This an extremely important message and will help you avoid buying fake stamps.
It has come to our attention that there are several apparently small online sellers offering for sale complete sheets of very modern counterfeit commemorative stamps. Unusually these stamps are in sheets with lick and stick gum. The prices reported to us are simply too good to true at around 40% to 50% face value, or even less, with free Special Delivery on all orders. It could be that there are unlimited supplies of these fake stamps. It is simply impossible to purchase, never mind sell genuine stamps at such low prices.
It is possible that most if not all of these small traders (none being registered as businesses) are acting as the front end to a much bigger operation. Their plan is to get people to buy small amounts (just a few sheets at first) but when you receive the fake stamps also included is marketing material encouraging you to purchase larger quantities by dealing direct. Our sources say that stamps are being sent from a different company to the person you purchased them from on the Internet Platform. In our scenario the platform is eBay. We have no doubt that there will be a serious investigation going on behind the scenes, involving various authorities.
As experienced, recognised and professional stamp dealers we know that you just can’t buy any modern stamps issued from say 2020 to 2025 in wholesale quantities. They just don’t exist, end of story. Many of the recent higher face value stamps we perhaps only see 10 to 20 examples per month. Genuine stamps really are that scarce. There could be the odd exception to that rule (e.g. a stamp dealer selling off their own stock) but there is just no guaranteed regular supply of any genuine postage stamps. We never know what we will get offered from one day to the next.
The Royal Mail just don’t give big discounts, and you only get very small numbers of modern stamps from splitting up genuine stamp collections. There are very few really modern stamp collections out there these days and as a result we perhaps only get offered one such collection per month. Most collectors stopped collecting stamps between 1999 and 2010 (mainly due to the rising cost of buying stamps and the ever-increasing number of varieties needed to complete a collection). There have been very few new collectors since then and most of them are becoming very selective in what they now purchase or collect.
There are FRAUDSTERS out there who seem to be able to copy just about any stamp at will, generally the most popular themes which they think will sell well to the public. Typically, it is topics like Cat’s and Dog’s, Kids TV and other well-known TV/Cinema and Music themed stamps, which are being offered. We hear rumours through the philatelic trade of large quantities of fake stamps being imported from the Far East. If true, this makes the practice very hard to stop. I was invited by the BBC Rip of Britain in 2024 to give advice on how to spot fake stamps.
This is an extremely worrying development as to our knowledge only stamps with self-adhesive gum were known to exist up until now. Also, more alarmingly the quality of printing and ink colour dyes used are almost indistinguishable from the real Royal Mail stamps. They now even have proper phosphor ink bands printed on them, which react purple, as expected when viewed under UV light. Without a shadow of doubt, these current fakes could easily trick even the most experienced stamp dealers.
One way you can tell the difference is to examine the paper surface at an angle to a good light source, preferably daylight. Most genuine Royal Mail stamps are printed on quality coated paper and the stamps tend to have an overall slightly matt sheen. The counterfeit stamps tend to be printed on much poorer quality thinner paper which has a more glossy/shiny surface. This is easily seen when the fake stamps are compared to genuine stamps when held at an 90 degree angle to your light source.
Under ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT the fakes also look quite convincing, that is until you look a bit closer. The phosphor ink bands appear wider than the bands on the genuine stamps. They do react to UV light which was never the case before. Sometimes it was just a varnished strip on the stamps. The biggest giveaway for us is the four margins around the sheets of stamps, these have a distinct mottled look under UV light, whereas the genuine stamps have an even all over flat uniform tone, no mottling at all. A real issue with fakes is that they keep changing and known information goes out of date very quickly.
Please DO NOT BUY ANYTHING from these fake traders, they do not give purchase receipts or provide any contact information. They do not give refunds or answer any complaints. It’s just like throwing your money away. Buying from them could potentially damage the genuine and trusted real philatelic market we and other good stamp dealers work in. It is certainly damaging to the Royal Mail and Post Office. If you use fake stamps your mail could be surcharged by Royal Mail or even confiscated if you are caught using large quantities of the fake stamps. It is likely that when these fraudsters are eventually caught (and they will be) they will get quite lengthy jail sentences. Stamps are legal tender just like bank notes so copying, selling, handing or using them is a very serious matter, with severe consequences.
This is an area where the philatelic trade and public in general should and can work together to help the Royal Mail and stop the fraudsters for good. We must call these people out and get rid of the scourge for ever. If not, we could possibly see an end to the use of postage stamps altogether. Rest assured we will weed out all the bad eggs, it just seems to get harder and harder as technology improves. Just imagine if this was your own business and criminals were continually copying and selling your products at will. I know I would be devastated and heartbroken id that were the case.
For me this current situation is all a bit soul destroying, especially when we have spent many years building up a genuine discounted postage stamp business and have gained the trust of so many regular and valued customers. Perhaps this is should be trigger for us to stop selling stamps for postage, but would that not just let the fakers win? We have been saying for years that one day genuine stamps from stamp collections will eventually run out, but that never seems to come. I suppose when the real do run short they will become collectable again and sell above the basic face value.
The biggest worry and deep concern for me is that genuine Royal Mail stamps somehow get misidentified as being counterfeit and as a result a few packages sent by our customers, using genuine stamps, end up getting surcharged. If that were to happen frequently it would pretty much spell the end of the discounted postage market. The result would be a loss in confidence by the public and businesses to use any postage stamps on their mail and perhaps they would go down the route of buying postage labels instead. That would be the saddest of days for the true philatelic trade. We can already see that happening to a certain extent.
Let us know if you have any interesting stories to share.
Until the next time, Dave – MD Philatelink Ltd