New Ebay Authentication service

[Ray Van]

I've been on eBay since 1997 and have over 4000 completed purchases. Of these, about 50 were lost in the mail or received but not as described. In most cases I was able to work it out directly with the seller or through eBay's resolution process to get a refund. That's about 1.5% of my purchases where I was not satisfied, which was higher than I thought but probably about as expected. Granted I don't play in the $750+ zone, but is this really that much of an issue where this was required? Seems to me the fakes are fairly obvious, and where they are not they sometimes fool the grading companies which makes the CGC/CSG part a moot point. It's not like this process would have picked up on Logan Paul's fake Pokémon case, the fake authenticated Messi signatures, or the Chrome wiped and re-signed cards that have been in the news recently.

Oh wait ... "Not only is the new card packaging secure and stylish, but it was also designed to be folded into a stand—perfect for showing your cards off." I changed my mind, this is the best thing ever!!!

[Eric72]

Originally Posted by Ray Van

...is this really that much of an issue where this was required? Seems to me the fakes are fairly obvious...

What may seem obvious to Net54 members often passes right under the nose of other collectors. Quite a large percentage of them hadn't even started participating in the hobby until 2020. I believe that's where eBay might have been coming from with this program; to make things more secure for newbies.

In theory, it sounds similar to what PSA/SGC/Beckett have been doing for years...offering peace of mind to people without the experience to properly evaluate their own cards.

[japhi]

Originally Posted by Eric72

What may seem obvious to Net54 members often passes right under the nose of other collectors. Quite a large percentage of them hadn't even started participating in the hobby until 2020. I believe that's where eBay might have been coming from with this program; to make things more secure for newbies.

In theory, it sounds similar to what PSA/SGC/Beckett have been doing for years...offering peace of mind to people without the experience to properly evaluate their own cards.

Correct, and when those unsuspecting buyers return the cards, the seller has closed their DDA and eBay has to make the buyer whole. Or, the buyer finds out 2 years down the road the card is fake and will never buy from eBay again. I have to imagine eBay's losses in the collectables segment are huge.

I think that is what most are missing, the financial and reputational risk that is at stake for eBay with high value cards, and the never ending scams taking place in the hobby.

Personally I think this is a good move. And as a new collector, I would have felt this was a great move.

[RL]

scammers will price at $749 to avoid authentication

[Jim65]

Originally Posted by RL

scammers will price at $749 to avoid authentication

Hopefully, that would buyers suspicious and stay away.

[cgjackson222]

Not sure if this has been mentioned already, but one potential positive of this new authentication service is that it at least requires that an actual physical card is being sold in the first place. Some of the fraudulent ebay listings that have been posted on Net54 recently have been for cards that were not even in the possession of the scammer. For example: https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=313780

One has to think that at the very least, even if ebay is not great at detecting a fake, that these types of listings go away completely.

[conor912]

Hahaha. I love it. Grading is such a shit show that now we have 4th party graders. I've been saying it for years....slabs for your slabs are coming.

[jayshum]

Originally Posted by RL

scammers will price at $749 to avoid authentication

Or $689.99 which will be less obvious

https://www.ebay.com/itm/37391285403...UAAOSwH8Bh-jtS

[Jeffrompa]

Originally Posted by jayshum

Or $689.99 which will be less obvious

https://www.ebay.com/itm/37391285403...UAAOSwH8Bh-jtS

But they have been doing such a great job with sneakers.