You’ll remember that in our last installment of “Dear KH..” we briefly discussed the counterfeit Change prints that have been popping up on eBay lately. After discussing the matter with some other Obama art experts, here’s what we’ve gathered.
Fake Change prints can really only be identified by color. Paperstock and size appear to be identical, making this a tough one for inexperienced buyers and collectors. The image above shows a fake print on the left with two real ones on the right. Notice the brightness of the colors on the fake, especially when compared to the shades of blue on the authentics.
Just as a reminder, a receipt from the Barack Obama store is not by any means an infallible form of provenance. The receipts from the Obama store do not list the numbers of the prints sold. Therefore, a counterfeit seller needs to only get their hands on one authentic receipt, photocopy it and use it over and over for their fakes… that’s only if they don’t simply counterfeit the receipt first!
Here are a few more examples of prints that are believed to be counterfeit:
Fake print in the middle.
Fake print on the left
Fake print in the middle
We’ve taken the liberty of compiling a list of eBay sellers who are suspected of selling fakes:
snelson95 or nails99-2008 (believed to be the same person)
desistyle87
carpb99
the_cheat!
By no means are we accusing these sellers of selling counterfeits, we’re simply suggesting that prospective buyers should take caution purchasing prints from these people as they may have sold prints or are currently selling prints that appear to be of a questionable nature.
There will certainly be people unwittingly reselling counterfeit prints they purchased on eBay, believing them to be authentic. Checking feedback to see where a print came from originally certainly can’t hurt.
With that we wish all of you the best of luck on the ‘Bay, stay safe people!
Big thanks to Emily K and Main Street Arts for photos and info.
The Obama Art Report 
There were also several signed and numbered Change posters being sold on Ebay last week. Most of those sellers stated that the first 200 prints released in that edition of 5000 were signed. Is that true?
Yes it is, those went to high $ donors, and they did that for every print is my understanding. I was wondering if any of the other prints, like vote or Lopez's piece are also being counterfeited?
Those "first 200" auctions look like a scam too, or at least highly suspect. The pictures look to be of counterfeit prints and there's something "not quite right" about the Fairey signatures. The sellers are supposedly in the CHICAGO area and all the ads seem to be written by the same person, though different Ebay IDs are involved. I have no proof that the sellers are aware that they are selling fakes, but when spending $500+, one should be pretty sure they're getting what they think they're getting. Looks like some Dayals are being sold with signatures too. In my opinion, purchasing these is risky at best. Unless you are dealing with someone who has a long and positive history of dealing art prints, you really don't know what you are buying. And even with someone experienced, it is still a gamble. These prints are getting big bucks. I hope the buyers realize that if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.And always… Buyer Beware!
I think there's a bunch of Abraham Obama counterfeits too, judging by the numbers for sale. And the Choe print sale volumes on ebay are also very high, though I imagine it would be incredibly hard to counterfeit.
I would avoid all the Abraham Obama prints because even the real ones were produced by a known con-man named Daniel Lahoda (aka Jet-Set Graffiti) who took a lot of people's money.
not sure, but these may be fakes i found on craigslist:http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/clt/961618682.html
The same Craig's List seller has the exact same ad up in Chicago-beware!http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/clt/959186636.html
The Chicago/Los Angeles Craigslist makes total sense. That's were most of the Ebay sellers claimed to be who had (and still have) fake CHANGE prints up for sale. Curiouser and curioser…Thanks guys!
I actually am the one responsible for the craigslist ads — and I find it comical you are attempting to draw conclusions regarding their authenticity due to the placement of classified ads.I live in Chicago, and have a close friend, and co-worker who lives in LA. They are two huge markets and two huge Obama cities.Again though, I have no clue what your trying to get at here.
Well Matt, what we are "trying to get at here" is that you have been selling counterfeit Shepard Fairey Change prints. Many innocent buyers thought they were getting one of the original historic prints and paid a lot of money for it. When a few of these buyers realized that they had actually purchased a fake (or fakes) they rightly wanted their money back from you and other sellers of these fakes. And by the way, some of those secondary sellers purchased theirs from you. I guess you didn't realize that there would be many people who were very familiar with the iconic Change print and would recognize the fakes right away.The word is now out there and will stay out there. People will hopefully be much more careful before handing over hundreds of dollars for a Change print. We can't shut you down completely, but at least we can limit your efforts.
Hi Matt,Is Grosse Point Farms, Michigan located within the city of Chicago? Because your mailing address is in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. And the newspaper next to the prints in the picture is the DETROIT FREE PRESS…from MICHIGAN!Is there ANYTHING that you have actually said that is truthful?
A) The prints I am selling were distributed to staff via the campaign. We were told that they were the Shepard Fairey "Change" prints that were available on the site, and that there were 5,000 made. That is the extent too which I was told.B) I do live in Chicago, and if you would supply an email adress I will scan and then forward you my storage bill for the month. You see when you guys were on here talking about art for the last 8 months I was working on the campaign, during that time the lease on my apartment in Chicago (I will provide you building so you can call and verify) ran up. Seeing as though I was halfway across the country at the time I had to have movers go to my apartment, pack it up and take it to storage – where it remains right now.I haven't gotten a chance to re sign a lease because after the Obama campaign it was straight back to Georgia for the special election in the Senate, which I again worked on.Now, I will be in Chicago Sun-Tuesday looking at apartments, and squaring away my future employment which I start early January.The Grosse Pointe Farms address is my parents — crack work. I am staying here until I head back to Chicago, which when you think about it — seeing as though I got here Dec. 7th due to the GA special election isn't that long of a time outside the windy city.You all are making a lot of accusations, and jumping to a whole lot of conclusions. What you are doing to me and my reputation is unfair and unwarranted. I have done nothing wrong here, yet I have been called names and brandished things I would rather not say.The differences in color I cannot explain. I have spoken with multiple individuals with OFA, one who specifically helped set up the artists for Obama program and none of them knew anything about a second edition "Change" print.Now this is just what I know, and I would appreciate the name calling, and piling on to stop.
Tell you what Matt. You stop selling fake Shepard Fairey prints on Ebay and Craigslist and we'll stop calling you names. Sounds fair to me.
I have stopped since this was brought to my attention, however no one has been able to give me an answer as too why these were given to us and told that they were authentic.I need to reiterate the fact that I never knowingly solicited anything I knew was fake. I did solicit prints we were given and told, and still to this very day are being told, are authentic "Change" prints.You act as though I am some horrible person with bad intentions. If I knowingly was trying to get over on ppl would I be making any effort to explain myself, and look for an answer as too why the colors are different. I have emailed everything, literally everything to the ppl I had been working with. I am not trying to hide anything, I am willing to provide whatever would help answer the question about the color differences.I am not trying to get away with anything, and if you look at ANY of my listings you will see that they were made well before I knew or this issue was even out there. Since it has came to light, I haven't posted any listings whatsoever.You act as though I am not sitting here, telling you that I am willing to do whatever needed to make things right. That said, there needs to be a clear cut explanation of why mine are not authentic. I know you keep saying the color tones, and I see them, I am not denying them, but I also know that we were assured that they were authentic, and that they were part of the first edition prints.
Okay folks… give Matt a break, if he were truly a con would he go out of his way to try to explain himself in multiple posts?Regardless, buyers need to be more discerning when purchasing any Obama prints.On a different note:Does anyone know if any Change prints were actually printed on canvas and sold at the DNC (or distributed to West Coast Campaign Offices like Oregon)?
Matt, all is forgiven. Just give us the names and contact information for the people who keep telling you these prints are authentic. Want to buy an authentic Change print? But seriously Matt, sell your prints, but sell them for exactly what they are. State that the ink color is slightly different than the original 5000 sold at barackobama.com, say that the image was printed from the same plate as the originals, say they are printed on the exact same textured stock. But also say the numbers are forged and really don't mean a thing…and that experts have told you the prints are fakes… really good fakes! Many people would be happy to have a Change print, even a reproduction, at a fair price. Good Luck! And really, if you did work that hard for the Obama campaign we all owe you a big thank you. See, we're not so bad. We just don't like fake prints being sold as authentic. Good luck out there.
Hey CG… here's a link to a forum that talks about those canvas prints: There's a lot to plow through but you'll find what you're looking for.http://forum.expressobeans.com/viewtopic.php?t=18246Also, here's a sales history of those particular Change posters:http://www.expressobeans.com/public/detail.php/81909
I am actually going to refrain selling anything until I know what mine are (2nd edition, employee prints, etc). I will be happy to provide you the contact info, however I would rather do it through email and not post them here. I don't know if you want to provide an email address or what not, but that will not be a problem.The numbers aren't forged, or at least they weren't by me. The only way those numbers are fake is if someone at OFA took the in the week prior to the election and penciled them in — sometime between the printing process and the delivery to state HQ.
Matt, the numbers were written by someone with the intent to fool… so they were forged. I didn't say by you, I just said they were forged. OK… it's the weekend… I'm outta here.
Those Change prints on Ebay from the Chicago area are not fakes. We got them out of the OFA headquarters when we began closing it down the weekend after the election. Shepard signed all 200 of them and they were not sold through the store, but were delivered to HQ and were to be given to high dollar donors, lucky volunteers, and many Delegates- mostly from Illinois and Delaware. About 40 remained at the time of HQ's closing… I sold two of the prints this past week and was amazed at how many people kept asking me if they were fake. Now I know why, they must be reading your blog and sadly, getting some mis-information from an earlier comment. The buyer was kind enough to forward this link to me. Regardless, if originally sold through the store, they will have an original receipt. If they are one of the "First 200…" then they come with a letter and envelope (official letterhead and envelope from the campaign)thanking them for their support.I hope that clears this "First 200" matter up. Thank you for letting me post.
It's the old adage – "one bad apple spoils the whole bunch". There are fakes out there being advertised as real. They ruined it for everyone else. The artificial supply in the market palce eventually lowered prices for the Change posters, real and fake, affecting all sellers, honest and not so honest. When word got out about the fakes for sale, buyers became suspicious and everyone was suspect, lowering demand. The fakes will continue to be out there, despite the best efforts of many and the honest dealers and innocent buyers will continue to suffer financially for it. Bottom line, if you're an honest seller, be prepared for questions and provide answers. For buyers, be careful when making a purchase (I can't believe the number of Change posters that people buy without even seeing a decent photo of the actual print they are purchasing) and be sure you can get your money back from your seller if you discover you bought a fake, i.e., use PayPal.
Something else is going on here. I have owned one of these since they first hit barackobama.com and out of all the pictures, ranging from the supposed fake to real, I would say mine looks more like the fake one. I believe there is probably different colors perhaps because they were printed at different locations. By the way, mine came stock right from the website.
What is going on here is that some sellers on Ebay are slamming others in order to drive up their own prices…have you looked at listings lately? Everyone is screaming, "Don't buy fakes from others! I sell real ones."If sold through the Obama store, it will come with an original receipt. If low-numbered and sold from a staffer on the campaign, it will come with a letter to a Delegate to the Democratic convention, thanking them.By the way, the reason why so many legitimate prints come out of Chicago and L.A. is that Chicago was were the campaign was located, and Los Angeles is where most of the original art was purchased.
The only people protesting the existance of fake "Change" posters are the people trying to sell them. The final proof of there being fake "Change" posters in the market was the fact that two with the same number were known to exist. One was being sold privately by a known seller of fakes and the other had been sold on ebay back in June. The fake was in brand new condition, the other had damage. The authentic one sold in June came directly from the Obama website. I know because I was the owner of that print. The color difference is obvious to anyone who really knows these prints. Shepard Fairey's ink color palate for all his Obama prints this year does not match the inks used in the fake Changes. Photos are just a tool to help someone trying to figure out real vs. fake. The only way to truly judge the color difference is to have a real and a fake in front of you. When that happens, the color differences are obvious.The sellers on Ebay and in the online art forums and blogs – the ones who first noticed the fakes for sale and got the word out about them to the public are to be thanked. Many people paid a lot of $$$$ for a worthless poster. It was only right that all that could possibly be done to prevent that happening to others take place. And to hopefully get the word out to some who were fooled so that they could get a refund from the sellers.The honest sellers are not "slamming" others. They are merely attempting to get the word out. Prices on the "Change" prints have fallen because of the fakes and this has affected honest sellers. They have had to lower their prices or not sell at all until the fakes are out of ebay for good.As for the receipt from the obama webstore, as stated many times here, and in other places – the receipt is not proof of an original. They were generic and did not have a print number on them. They are easily reproduced. Knowing your seller and doing some research are your best bet. The reference in a much earlier comment to Chicago and LA fakes had to do with the fact that known sellers of fakes were coming out of those two ares, and other areas as well. As I said when I started off, the only people trying to say there aren't any fakes are the people who were selling them and who would like to sell more. They had a pretty nice racket going there for a while and I know they are pissed off it isn't working on ebay anymore.
The following informations is for current Ebay auctions selling FAKE "CHANGE" by Shepard Fairey prints. There may be others, but these are for sure. Seller ID: "mel8141" #1877/5000 $500www.Ebay.co auction number: 270323862370Seller ID: "thecheat!" #260/5000$100 – $450www.Ebay.com auction number:200292973163Auction numberI will try to list all fakes as they come up for sale.
Well "Anonymous", I hope you will publish all fakes on EBAY based on what you, "Anonymous", hold to be truthful. Me? I'll think for myself, thank you!You listed two just now that you claim are fakes. What is is about these two items on EBAY that are "fake"? Do tell.You say that you are not "slamming" other sellers? I call bull on that! EBAY listings are loaded with sellers slamming other sellers claiming any print out of Chicago must be a fake. Or take the much earlier post on this blog, the writer, also "Anonymous", claims that fakes are being sold if they are numbered low and that they "look fake, must be a scam"… again, no proof, just clowns trying to sell their own prints on EBAY at the expense of other sellers…perhaps at the expense of sellers who have lower-numbered prints (more valuable)?I think that there is plenty of info out there for people to make sound decisions. Earlier posts were kind enough to include photographic comparisons to determine which is which. Information is given out to determine the history of the prints.But just slamming people, and not offering proof? What is that about?!
New info regarding two color versions of CHANGE:http://forum.expressobeans.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=18246&start=945Not sure if it's true, but sure makes sense. Seems first printing was not ok'd by Shepard Fairey. Those were distributed to campaign offices.Another printing was done with the lighter colors and ok'd. That was the official version then sold on the Obama website.
There's just too many fakes out there on ebay to list 'em all any more. There's also a lot of originals. If I were unfamiliar with Shepard Fairey's CHANGE print I would be very, very, very careful when attempting to purchase on. That's the sad thing about the fakes creeping into the market like they did. They ruin it for everyone. 😦
And thankfully, we know how to determine the fakes from the real ones…
We do?
You are all wrong on this. There are two color ways that the print came out as. One was rejected by Shepard for having the wrong colors but the batch wasn't destroyed, hence the brighter colorway that you see proliferating the net. The second more muted colorway was the reprint that you all think are the "authentic" ones. If you knew much about Shepard Fariey you wouldn't be surprised to see this kind of a discrepancy. Do some more fact checking before you start raising the alarm. You might learn something.
John,I have read this theory of the two colorways, but only know it as a possibility of an explanation. Is there any proof out there of this theory? Has Shepard Fairey officially announced this as fact? I am not criticizing, just trying to find out the truth. Also, I think that those who first noticed the different colors and attempted to make the public aware should not be faulted. I believe they too were only trying to find out exactly what was going on and to inform consumers so that they would be fully aware of what they were purchasing. The fact that the "faded" colorway was the one issued by http://www.barackobama.com is an important piece of information to have. The complete truth behind the "brighter" colorway remains a mystery.Any factual information you could put forth would be welcomed.Thanks!
is Ebay seller, jamesjrrob is selling item number 320331765708He copied someone else's listing and is trying to make a quick buck…zero feedback. He was reported to ebay ten minutes ago. that exact print just sold on ebay yesterday! jamesjrrob copied the listing but does not have the print, as it sold to another seller yesterday for $1,250.00
Ebay auctions with counterfeit CHANGE prints up for sale today:deidre59 #1742, #1744, #1745changetheworld2008 #3099tyler7225 #3960, #395974super4ever #3961pistolwhip #1873pacman2008 #812, #1439, #1552
How do you know these are fake? I have been trawling through trying to find an original and did contact them. Tried to contact pacman2008 but appeared non-registered for a day but is now back on. Are these different in colour or could they be the first different coloured run someone spoke of? 3 of Deirdre59's & 74super4ever are listed on Expresso Bean under Ist edition? Does anyone know who decides on that site what is real and what is fake?
You can tell those are fakes because of the color scheme. Blues too bright (on original the blues are muted). Red too red (on the authorized print it is more red/orange). Unless you're very familiar with the CHANGE print you wouldn't know the difference. But if you are looking for an original first edition, don't buy those. Plus, they're only worth about $50 max. It's the originals that are worth much more. Unfortunately, some buyers ended up paying top dollar for fakes. Expresso Beans tries to list sales as correctly as possible, but their charts can only be as good as the information entered into them. If someone says they are selling an original, EB lists it as such. They can't possibly police every Ebay sale.
i just wanted to point out what someone showed me yesterday. if you look at the comparison photos of the real and fake images and compare that to the stock image posted on barack's official webstore, that image matches the "fake" one. http://store.barackobama.com/v/vspfiles/images/changeposter-so.jpgi know this doesn't change anything but i thought it was interesting.
ive order prints from daniel lahoda. and i never got anything. i called and emailed this guy. he is the biggest scam artist. dont buy from this guy!! posters or anything. you have been warned!!
SCAM. trust me its like throwing your money away.