Everyone loves their favourite online reseller, Amazon, and all the great and varied products offered in one massive store. Put in a search word and… Boom! Thousands of products appear ready for you to click that little oblong yellow box named: “Add to Cart”. Most purchases arrive next day, especially if you are an Amazon Prime member. Notifications happen the moment your items are about to be shipped, when they’re on their way, and when they’ve been delivered. Returns are easy too, in case you ever have buyers remorse (LOL….unlikely I know), or if your item is damaged or defective in any way. Bezos be praised for his glorious creation!
I am a Tarot Deck enthusiast, collector and reader and have just now started to create an oracle deck for my own personal use. This process has given me an immense appreciation for the amount of work, talent and perseverance needed to get a deck from concept to the online store. How I view my decks is that they are like little art exhibits, held snugly in a tuck box until I feel the need to look upon them and disappear into my imagination. Like a good story, Tarot weaves a tale that mimics life and the images painted for each card may reveal some things in your life that are like the gripping plot twists of a mystery, romance or horror novel. Some decks are read for questions around love, money and career, and some to help heal the wounded heart and mind. Truly there is a deck for every occasion, reason and genre.
Decks that have the artists signature style will appeal to some and not others, but guaranteed there is a deck for every taste and interest. My collection is very eclectic with a lot of ‘Indie’ decks occupying space on my bookshelf and I will pay extra for a deck that would be deemed to be a limited edition because I hope one day my collection will be owned by someone who appreciates it as much as I do.
Sadly, knock-offs, fakes, counterfeits are everywhere and no where more prominently than on Amazon. They may look identical to the original creators deck, but many people who order fakes report many differences from ‘real’ decks they own. Fakes being sold on Amazon are almost always sold in a tuck box, are usually smaller than the original creators deck size, have very cheap card stock and finish, and may have a holographic appearance or visible printing flaws. I suppose if you are financially in hard times and can’t afford a $40 deck (or more)… a $20 deck would be within your budget and I suppose the argument can be made that any deck you can get your hands on is a deck worth having. A one-off counterfeit purchase can certainly be forgiven as most newbies to the Tarot world do not know much about Tarot, let alone the history and the means by which Tarot decks have made their way into the modern world. Some people want a quick fix, want to seem witchy and ‘occultist’, and want to be part of the growing Tarot world and so won’t really care where their cards come from or that the images used to make their deck have been stolen from the original creator in order to make mass produced counterfeits.
Some may ask, “What harm is there in buying a fake deck?” Let’s say Leonardo Da Vinci lived in modern times, where he could make not only original pieces of art, but also limited edition prints. The original Mona Lisa painting would be most valuable of all the items he produced and would rightfully be put in a museum or private collection where it and it’s value could be protected and appreciated. The limited edition prints would be for the masses to purchase, but at a price that would compensate the artist for the cost of printing, boxing, marketing and shipping and for hosting a website where people could go to get more information about the artist and his work.
Now, lets say someone takes a very good photocopy of a print they bought and then put a listing on Facebook Marketplace or Shopify selling them for $20 each. Their cost for paper and ink is $2 and the buyer pays the shipping. So the ‘counterfeiter’ makes an $18 profit in their jeans and the buyer owns the Mona Lisa. However, what does such a transaction do to the value of all the legitimate Mona Lisa’s out there in the world? And how does Leonardo continue to produce masterpieces when he isn’t fairly compensated for the work he has produced? How will he buy supplies when there are no buyers for his limited edition prints when photocopies are being sold for cheap? Let us not even think about the effect on the man who felt the need to create because there was a genuine appreciation for his art, but who now is discouraged from creating because he knows the effect is his work inevitably ending up on shower curtains, coffee mugs, and tote bags?
What does all this mean to you as a Tarot enthusiast? It means that the truly unique and valuable decks that are already out there are being counterfeited as we speak because there is a market for fakery and people would rather have cheap than authentic.
There is no doubt that fake decks are taking over the Amazon listings and it is getting harder to find a true and genuine creator produced deck online unless you go the artists website or a reputable seller like Llewellyn or US Games. My suggestion is that you consider that the deck you want to buy tomorrow came from the sweat and blood and often tears of the artist who wanted their artistic vision to go not only into your online cart, but into your mind, and heart and soul.
Please read the info from US Games Inc. on how to spot a fake deck so you can shop online with greater confidence – otherwise, I suggest finding a local retailer to help you find what your looking for. Retailers buy from reputable sellers who work directly with producers of decks, so you’ll always know the deck you buy is genuine, plus, you’ll be supporting local business owners and not Jeff Bezos.
A Passion For Tarot 
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