Here is a list of eBay users who sell forgeries and fakes on eBay. Buying from these sellers is an almost certain guarantee that you are buying a fake (probably Russian).

greatstuffoncd
larisa-rem
proboris
mixiclip
luckyrainbowrose

The following sellers do not pretend to be selling original Japanese releases - not directly anyway... They sell items that look identical to the Japanese release, including obis etc, without saying whether it is, or is not, from Japan. They also may sell minis with Japanese obis etc, that have never actually been released in Japan (eg. most Beatles releases or unusual Hendrix releases).

freddie578
maidenironheart
rockincds4986
ruth0026
sparrowflyintheair
villecds

... more to follow but please feel free to add more ...

As far as home made boxes (perhaps very good quality but, none the less, unauthorised) the following sellers sell boxes that look like Manufacturer / Disk Union boxes but are in fact "fakes":

biz-estate
mini-lp-collector

Other suspects:

fenderfanclub
dd_records
united5455
roycollection
ekarinae
cdswarehouse

Note: I reviewed all of the above sellers on 10-Dec-2009 and all of them except the box sellers were still active but had no items listed!

There seems to be a plethora of fraudulent sellers at the moment, including some of the ones you have mentioned above. I have been looking at John Lennon Mini LP's and MOST of the ones on ebay are definitely fakes (or copies of Japanese CD's). I have Mind Games, Walls and Bridges and Plastic Ono Band already (which I bought in Japan) and comparing those to what are on ebay there are subtle differences ( and sometimes not so subtle ones). One of the things they seem to love to put on the back of the cover is Made In England, where the Japanese ones state Made in Japan. Another difference on Walls and Bridges is that in the lyric insert, on the Japanese version the track titles and in Bold CAPITALS and on the 'copy' they are in bold miniscule (small) letters. Also the CD has an Apple label on the Japanese and a Lennon to Ono label on the 'copy'.

I'm sure that there are many other differences, too many to mention here.

I'm sure Sam would agree with me when I say to be very careful when buying from Finnish and Russian sellers.

Just to let you all know. On ebay at the moment is a mini LP of J. lennon's Imagine being sold by maidenironheart.

It didn't look right (I have the Japanese version), so I emailed him to find out what the catalogue number for it was. Here is his/her reply:-

Hello,

Thank you for your message,

The information from the cover is PAS 10004 (1E 0640 o 04914). I have plenty of this CDs, just let me know the number you want.

Kind regards,
Peter.

- maidenironheart

Now, I don't like to make assumptions (too much), but, unless he was a shop or the owner of the rights to this LP, how come he has "plenty of this CDs"?

I would think this is another seller for the lists.

Thanks Conrad - yes, all the current standards there - added to the list.

Got another one for you today... but with a sad tale to go with it.

As you will know, I have only just started to collect Mini LPs and when I see something I want on ebay, I can go for it without looking at the small print.
This has just happened to me!
About a week ago I saw 3 10cc Mini LPs up for sale (Buy Now) quite cheap and bought them. Once I had paid, I realised that the vendor was from Finland (oh-oh). I thought I would give him the benfit of the doubt, as the photos used looked like the real thing (as seen on this site). How wrong I was!! The CDs arrived this morning.
1. The vendor said he was from Finland, but the CDs came from St. Petersburg, Russia.
2. One of the CDs had bad typos (Bloody Tourists.... called Bloody Tourist on the CD).
3. All had very badly printed obi's and Japanese notes.
4. They just didn't feel right (I'm sure you know what I mean)>

Anyway, having reported him to Ebay for selling fakes AND for misinterpreting where the CDs came from, I thought I had better warn all of you (I'm not sure you need warning) and say that I will NOT be doing that again.

The Vendors name is villecds

Chgeers
ConradWZ

I wish I had read the list regarding fake selling ebayers before buying a load of mini lp's from ruth0026. She is still trading on ebay and marked as living in Estonia but all CDs are despatched from a st.petersburg address in russia?? Packaging and disc all complied with the fake/counterfeit detailing on this sites Fakes web page. Seller declined to have the items returned as knew they were worthless, and continues to sell despite 3 complaints from me to ebay. Got money refunded and as a parting gift, left honest feedback re counterfeit, to deter other ebayers from falling into same trap. It must be said that ruth0026 has been an exception thus far and all other sellers have been excellent. recommendations would go to pop165 and lesterfredric who appear to only deal with genuine articles. paolo.

ps. thanks for the great site

in order to avoid fake minies, ask about detailed pictures of the mini lp, sleeve, etc. usually sellers of the fake stuff don't reply. so, that gets the subject clear. the other thing is, as i've seen on ebay, sellers registered in russia, estonia and latvia... can't tell anything bad about the sellers from china... in most of the cases they sell original stuff...
that's it...
regards,
George

All the know chinese mini lps sellers sell original stuff. The only you must check is if it´s "Promo" (with sticker over the bar code and tiny text on the CD center ring), or "cutout". Most of them come from destockage and are true unopened originals.

Not only seller of fakes from Russia, also from UK and USA. Is better to check our sellers list here. But as a rule of thumb do these 2 things first:

1.- Check this page, if the product is on sale here, take care:
- salerussia.com

2.- Never buy mini lps from sellers that use stock pictures, all the good sellers picture by himself the minis, never use ebay stock pictures or info.

Just a quick note re fake sellers. I noted that villecds had been noted earlier but seems to have ceased, but from Finland again, we have the sudden appearance of millavers. Same abba, beatles, hendrix catalogue. Suggest adding to list if not already on.

Hi all,

The 1st message on this thread: is it a complete list "so far"? (I mean, has this list been updated?

Willie