eBay Authenticity Guarantee…am I missing something here?
 

Recently, in conjunction with reorganizing my tobacco card sets, I pulled out my DVD of Ken Burn’s Baseball and started watching it again.When the film came out,there was a companion book( which I bought) and was lucky enough to snag an advertising stand from a bookstore, which I display to this day and a calendar that year, etc., before they threw it away. The other day, while searching for something else, I noticed back then they sold a set of baseball cards, with either a Ruth or Mantle extra, so, on eBay, I ordered the set with a Ruth card( pictured below)……just for fun………..or was it.
I placed the order on Jan 27th, and then, over the next several weeks ordered more T206’s and for some reason, which is rare for me, I completely forgot I ordered this set…..UNITL TODAY.
It arrived today, which I thought….wow, that took a long time. So I open the packing box and lo and behold…….it had been sent to the EBay Authenticator….you know, the Authenticity Guarantee.
As you can see below, I just now went back to the listing and NO MENTION of this being a part of that “process”. The seller did not tell me , warn me…..nothing. There was no( at the bottom) blue check with the words “ Authenticity Guarantee”
Let me interject…….IT TOOK 36 DAYS for the cards to get here.
AND what needs to be authenticated……who would have the where with all, let alone the time to counterfeit these cards………AND ……the price was WAY UNDER my understanding of when a seller has to do it……let me say again…WWWWWAAAAYYYY UNDER.
Unfortunately, over the weekend I bought a T3 and T206 Frank Chance red portrait card and did not realize they were a part of this “process”. I reached out to both sellers, one had no real answers for me , the other said eBay says it’s just 2 days with the “authenticator” , then it will be shipped to you.
OMLG!!!!!!
Now I get the value of this, yes there are a lot of scammers and thieves out there who are out to cheat you……but, as I said, if you are faking the Ken Burns set of cards…….you ain’t in it for the money.
Unfortunately for me, now I will pay attention if the seller on eBay has this “blue check mark” before I buy. I’ll see how long the T3 and old Frank get here, but if Ken Burns couldn’t walk any faster than this, I’ll think twice about buying from the blue check team.
AND….thats a shame as many sellers on eBay have worked with me on price, etc, but this is ridiculous!
The last photo is the heavy cardboard advertising sign I got at the bookstore before they threw it out. I wonder how many of those survived?
Anyway….I’ll keep you posted.

The Journey
 

Here is the tracking…..I hope they don’t have to do an autopsy on old Frank, he will never get here

That is an odd one for sure. I can't give any reason why that would've gone through the eBay Authenticity program.

I can say, though, that the seller really has no say in the matter, and they have no control over whether or not a listing gets the blue checkmark for authenticity guarantee. It's typically determined by a minimum price threshold which is different for graded vs. non-graded or raw cards.

And while the program can cause delays and headaches, it's worth noting that it's not only set up to protect the buyer from scams, but also the seller. It protects sellers from having to deal with unscrupulous buyers who claim they didn't receive the item as described, or who might swap out a raw card and try to return it back to the seller. It also protects eBay from having to approve more returns.

Ultimately, though, I do agree with you on your item, Mike -- it's pretty strange that it went through the authenticity process.

I thought the threshold was $250 for any card, raw or graded. Did that change?

Clearly, that's well above what this item sold for anyway, and it is also a set which is not supposed to be part of the authenticity program anyway.

And CW , I get all you are saying, and believe me, I’m not mad about it, but I do think, if you are going to run something like this, then run it. A $30 pack of cards that have the original wraps on it…it’s a no brainer it isn’t a candidate. However , if it takes 36 days to get that T3 and old Frank, then I’ll have to think twice about buying under those guidelines….a few days, ok…..but 36 days…no way.

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To what I learned today Jay, you are correct on $250….so my experience makes no sense…..well…..on many levels.

That’s encouraging Chad, I hope I have your good fortune on mine

Maybe Babe Ruth being in the description triggered something. In any case, this is a laugher.

Coast to coast, and back to the Midwest! It also comes ready to relist on Ebay!

Forgive me if I’m not following correctly .
Is it possible that it did not go through the authenticity guarantee program ?
Perhaps the seller is simply reusing the blue box (?)

You are right, just checked and it's $250 across the board. I recall it being different for graded vs. raw when the program first started out, but I could also be wrong about that.

I’m 99% sure they just repurposed the authenticity program shipping box. When you purchase something that goes through the program it will state as much on the simplified tracking. The wait was likely due to the weather most of America got at the end of January. I had sold an Hank Aaron auto 1st of February that was stuck in purgatory for two weeks and I spoke to a neighbor that’s a postmaster in Nashville and his response was the weather put about 40% of hubs in a holding pattern and the rest were backed up with mail due to them. I waited it out and it finally delivered today. Conversely I purchased a card last weekend that went through the authentication program and it was also delivered today.

I guess it didn't arrive today. I'm on the road and the wife said I had a package so I assume it was this one. Anywho... it would it look like this:


https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5e13c21a_w.jpg

This

Can you expand the tracking to see more details?

If it was listed in Baseball Card Singles and it was ever priced above $250, it would have started with the AG, then even though it sold for $30 it would have retained it.

I’m sure this is exactly what happened.

This isn’t an item that would be authenticated by the program ever.

Just another Emily Latella moment on Net54.

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This is how my delivery process looked step by step.

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+1, agree as others have said. The seller simply re-used the ebay authenticity packaging. I've thought about doing this myself, so have saved a few of the boxes.

I like to repurpose those ebay boxes too. I just make sure to mark out the ebay lettering, just in case people think the card was previously authenticated.

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Looks like a version of the ole keg party switcheroo.

The hosts (it's weird referring to housemates taking any opportunity they can find to start drinking as "hosts," but there it is) make sure that the first barrel is a nice and popular brand name, so everyone knows they are drinking quality suds,
but as the booze flows, the music gets louder and the guests (Ha!! "Guests.") start losing themselves, the replacement barrels are cheap, no-name brands...specifically because they know no one will even notice or care.

Seems like the seller followed that plan with the 'authenticity box.'

The boxes and packaging that Ebay uses are very high quality. I think they could save a few bucks on them by being less extravagant. I usually chunk mine..
.

Ebay's Authentication Guaranty merely takes the onus to be honest off sellers just as PSA did a generation ago. When grading services arrived on the scene, it became "Why ask me? All I know is what it says on the label." Even of course if it was the seller himself who trimmed the card before sending it off to PSA.

So now in addition it's "All I know is that Ebay says it's authentic." So the game has now become to fool the pro authenticators because it's their opinion that's sacrosanct. Since nobody cares about the seller's opinion, the onus for sellers to be honest has disappeared.

:(

It does have some benefits to the seller as well. Buyer that damages item or claims it to be or even lost. This had to happen as well, people exchange of raw card for gain. How many times have you seen the term item not as described in negative or neutral comments?

You can count me as unconvinced that the onus on sellers to be honest was more powerful than their profit motive. Not to say that there aren’t plenty of upstanding sellers. But all it takes is a few bad apples to really cause a whole lot of trouble.

I’m guessing it won’t take long for one of the historians who catalogue the industry’s blackguards to respond with an extensive list of those bad apples.

As an FYI I think the total value of the order needs to be over $250, I say that because I sold a 206 for $225 and it went through the program because after shipping taxes blah blah it was over the $250.

James G

I purchased a 1984 Toppy Tiffany PSA 9 Mattingly rookie last year. It went to ebay authentication first and it took 2 weeks for me to receive it. But it didn't arrive in one of those fancy boxes, just a regular shipping box. When did they start giving those fancy blue boxes?