Constant Vigilance!

In the spirit of Harry Potter and my ongoing giveaway, I’d like to get this story off my chest, because I’ve been bothered by this for a couple of days now.

I hit major panic mode the other day when I was tagged in a Facebook photo (yup, the one at the top of this post) to bid on a signed copy of a deluxe edition of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I must confess that all rationality fled and fangirl mode kicked in — the starting bid was only P700 and the highest bid so far was P850. I plunked down a P900 bid without a clue of the bid mechanics or the details of the item I was bidding for.

The guy (not a friend, but I was tagged by a common friend) was apparently moving out of his apartment and getting rid of some books. I thought, great, a guy who doesn’t know how much a signed Harry Potter book goes for.


I clicked on the photo by accident and the next photo showed what I was looking for, a photo of the actual signature. It was a bit grainy, but as soon as I saw it I was immediately dubious.

It looks like J.K. Rowling’s signature, all right, and the signature is under the sealed plastic, but I really had trouble imagining JKR signing a book in red ballpoint pen on the slipcase — why would any author sign on the slipcase and not in the inside pages? Especially an author who knows the asking price for her signature (just the most sought after signature in the world!) in the signed books market goes upward of several hundred dollars? If the slipcase were to be separated from the book, the book would have no value whatsoever.

Still, I wanted to be sure, so I rooted around on the web, found that roughly 6 out of 10 signed Harry Potter books are forgeries. Moreover, I read somewhere that there were only two public signings of Deathly Hallows, both in the UK when the book was newly released, taking down the chances of a signed US edition and a signed US Deluxe edition close to nil. The only documented signed copy of a Deathly Hallows US Deluxe Edition is the one auctioned for charity, and aside from JKR’s signature, it has a Mary Grandpre sketch of Harry Potter (wow!). Signed copies also usually carry an authentication sticker from Bloomsbury or Scholastic.

And rooting around some more, there’s this:

It’s JKR’s signature on Wikipedia, identical to the signature on the auctioned book. No two signatures, even by the same person, would come out identical.

I wanted to see how the seller would react, to see if he himself was unaware of the forgery, or if he would attempt to pass it off as authentic, so I “innocently” asked for provenance of the book, and he goes “It is a sealed deluxe edition of HP7, Scholastic got it signed…” but he doesn’t offer any more details and prevaricates on the subject, saying that the photo of the signature was all he could offer for reference.

I was outbid while I was doing the research and was thinking that was still pretty cheap for a deluxe edition of Deathly Hallows. But then two book club friends were bidding competitively, and today the seller decided to end the auction earlier than the agreed upon date! I quickly messaged my friends about it, and I’ve also warned the rest of the people on the thread, in case they were thinking of making wild bids now that the auction is set to end. I feel a burning desire to unmask this fraud; It really leaves a bad taste in the mouth, knowing there are unscrupulous people preying on unsuspecting fans.

So to all the Potterheads out there, who, like me, want a signed Harry Potter book for their collections, let’s keep in mind what Mad-eye Moody would say in this instance — “Constant vigilance!”

In the event you come across a signed copy of Harry Potter, ask questions, do your research, and verify a dozen times over that you’re spending hard-earned money on the real thing.

Note to seller: I am watching you!

20 thoughts on “Constant Vigilance!”

  3. Like they say, if it’s too good to be true, it probably isn’t. Great post, Bloo..at least, from now on, a lot of people know how to tell an authentic signed copy from a counterfeit (didn’t know until this post). Thanks ^_^

  6. Woah! It was very bad of him! I’ll curse him if I bought the book and found out that it is a fake. Argh! But, thanks for posting it anyway! :D

    1. You know what he said, “the bidders aren’t after an authentic copy — P1000 is pretty cheap for a hardcover Harry Potter”

      Sheesh

  8. hi Blooey,

    I am not really a constant follower of your blog but I have read some of your entries for the last 2 years I think. You have been a great source of information on warehouse sales and other book events. Also, I checked my bookmooch account, and I saw you in my friends list.

    My friend informed me that you have written an article about my selling of a Harry Potter 7 Deluxe Edition. I have read the article and objective as I’ve to read it, it is disheartening to me or to my friends who have read and might read your entry.

    Blooey, I am an honest person and I believe that you are too. I have a proposal for you, we can meet-up, you can choose the date, time and place. I can bring to you the HP7 Deluxe Edition, you can see it for yourself and check its authenticity. So far, the new information that I can share to you about this copy is that the serial number, ISBN number and the tag price of $65.00 is pasted at the bottom of the book case.

    The very reason why I want to do is that I want to clear my name and my budding business at Bid Good Buy.I believe that a blog is a good source of information but it can also be influential and in many ways suggestive.

    What will you get from this meet-up? Well, I can offer to you the book in case you are convinced of its origin and if we can agree on its price. I already informed my friend who got this book after the bidding, he is willing to offer it to you, in case you will be interested. This is all for the purpose of trying to correct some misunderstanding and to strip down all our prejudices.

    A good name is more desirable than great riches;
    to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.
    -Proverbs 22:1

    I will leave Manila on the first week of December and come back on January 2011. I hope that we can meet before I leave. Please consider my offer.

    Mark Plaza

    PS: I have a Thanksgiving party to organize but I think this is really important, so I hope that you can allocate a time for our meet-up. Thank you.

  9. Well if you are really a Potterhead as you said, perhaps it would do you good to do research as well and get your facts first before saying derogatory accusations against a person you don’t know. The Deluxe Edition really has a printed signature of JK Rowling. It is part of the gimmick for this edition. In fact, if you go to this book’s Amazon page and browse the images submitted by people who brought the book, there is a photo there similar to what is posted here in your site. http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media/product-gallery/0545029376/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_all

    700 is hardly the asking price for someone who want to fleece off anyone. Geez. And 1000 is a pretty cheap price for a deluxe edition and hard bound for that matter.

    1. Well then he should not have advertised the book as a signed copy; a printed signature on the package does not count as “SIGNED” — I know two other people who were bidding on the book thinking it was a genuine autograph because the seller made it appear so.

  10. Nobody in their right mind would sell a book with Rowling’s autograph. 700 is a decent enough price for a hardbound HP7 signed or not and it is a deluxe edition. If he really was thinking about the value of the signature, not the book, he would have offered it at a much higher price, I think. Fraud is a pretty harsh accusat

    1. I do agree that P700 is a decent price for a hardcover deluxe edition of Deathly Hallows, but I was not disputing that; in fact I wouldn’t have reacted at all (and would have happily kept on bidding) if it were merely posted as a hardcover deluxe edition. It is the authenticity of the signature and the representation of the book as an authentic signed copy that I am voicing my opinion on.

      “Nobody in their right mind would sell a book with Rowling’s autograph” but the seller in fact did appear to be doing so. From the beginning, it was clear he was angling it as a signed copy, as when I asked for the provenance he presented the pen indentations and the sealed package as proof. It was not until I made a comment on presenting the arguments against the authenticity of the signature that he established the fact that he was selling it for the virtue of its being a deluxe hardcover copy. He clearly did not inform the bidders that the signature was printed on the packaging.

      P700 was the starting bid on what was supposed to be a two week auction, but it had the potential to blow up to a fairly large amount if I hadn’t alerted two friends who were bidding aggressively on the item because they thought it was genuine. I myself put in an opening bid of 900 and was prepared to go more than ten times that amount for a genuine article, because when I was tagged in the photo and alerted by the common friend, that was the given premise.

      P700 is more than a day’s pay for some people, by any standards, it is hard-earned money. And regardless of the value of the book, if the buyer was influenced to purchase the item under misleading grounds, that still counts as a form of deception.

      I do believe I was not out of line with this post, as there are important lessons to be learned in this episode both on the part of the buyer or the seller. I took care not to link the entry to the seller, but it was him who provided the link in a chain that leads back to him by virtue of his comment on this entry. I offered him the option of taking his comment out to retain his anonymity but it was he who chose to retain the comment and I respect that, and I also respect the opinion of his friends, such as yourself, who choose to defend him.

      Beyond this, I do not wish to pursue the matter any further and I do wish that the seller and his friends would respect that as well.

      Cheers! :)

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