Ebay Authentication is a real head-scratcher

[Gorditadogg]

Originally Posted by G1911

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.

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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[G1911]

Originally Posted by Gorditadogg

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.

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

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?

[raulus]

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.

[Yoda]

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.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by Yoda

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.

[Eric72]

Originally Posted by Yoda

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.

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.

[55koufax]

I spoke of my unfortunate plight above in this thread re the 1980 R Henderson RC in PSA 8.5 I won on eBay, only to have it rejected by the eBay authentication process.

Guess what I received from PSA yesterday: Dear _______,

Another member is attempting to add the following item to their inventory:

Certification Number: 14151601
Grade: 8.5
Description: 1980 TOPPS 482 RICKEY HENDERSON

Incredible, in that after I won and paid 4SC I added it t my registry, forgot all about during the eBay authentication-rejection process. Now I get a removal req from PSA? So someone else somehow OWNS THE EXACT SAME REJSTED CARD in PSA 8.5, just like it NEVER GOT REJECTED. How about that?

Of course the card is fine, of course it was repurchased only TWO weeks after I won it on eBay, which means in like a day or so after REJECTION, it was reauctioned as a BIN for likely quite a bit more than I won it for.

This whole thing SMELLS.

What can I do? The 1/30 listing BIN below was two weeks after my winning it for $150 less than the BIN asking $$$ I am t***s

1/30/2023 $599.99 Listing
Image BIN eBay ronniegilbreath1 s***t - ! -
1/16/2023 $449.00 Image 35 eBay 4_sharp_corners t***s[

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by 55koufax

I spoke of my unfortunate plight above in this thread re the 1980 R Henderson RC in PSA 8.5 I won on eBay, only to have it rejected by the eBay authentication process.

Guess what I received from PSA yesterday: Dear _______,

Another member is attempting to add the following item to their inventory:

Certification Number: 14151601
Grade: 8.5
Description: 1980 TOPPS 482 RICKEY HENDERSON

Incredible, in that after I won and paid 4SC I added it t my registry, forgot all about during the eBay authentication-rejection process. Now I get a removal req from PSA? So someone else somehow OWNS THE EXACT SAME REJSTED CARD in PSA 8.5, just like it NEVER GOT REJECTED. How about that?

Of course the card is fine, of course it was repurchased only TWO weeks after I won it on eBay, which means in like a day or so after REJECTION, it was reauctioned as a BIN for likely quite a bit more than I won it for.

This whole thing SMELLS.

What can I do? The 1/30 listing BIN below was two weeks after my winning it for $150 less than the BIN asking $$$ I am t***s

1/30/2023 $599.99 Listing
Image BIN eBay ronniegilbreath1 s***t - ! -
1/16/2023 $449.00 Image 35 eBay 4_sharp_corners t***s[

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