eBay's Authenticity Guarantee Rejection - Am I missing something here?
 

Let me know if I am missing something here.

This is my latest experience with eBay’s Authenticity Guarantee program. According to eBay, this is how it works for graded trading cards.

If a graded card sells for more than $250, the card will be shipped to an authenticator for inspection. The PSA authenticator will check the sealed plastic holder for signs of tampering before verifying that the holder and label are authentic to the grader. The label is also checked against the listing details.

The item that I sold was a baseball program that was autographed by Vin Scully. It was graded as Authentic by PSA. It sold for over $250, so off to the authenticator it went.

Today I received an eMail saying that they can’t provide their Authenticity Guarantee. The reason was because the item was miscategorized. I had it under Sporting Goods/Sports Mem, Cards & Fan Shop/Sports Trading Cards/Trading Card Singles. They did not say which category it actually belongs under.

Under the Authenticity Guarantee program, it says that the label is checked against the listing details. It does not mention category. I do not see what category has to do with whether an item is Authentic or not.

The actual label says “Program, Vin Scully, PSA/DNA Certified Authentic Auto”. My listing says “Program is Autographed by Sporstcaster Vin Scully. Scully’s autograph is graded by PSA/DNA as Authentic” .

Their decision is final and I cannot appeal their decision. Am I missing something here?

It's just that it's not a trading card, which is all that the guarantee process covers. I guess you'd just need to list it under an autograph category or they even have a vintage sports publications/programs category.

So what are they doing with the item? Returning it to you or sending it to the buyer?

I just had my first item(graded card) as a seller go to the authenticator and it arrived there yesterday and was mailed to the buyer today.

Am I missing something?

Why did you list your program as a trading card when it's not?

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My listing description and heading never mentioned trading card. I had no choice but to ship it to their authenticators.

I guess the Category is what triggers whether a card goes to an authenticator or not. Since I accidentally listed it under Trading cards, it might have triggered it.

It would have been nice for eBay to actually point that out beforehand, so people would know that Category is the controlling force.

They are sending it to the buyer with a note saying that the card did not meet eBay's Authenticity Guarantee.
I am hoping that buyer sees beyond that because he now has the option to return it.

Because accidents happen.

Send the buyer a message explaining what is happening/has happened. Head off any potential problems.

For clarification - the program was encapsulated by PSA as an authentic autograph? Is that correct?

If so, this is just another incident to add to the list of ridiculous actions that occurs in this hobby. If it's in a PSA holder then I'd be scratching my head wondering WTF?

When it comes to fleabay and TPGs, there's probably not much that should surprise anyone.

Already did.

Yes, it was already slabbed and authenticated by PSA. I understand that they want to make sure that the slab hasn't been tampered with.
It's all leading up to another way where eBay can start charging us another fee.

:eek:

I’m waiting for the next step by eBay to charge for this great and glorious service. eBay isn’t doing this for the good of the collecting community, it eventually will be a revenue driver for them. It’s coming trust me!

It is new to cards but eBay has been authenticating other items for over 2 years without any fee for the service. I see it as staying a free thing for buyers.

They’ve been promoting this program for close to a year now for trading cards.

How are they supposed to know when someone lists an item in the wrong category?

just put "set break" in the title and you'll never have to deal with this stupidity again. Or, offer the item plus a common card, same result.

This. The answer is really, really obvious. Of course the trading card program covers… trading cards.

You're right, but you're mad at EBay because they didn't catch your mistake? Its not EBay's job to double -check your listing, its your job.

That loophole doesn’t work anymore.

I would be willing to bet a soda that eventually eBay charges for this service. I think there is a 98% chance... They don't do anything that won't make them more money. My guess, and it's only a guess, is they are still evaluating how much they can charge, if they can charge for it at all. If they can't, I see the program going away.

and cards

.

Well....I hate to break it to them, but Ebay isn't the only place to sell cards. I bet Lee, Al, Scott, and a slew of others would love to pick up the slack.

They seem to have caught on to "Set Break" in the title--try it for yourself by listing a card above the price threshold. Somehow, "Set" and "Set Br" still work for me, though.

I'll take that bet. Everybody has their own crystal ball, but my guess is this is already a success for ebay, for a couple reasons. It's probably a lot easier and a lot cheaper to manage their fake card problem this way than before. I expect they used to spend a lot of time and money chasing down sellers for refunds for the fakes they sold, and trying to decide disputes when the seller said they sent a card and the buyer said they didn't get it, or got something not as described. They compensated buyers in many cases even when they couldn't collect from the sellers. I don't know how high a cost that ebay had for fraud, but I am sure it was a lot.

I also expect that ebay is making more money now because transaction volume has likely gone up. Buyers and sellers both can have more confidence that large transactions are legit, which should result in more items put up for sale, and more bidding on them.

Ebay fees are too high already. They need to continue to look at ways to be more efficient, so they can start taking their fees down. Paying a 15% transaction cost on card sales is ridiculous, it suppresses the market. I think many of us would put more cards up for sale if fees were lower. I don't see ebay raising their fees again.

I find it interesting that everyone complains on here about all the fakes on eBay and yet when eBay tries to do something about it they complain about that too. I think some people in here just like to complain, period.

Hey Ed, you weren't complaining about people complaining were you? :p

What would happen if ebay began encapsulating cards for a nominal charge. What if they only deemed the card either A (Authentic) or AA (Authentic Altered). Once it's in one of their holders, it's good to go for any sale on ebay. Would people be interested in something like that? That would be assuming they actually had people examining the stuff that had a clue about it.

Annoying Waste of time and money
 

I hate this program with all my being. I see it as a waste of time and money. Takes over twice as long to get my item. Who is this supposed to protect the 1% that knows knowing about what they are buying and somehow gets taken.
This is just another example of someone not thinking and just providing a service that no one really needs. I would rather protection from the idiots that way over grade raw cards or that don't mention damage and expect you to see it from the horrible pictures.

If this protection was just for higher value cards I would see it as more logicial say couple grand or more, but the cap is way to low.

James G

Every post about this program has people bitching. People HAVE to have things immediately in this amazon world.

This program is great for sellers. Once item is authenticated, likelihood of returns drops massively. I haven’t sold on ebay for years but have started again since they started this program.

As a buyer, I have no issues either. Why wouldn’t you want someone checking to verify there isn’t hidden damage or something the seller missed? I’ll take this all day for a few days of extra waiting. Much easier than getting something that wasn’t as described and then going through the return process.

When I think everyone is wrong, I generally look in the mirror. Just sayin'
.

I would guess the 1% number really represents the amount of people that could spot a well done altered card or a good fake slab with a real flip.

I feel the same way. I never sold higher end cards on eBay before because of all the problems that can happen. Now I would have no problem with doing it because of this amazing program.


This program has been going on with sneakers for a little over 2 years. You used to be able to spot a lot of fake Nike sneakers on eBay. Now not so much so it is working very well.

James, it will be okay. It's just a trading card site, it's not worth it getting worked up about it. Try to think about something else.

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There’s two posts on the first page of this forum about the program.

Both instances are people not understanding how it works and blaming the auth guarantee.

For experienced sellers who list things honestly, correctly and to the best of their ability, maybe not so much. Not everyone needs a pair of half-flat training wheels or an inept Big Brother watching over their transactions.

Obviously you’ve never sold something on ebay and had a shady buyer return it 3 weeks later claiming “item not as described” because the value of the card dropped, they changed their mind etc

Ebay shortening the return window was a great first step. Combining that with a third party verifying the seller’s description and you finally have a seller experience that takes away a significant amount of risk.

Besides additional shipping time, I have no idea how anyone would not like this program. People just complain to complain or hate change so much that everything new must be bad. I dont get it.

For honest sellers, it keeps shady buyers from ripping you off by claiming they never got it, or it was somehow compromised.

For honest buyers, it keeps shady sellers from ripping you off by claiming they sent it when they didn't, or it was somehow compromised.

I'm all for it as a way to keep goons from profiting off of me on eBay. But apparently I'm in the minority.

I got you, bro! The Man is keeping us down. Power to the people!


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