the random characters. I reported it, and that's when one glitch led to another! As I was typing the message after clicking the "?", letters were repeatedly not coming up (usually one or two at the end of a word). I was finally able to get the message entered, but how tedious!