Ebay Authentication is a real head-scratcher
 

I just bought a graded card on eBay for first time in a long time. I knew about the Authentication process, but this is my first experience with it. I bought and paid for the card on 4/10. It shipped 4/11 and arrived at the authenticators 4/13. It’s showing an eta to my door for 4/25. That’s essentially a 12 day delay in me receiving my card. I find it very hard to believe that they’re catching enough bad slabs to make it worth holding everyone else’s slabs hostage for two weeks. This feels like it’s going to get very old very fast for buyers. Is that a normal turn around time?

thats why i buy cards under $250 ..just my two cents

I see why. This whole thing just leaves me with so many questions. It can’t be cheap to ship thousands of cards all around the country, repackage them, then do it all again - let alone labor costs….and for what? Catching the .01% of cards they send back?

I recently purchased a card that went through this process, and had a similar issue. It took more than twice as long to get from authenticator to me than from seller to authenticator.

ebay is ebay

Will this program last or not looks like it will but adds time

I think it is really more the problem of WHO was selected by Ebay to review the graded cards going through their Authentication Program (AP). I've only had one Ebay purchase have to go through their AP, but it was for a raw card, that goes to an entirely different TPG. And it got to me a lot faster than what everyone else who's had a graded card go through the AP has said it took for them to finally get their cards. Still, the ultimate, overall fault/responsibility lies with Ebay, since they're the ones who selected the TPG to do the review of graded cards for their AP, and not you or I. But the specific fault seems to lie with the TPG doing the review of graded cards being damn slow!

Maybe the worst part is, you can't even directly complain to this TPG since you didn't hire and aren't paying them. And if you try complaining to Ebay, I'm guessing they'll just blow you off and say something like they leave the authentication work up to, and don't otherwise control, this TPG doing it, and/or that you aren't being charged for anything, so there's really nothing for you to be complaining about.

Now, if more and more customers did start complaining to Ebay about the long delays, and even more importantly, figured out a way to start cancelling purchases because of these delays, THEN I think you might start to see Ebay pay a little attention. But we all know that when it comes to card collectors it seems, "Stuff trumps all!", and Ebay knows that very, very well. So, people may complain, but until it somehow actually begins to have an effect on Ebay's bottom line, don't go holding your breath on any changes to how long the AP process may take, anytime soon, IMO.

I recently bought two PM10 pins on eBay in one lot.....Seller was unaware of the fact that when he listed, they would be sent to Authenticator.......It took 15 days to get to me after being sent from Seller to Authenticator....eBay sent me an email when they hit Authentication that they couldn't authenticate......the pins were real and vintage and I had no issue with them....when they arrived, eBay included a note that they were sent to the Authenticator in error.....

I needed both pins for the collection and knew I would have to wait for them a while if I won....

WAFJ.......

I stay away from auctions on eBay where Authentication is involved...

I disagree with but understand the raw card version, the graded version with the PSA rubber-stamp where they do nothing is just absurd. There is no real value in it to anyone except PSA who gets paid to glance at a slab, go 'yep, that's a slab', and cash the check.

I've bought and sold multiple cards through their authentication. It always was delivered well before their ETA seems they just try to cover themselves with an extended ETA.

. It does a lot more than catch .01%. It catches people that never send the item. It catches buyers who say they never received the item or wrong item. I really see no problem with this.

To me, its worth the extra time to be sure the slab wasn't tampered with and is genuine.

People complained for years that EBay did nothing to stop fraud, now EBay finally does something and then people complain about minor inconvenience.

What happens to a slab, for sale again, that already authenticated and has the stickers on it? Does that have to go again, second time thru the (AP) or does this sell normally? I’m sorry if I missed this in another thread.

It goes through authentication every time, someone could've tampered with it in between.

I've bought a few slabs that went through authentication also, and I agree that the initial ETA was always significantly longer than when I actually received the card. Usually it's 1-2 days from when it arrives at the authenticator to when I am notified that authentication was complete and the card is shipped out again.

I see no problem either. It’s just that I have literally never had an issue with any of those scenarios. Maybe I’m just lucky.

Hahaha. Just received this from ebay. This is laughable. What a waste of resources.


“Hi Conor,

We wanted to let you know that your order (below) is on the way, but unfortunately we can’t provide the Authenticity Guarantee you were expecting. The item was miscategorized when it was listed and isn’t eligible for this service. We know this may be disappointing and we’ve contacted the seller to let them know about the error in their listing.”.

At least you gotta reply with a reason for rejection..
 

About 6 - 8 weeks back I eBay W'd a 1980 Rickey RC in PSA 8.5 auctioned by 4SC. I was thrilled it was "only" $450. Come to find out about two weeks later, it was rejected by the Authenticator.

I was never once informed of this. I had to figure it out on my own. Thank goodness I have a relationship with 4SC and was able to communicate to them about it. Unfortunately, they did not deliver on their promise to sell me the card directly for the same price after they rec'd it back. I see they auctioned an 8.5 off again a few weeks after my plight ended. My guess it was the same card. They got $525. Wonder if it passed the second time? My guess is it did.

Many here will think this system works and is a good thing in that they feel the authenticator caught an error in the original grading process. Why then was there zero explanation presented to me, the LOSER BUYER who thought he had a great under VCP buy at $450? If PSA throws a card in a slab and then basically tells their clients they F'd up, how does that make them look?
Unfortunately for me, I have 22,000 other PSA slabs that could be in question...

I can't imagine anyone likes the slowdown by going through some additional process but the protection it provides both buyer and seller seems to be worth it. As a seller of a PSA slabbed $15k+ card not long ago there, I was very happy to list the card there since I had the added protection that an ebay proxy would actually see I shipped the right thing and it was exactly what I had said it was.

The authentication on ebay isn't that new at this point so it should be a known thing by now by most ebay users.

Other posters have commented about inadequate communication from ebay when a card does not pass authentication, so it does seem like that part of the process could be improved. I've bought and sold dozens of cards since eBay started the authentications, and have never had one rejected, so I don't have the personal experience you do.

When PSA does their review of the slab, they are looking at the holder. They are supposed to make sure it is not a fake slab, or a re-sealed slab, or a slab with a phony label. If PSA rejects a slab because they think it is fake or tampered with or damaged, why would you still want it?

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It happens and this authentication covers both seller and buyer. Buyer’s remorse (?) results in claims of case tampering, post office failing to scan as delivered results in buyer claiming he never received the card, purchase results in a psa graded card is a raw 80s reprint upon arrival. I’ve had all these scenarios, with Net54 threads for each. This fixes that B.S.

They will also reject the slab if the slab itself has a condition which was not described in the listing or title. Significant scratching, any crack, chips, etc. However, all of these can be resolved with a reslab (or freeing the card, as many on here enjoy), so it seems a bit overzealous.

Because I will break the slab and free the card inside as soon as it arrives, so I don’t care at all if the slab is damaged or tampered or fake. I don’t need an opinion seller to validate it is their opinion and risk them killing a deal that I of my own free will have chosen to make.

They review the slab and are supposed to ensure that the item matches the description and auction. Even the later can be useless or an outright bad thing for me. Example, I bought a very rare boxing card last month, in a set where 2 boxers have similar names. One of them is an extreme hobby rarity, one of them is worth maybe 2% as much. My winning bid was $3,381 plus tax and shipping. The listing accidentally names the card as the cheap one, but the photos made clear which card it is. It was absolutely listed wrong, and so PSA could reject it against the wishes of both buyer and seller. Thankfully they don’t know the difference and let me have my card, but it’s a process that at the best ads delay and at worst can unilaterally nix deals for me.

The whole program is a really bad joke. If you buy a slabbed card and you know what you are buying, the buyer should have the option of opting out for the transaction. So far, the only thing I find is it delays a card getting here. I also believe it clogs up the submissions to CSG as their grader/ authenticators are being used to look at stuff from this stupid program. Ugh

EBay could eventually add an opt out if both buyer and seller agree. The program protects sellers too so theres no chance EBay would add an opt out for buyer only, unless they add a clause saying if the buyer opts out, all sales are final, zero refunds.

I could see that happening.

That would never happen. That's basically opening up ebay buyers to widespread fraud.

Greg, we all know what you think, you've told us all about your hustle 100 times now. I am really sorry for you that ebay doesn't let you take advantage of ignorant sellers like they used to. Hopefully you can find some other way to do that.

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Well, I see quite a few posts by buyers who hate the program and want a buyer opt out. If they trust the seller that much and they don't need anyone elses opinion, EBay should let them opt out with a "tough crap" caveat.

How is it this a hustle? I paid near to double what the cards previous high sale is. Anyone looking for it surely saw it with the set break. This is the 2nd time it has been mentioned on this forum. Yes, I participate in multiple threads, as you have. How is that taking advantage of an ignorant seller? You’ve never bid on a card with an error in the listing?

Or are you just a prick?

Instead of a new thread, another AG data point
 

A short little story about my own AG experience, just happened yesterday.

TLDR: I am a fan of the AG program, and continue to be. My experience is that the communication is solid, which gives the buyer some options if stuff goes awry.

Last week I purchased a rare raw Marichal card for $2k (see pics below). As part of the AG program, the seller shipped it to the authenticator (I think CSG in this case). The authenticator authenticated the card, but in the process, identified a couple of small creases that were not disclosed in the listing. The authenticator contacted me to ask if I still wanted the card. My options were to:

1) Proceed with my purchase, or
2) Return it to the seller for a full refund

After a bit of thinking and some close inspection of the scans from the authenticator pointing out the creases, I decided to proceed with my purchase. In large part, this is because I concluded that it was still a good deal for this item, even with the very small creases.

This is actually the 2nd time that the AG has contacted me because there was an issue with an item that I had purchased. The last time it was because a graded item had a case that popped open. Both times, the authenticator contacted me to give me the option of either rejecting the item for a full refund, or accepting the item as-is.

There does seem to be a limited window for making this decision. If you don't decide within 3 days, then they automatically cancel the order and ship the item back to the seller. My guess is that others have experienced problems because they're not getting these messages, or because they're not responding within the 3 day window, and so the transaction gets mysteriously cancelled with what appears to be no communication.

I can only assume the only reason Ebay introduced this program was to enhance customer satisfaction. As we can see from our own board, reviews are mixed. They certainly aren't making any money from it and I suspect if it becomes too much of a loss leader, then they will shut it down or charge for it.

Read Post #9.

https://www.net54baseball.com/showth...72#post2334372

Not saying it is a certainty, but does make sense from a potential planning standpoint.

The more money eBay spends authenticating these cards, the more money they're making on the sale of high-value cards.

While the authentication companies are taking their fees, I'm sure eBay is still making money off this program. The alternatives include (a) sellers taking their high-value cards elsewhere and (b) incurring losses for fraud. There have been numerous cases in which eBay has both refunded a buyer AND allowed the seller to keep their money.

This totally sucks...
 

This is the exact reason that I received a refund today. Not really sure what was wrong with the slab, but I’m glad the protection is there and that I got my money back.

They also could have had the card reholdered so it has a new slab with the same serial number.

Update to the story. I contacted eBay and talked to someone who explained the situation to me. Apparently, the seller sent a less valuable card for authentication. Honest mixup, or sketchy? Seems a little funny to me. At least I got a refund.

I am fine with the program...except their security sticker practically fell off the baggie on my first one, so I have an empty certified holder for reuse.

My main concern is that day when we get the email:

Great News!


In our ongoing effort to eradicate fraud, we are expanding the eBay authenticity guarantee program to all cards and autographs selling for over $50. Your items will be sent to an authenticator we select at the low, low cost to sellers of 5% of the sale price plus shipping both ways. You can opt out of the program at any time by selling your sports crap on whatnot. We want to be Amazon, not a virtual flea market. In the meantime, and as always, go screw yourself.