Forgive me if this question has been addressed before: I just did a search and didn't find any previous discussion of it.

I've noticed folks selling Omega warranty cards on eBay (for example herePurchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network, but there are many others). Is there any legitimate reason someone would do this? All I can think of is someone trying to make a few bucks selling to a counterfeiter who will in turn sell a fake/clone watch along with that serial #.

But maybe I'm missing something?

 

nope, you are not missing anything.

 

Makes me want to comb through the listings and compile all the serials (that aren’t obscured) to document them here for future vigilance. But, then, that would take time.

 

I never really understood the faking industry. Seems to me that if you can develop a system that can realistically create a decent fake mechanical watch, how much trouble would it be to print off some corresponding fake warranty cards? Heck, seems like that would be easier to do than making a watch. But what do I know?

 

No kidding! You can make regulators and escape wheels but can't manage a rectangular piece of plastic with some holographic tape?

My suspicion is that the scamster already has a knockoff purchased on the street and then buys a warranty card that can be believably linked to that model of fake---the watch itself probably doesn't have a serial on it at all. Not the kind of thing that would pass muster at OF, but maybe enough to give a veneer of believability to a counterfeit piece for someone less knowledgable/discriminating. Can't you just hear the hustle? "Hey big man, you can trust me---look, the watch even comes with a warranty card!"

But I guess the more insidious possiblity is that the fake-makers are actually getting these and then etching their fakes to suit: the idea isn't that they couldn't make their own cards if they wanted to, but that they want the real cards because those real cards have real serial #s which would check out if matched to a database...? Have to assume the whole ruse would come apart once the watch was sent to Omega for service or to a competent & honest watchmaker.

eBay doesn't seem to give a f%*k about fakes, so I can't imagine them doing anything to stop or curtail this, but it seems blatantly criminal to me---or at least blatantly in support of criminality.

 

They take down everything I report.

 

Fair enough: I have more eBay experience with sports and music memorabilia than I do with watches, and in that domain the line appears to be caveat emptor. (If it's not PSA certified, I personally wouldn't buy it on eBay.) I don't have a problem with that, actually---people should do their homework---trust but verify, a fool and his money, etc. And I'm encouraged to hear that they do take down fakes when reported! But in a case like this, where it's not even a matter of authentication but an item that would only make sense to sell insofar as it abets forgery, why even permit the sale to start? Perhaps eBay is just too big to monitor such things. And perhaps someone could argue that even old warranty cards are "collectible."

 

This type of thing always surprised me with sports memorabilia. "But it has a certificate of authenticity" --- How easy would those be to pump out?

 

With holographic seals, too!

Sports autographs have to be one of the most counterfeited genres of thing out there. If anyone wants a "signed" Shaq card that I was stupid enough to buy in the late 90s, let me know. I'll wrap it in a $3 bill for you.

 

I always made it a point to get all of my autographs myself (or have a close friend get it), and had the athlete personalize it to me. That way I know that it is legit, and I think that the athletes like the personalization aspect since that it makes it much less likely that I will be merely putting the autograph up for sale on eBay.

 

That's absolutely the way to do it.

 

You can buy blank Omega card sets, or sets filled in with whatever numbers you want out of China so I don’t think these are so harmful in comparison. Harder and limiting to make a fake watch to fit an existing card, it is way easier to produce a card, or many cards, for a fake watch. I don’t think any super fakes are buying cards from eBay.

 

Yeah, my guess is that this would appeal most to the first option I mentioned above: the street-side hustler who buys a lousy serial-less knockoff, adds a warranty card to it, and then goes to resell it for a profit with the card giving him an "angle."

 

Yeah, that makes some sense. I can see the pawnshops, goldbuyers, fleamarket, types doing that, I was thinking of the more advanced guys who actually worry me, but I get your point.

 

You're over-thinking things. These are most likely warranty cards that weren't passed on to grey dealers by the AD that supplied them the watch, or they were passed on to the grey dealer who is now selling them to make some pocket money.

 

Just imagine if all that time, effort, and talent, yes, I said talent, were directed towards being a productive member of society, rather than a rotten, scumsucking cheat. How much more convoluted can it get?

 

I have often thought about this-use those skills for good not evil (in almost all areas where there are scammers, criminals and shady business)...but the yield isn’t nearly as high.

 

It's supply & demand, right? As long as folks are buying them, someone will keep making them. I suppose the question is, how many of the people buying them realize they're buying them? Some definitely do---as I'm sure people here know, there are many sites out there peddling fakes as fakes.

But the s&d logic troubles a lot of similarly-themed subjects that people tend to oversimplify: why don't we go after drug traffickers, or why don't we crack down on illegal immigration? All well and good, but isn't it just as/more important to go after the people buying the drugs or hiring the illegal immigrants? Cripple demand and supply will, presumably, follow.

Totally agree, though: someone capable of producing a superfake Omega has much to offer the world beyond counterfeit wristwear! And I don't know how someone who makes them and passes them off as legit can sleep at night, unless he feels like it's a victimless crime because his target is a person of means (though there are certainly those among us who don't have $$$$ to spend on watches!). But the market is there, and the supply is only half the equation. Not that I have any real solutions to offer...

 

It reminds me of Frank Abagnale (Catch Me If You Can- great movie for those who haven’t seen it) who after years of forgery was forced into service by the FBI tracking down forgers and actually creating systems we have today to prevent it!

 

So back to the initial post, if this was reported to Ebay, wouldn't they take the sale of the cards down? Aren't they obviously fraudulent and or counterfeit?