Ebay guarantee authenticity program
 

Just wondering if anyone has any experience with ebay's new Guarantee Authenticity program. I sent my first card off to them yesterday as required by the program. It is a raw Christy Mathewson W516-2. I'm just really concerned about who is going to be "authenticating" the card and if they are qualified to make decisions on cards that are 100 years old. This card is of course hand cut. Do they check the printing process by magnifying the card? What exactly do they do? If anyone knows, please share. Thanks.

I am currently on the other end of that process. I have a 73 Al Kaline band-aid head variation that I purchased headed to the authenticator now. I am scheduled to receive the card around the 10th of June. And I am wondering what the authenticator will do as well. Time will tell at this point.

B.T.

PSA and CSG are both involved in authenticating cards. All raw cards over $600 get authenticated and all graded cards over $750 get authenticated as well.... You are "required" to send all cards valued over $750 with a "signature guarantee" or you will not get your money back if a card is lost in mail when going to authenticator. Was not aware of this and is cost me a $1600 Colgan's Chip Honus Wagner. The item was sent with 'tracking' but no signature.

It's currently all raw cards $250+ and graded cards $750+
Unless the seller puts certain words in the title to avoid the authentication process.

The raw card authentication is actually lower.

From their website: “eBay covers the cost of authentication. Single ungraded cards $250+ and single graded cards $750+ are eligible for the service at this time.”

B.T.

What's funny about my sale, I had the card listed for $275, it sold for $240 on a make offer. The sale was for less than the $250, so I'm guessing they use the list price and not the actual sale price. With taxes and shipping it came out to around 255 or so - crazy.

Had one sent back yesterday, that I would bet good $$ is Auth and Unaltered. It sold for $650 , MJ insert from the 90's

I received notification from Ebay this morning that my card passed the authentication process and has been forwarded to the buyer.

Now I hope it is repackaged carefully and quickly sent to the buyer. That was my goal when I sold it.

I'll post when it's received by the buyer.

My card just showed up at the authenticator hub today. Any idea as to how long yours was at the hub?

Thanks,

Butch…

I bought a couple of 1916 Ferguson Bakery Pennants last month that were sent off to be "authenticated".

Made the process longer and they did nothing to them, kept them in what the seller had them in best I could tell.

One seller asked me afterwards to see a picture of what the authenticator did to the card..."how they framed it"... and they did nothing to it, kept it in what the seller shipped it to them in.

Hey Butch, I mailed the card on May 31. I'm in CA and it was mailed to FL. I didn't track when it was received, but it was authenticated yesterday, Jun 2. I was surprised how quick it actually was. I checked tracking just now and it has an anticipated delivery date of Jun 6.

I have been in contact with the buyer each step of the way and so far he is ok with the process.

I won't be satisfied until the buyer has it in hand and leaves feedback. I'm like that with every sale.

I'll post when it's received. Please let me know if your card gets authenticated. I still am very skeptical when it comes to vintage card authentication by a 3rd party.

i won a babe ruth strip card a few weeks ago...and for some reason it WAS NOT sent to be authenticated? does anyone know why?

Ebay has changed the requirements a couple of times so it is hard to say. It could range from price to how it is listed (listed as something other than sports cards). They started off with raw cards a few weeks back and have now started requiring graded cards to go through the process. I would hard to tell unless you knew the parameters under the program at the time it was sold, to include the category it was listed under.

Didn't answer your question but hope it helps.

Very heavy on the skepticism on my end too. Thanks for the reply and I will certainly give you updates as well. I will say I am pleased with your turn around time at the authenticator site. Gives me hope. My anticipated delivery date is 10 June. Since it is the weekend that may fall in-line with your shipment window. I am in Colorado and the card was shipped from New Jersey to start with.

Regards,

Butch

What's the item number? I searched Babe Ruth Strip Card but didn't see anything like that.

here she is

If “Set Break” is in the title of the listing then Ebay for some reason won’t authenticate it,

I thought I commented on this one in another thread. It's because it has the word "Set" break eBay excludes it. Same if the seller writes "Pack" fresh or other words that would exclude it from being authenticated.

Thats just weird? And seller comments previous cards were deemed authentic?

My King Carl RC went through the process. Ironic since CSG does not grade R315s. I bet I've handled more of them than whoever authenticated it. I'm just glad they didn't kick it because it is real and it is spectacular. The folder-stand thingee it came back in is a nice design except that it kinda smells chemical. Anyone else notice that with theirs?

Regarding the Ferguson Bakery pennants that someone mentioned, if they appear to have been sent off to the buyer without any noticeable signs of having been authenticated by the grading company, most likely they weren’t. The TPG is only authenticating trading cards. Any other item that was categorized as such, they will not authenticate and just pass along in the mail to the buyer. I’m not sure if any type of notification goes out to the buyer and/or seller in this situation. This holds true for original photos, pinbacks, etc.

The 3 cards I bought that went through authentication all were at the hub for just a day before I was notified that they were authenticated without issue. They were then shipped the next day.

Maybe an odd question regarding this authentication process and looking at in in another perspective. We've all seen how over the years Ebay has cracked down on buyers and sellers being able to share personal contact info, as a way to possibly get around and work deals off Ebay. Of course, when a seller sends a buyer their item, some sellers include their business cards, direct contact info and such. Has anyone involved on either side of one of these Ebay sales that went through authentication received or sent any such contact info along with a card, and did the authenticators include that info when forwarding the card on to the buyer? Curious if Ebay may have instructed the authenticating company CSG or PSA to pull and discard any such contact info, kind of like how they disallow people including contact info when messaging through Ebay.

I tried the QR code on my card today. Pretty neat. It links to an image of the eBay listed item that you can download or share, and has a click-through that takes you to a page with information about the card.

BTW, if anyone gets these and doesn't want the folders I'll take them. I could use them for display easels.

I bought some oddball cards in a lot and was notified that they were being sent to PSA for authentication as part of this program. Once the cards arrived at PSA, I was notified that they would not be authenticated as they were "listed in the wrong category". A few days later they showed up via FedEx.

I've looked at the category they were listed in and don't see any reason why they don't fit the category. If the authentication was important to me I would contact PSA and find out what they didn't like about this listing but don't care enough to do so. I know the set and can tell they are authentic. I did notify the seller so perhaps he will call them and find out for future reference.

jeff

I don't think they authenticate lots so maybe this had "trading card single" as its official category even though the title and description said "lot"?

That is probably it. Good call.

jeff

Since this card has the word "signed" in the title it will not go to CSG for authentication. Too bad the "provenance" is unknown.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/394100749181

My Al Kaline 73 Band-aid head got to the authenticator last Friday, it has been authenticated and shipped today.

I like the turn around time.

B. T.

That's good news Butch. I guess we'll see how that goes down the road. I checked my tracking this morning and tracking states it was delivered on 1 June. The problem with that is, that's the day it was received at authentication, not the date delivered to the customer. There's no way of determining when it was delivered to the customer if I'm not provided the tracking number from authentication to the customer. I'll wait to see how the feedback goes.

To me, all this is needless. However, that's from a seller's perspective. It might be different for the buyer.

"To me, all this is needless. However, that's from a seller's perspective. It might be different for the buyer."

This is useless as hell from this buyer's perspective. JMHO

Cheers,

B. T.

Al Kaline band-aid is out for delivery today. Impressed, so far, with the speed through the authenticator process and delivery.

Purchased on 30 May, through the process and out for delivery 9 June. 10 days from purchase to mailbox. I can work with this.

B. T.

And here is what it looks like coming out of the box.

Works for me and now Al will join the set.

B. T.

I just got back from PSA courtesy of ebay a slabbed card in a sleeve with the closure sealed by a sticker and a code sticker as well. If I sell it as is, does it have to go back to be authenticated again? LOL.

I have had 3 cards go through this process as the Buyer, other than small delays in delivery it has worked out fine. However in response to Bob's question quoted here, in 2 of the 3 instances, I received contact and other information of the Seller, one of which included the Seller's store catalog. I left feedback, with a nuanced comment that I found his "reading material informative and interesting". He responded with a blatant our prices are lower than on Ebay and oh, by the way, no sales tax unless you are from our state. So there you have it -- and I will be buying from him.

The King:

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...%20Hubbell.jpg

I am just pleased as can be with this one. Uncreased and well centered for the issue (not normal for R315s). It will stay in the sealed holder only as long as it takes to get into a slab.

Thanks for the info, was curious about that issue. Figured they wouldn't really care since there are so many card sales that don't go through the authentication, but you never know with Ebay, right? Thanks.

I'm not up on all the rules of the new process, but I can make a couple observations about my recent transaction.

1. The communication concerning where the card is in the process was rudimentary. Very few details provided.

2. I purchased a PSA graded card on May 24 and still don't have it, though they are estimating I will have it Tuesday. Three weeks is a pretty long time to wait for a card that's already been graded.

I guess I see what eBay is trying to do here but I have little confidence this new process will add any value for graded cards, and I don't love the idea that my cards are going to be shipped and handled more than necessary. Then again, I didn't like it when the ACC basketball tournament started including Brooklyn among their host sites but they still did it.

I'm curious about what will happen if the eBay authenticator determines a card is inauthentic (or trimmed if they are looking for that) but the seller and buyer agree that the eBay determination is wrong.

This is a terrible idea, and sellers have no choice in the matter. Oh, wait, they do: I switched all my listings over the $250 threshold to other categories. Anything under $250 will still be listed in the Trading Card Singles category, so I'm sure traffic will still be directed to the $250+ material one way or another. I'm guessing many other sellers already have or will soon follow suit. I'm not playing this game.

An earlier poster mentioned that CSG wouldn't be authenticating anything that was signed, or at least had that word in the title of the listing. All I sell are autographed items, to include cards. They are included as part of this mandatory program. I just had my first experience with it. I printed the shipping label, all set to send to CSG, and really thought long and hard before dropping it off at UPS. Thankfully, I thought better of it and contacted the buyer, who was also previously unaware of this new program. He too wanted nothing to do with it, so we agreed to cancel/refund the sales and I simply relisted in an other category. He paid, and we're back to where we should have been in the first place.

A company that has been in business for a split second gets to handle every $250-750 card, and anything slabbed/$750+ goes to PSA? Not something that sits well with me. I'd love to know how gargantuan the staff of the newer company has to be. I'm thinking not as big as is required. Every single card sold over $250 has to go through this process, and combined shipping of multi-item orders is not allowed. All have to be sent as single items even if part of the same order! Whoever came up with this hairbrained scheme needs to be canned.

How many cards meeting these parameters sell each day on eBay? Each week, month, year? This idea will obviously be put out to pasture once the powers that be realize the silliness of their thinking. Collectible sneakers, these are not.

From my understanding, all you have to do is put “set break” in the title and it will not have to go through the process.

I do know that when I talked to an eBay customer service representative, if the card is going to a PO Box, the authenticity guarantee is disregarded.

Brian,

Yes, thank you for pointing that out. I learned that after writing my last post.

If they decide to continue with this debacle, I'm sure eBay will catch on to these types of circumventions. Let's hope that this whole thing will cease to a reasonable level and that we're given plenty of time before the censor bots start constantly breathing down our necks.

I’m not understanding the logic by eBay on the “set break”. Makes absolutely no sense to disregard their guarantee only because it’s part of a set break.

I believe it has everything to do with the word "set". The eBay bots or software detect that word in the title and think that you are selling a set, which is ineligible for the program. You're obviously not selling an entire set, so you just write "set break" as if you are breaking up a set and the card in question is part of this fictitious break. It makes buyers less confused, as they understand they're not buying the entire set this way.

This program will be a money making scheme in the end.
.

By all means, that was the reason for its construction. Why else would eBay truly care about this unless there was something in it for them?

I think the real question is in how viable/practical it will be for them to continue doing this. There's just no way there are enough people at the two authentication companies to handle this, and you can't simply hire anybody off the street to do the work. While what little these companies are doing in this process seems very basic to many of us, there is still a fair amount of knowledge required to do it. I predict they will be biting off far more than they can chew. It's going to backfire splendidly for them. They will of course ultimately keep some scaled-down version of this program, but it will be optional as opposed to mandatory.

I would love to know the inner workings of why eBay would choose a company that's so fresh to do this "authentication" work, other than they obviously have far more free time on their hands than PSA. I would have to assume that one, if not two of the other major players were approached and would be very interested to know why one of them isn't handling the $250-750 material. This would have been much more sensible to me. Maybe they saw the impracticalities of the program or wanted too much to do it. The new guys would naturally be chomping at the bit to have their brand sent out all over the country. Logic would dictate that they couldn't afford to be undersold. Additionally, there truly aren't many alternatives for eBay to choose from.

As noted earlier, I'm an autograph guy, not a card guy (at least the unsigned versions), so have not been paying much attention to this company. I do gather that they've already managed to assemble camps of devotees and detractors in their brief period of existence. It's also been extremely rare for me to spend a dime on authentication of any sort. You can still get by without it as both a collector and a dealer, regardless of what others will have you believe.

The company is not new. They’ve been grading coins, comic books, etc. for quite a while.

CSG may be "fresh" to card grading, but not to collectibles grading. Look up their parent company, Certified Collectibles Group (CCG). They have money, business smarts, and experience backing them. They also, if I understand correctly, currently charge a much more reasonable fee for their typical grading service than other TPGs, and their turnarounds times from what I've heard others occasionally posting about here on the forum seem to always meet (if not actually be faster than) their posted deadlines. They likely made a sweetheart deal with Ebay at some flat, fixed rate, that other TPGs either wouldn't, or couldn't.

CSG likely has their ultimate sights set on taking over as the perceived top card TPG from PSA. They have the backing, connections, and wherewithal to be in this TPG game long-term. For example, one of the big investors in the CCG parent company is Michael Zubin, founder and executive chairman of Fanatics. Fanatics ownership also includes to my knowledge the NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB, as well as the player's unions/organizations for all four sports leagues as well. And if you remember, Fanatics has apparently taken over the future card licensing rights for the teams and players of these four major sports leagues as well. And this development caused Topps scheduled billion dollar IPO bid to be shot down in flames last year, and subsequently led to Fanatics then buying Topps for half of their expected IPO price. I think all of that is not a series of unrelated coincidences, and the ownership in CSG by Fanatics founder is a definite connection to eventually be further exploited by the parties involved. What they do next, and going forward, will be interesting.

Yes, I was aware but I appreciate your putting this all down in a post for those who might benefit.

In response to the highlighted portion of your comment: most assuredly.

Granted, the parent company is far from new (I want to say they predate PSA's founding by a year), but their card division is the newest of the players who people pay any attention to. I can't base my feelings for a new branch of a company on the success of other divisions. That reputation has to be earned on its own accord, but that's just my personal reasoning. Please forgive the sidetrack. Back to the subject at hand!

Agree wholeheartedly, they are new to cards, and definitely have to prove themselves. With how a lot of people on our forum look down on the established TPGs out there, you would think there would maybe be some positive outlook from such grading naysayers that CSG could start to correct and fix at least some of the perceived errors and deficiencies that other TPGs have been accused and shown as guilty of. Instead of trying to have an open mind and waiting to see how they actually do, there seems to be many people who have already condemned them for agreeing to work with PWCC, and possibly this deal with Ebay as well. They are apparently just projecting their hate and distrust for these other entities onto CSG for daring to work with other participants in this hobby/industry they already didn't like. Oh well, to each their own.

Buyer / Seller Optipn
 

Once the auction or purchase is complete the buyer should have the option to use the authentication guarantee if the card meets eBay standard for authentication. Seems unnecessary to make it mandatory.