AG for jewelry...I'm confused

I'm not a regular seller of fine jewelry, but lately (with gold values reaching records) I've sold a few inherited pieces. The ones that sold for more than $500 first went to the authenticator in Calsbad, CA.

Until this evening...

I sold a pendant for $800, and the address provided by eBay was the buyer's, not the authenticator's.

Why? Did eBay suddenly raise the authentication floor from $500? Can a buyer refuse authentication? The buyer is a repeat customer, who had bought 2-3 fine jewelry pieces from me in the past.

Can board members who sell fine jewelry regularly, give me a clue?

tealt

6384 View listings

Posted 8 months ago·Last reply 8 months ago

8 comments

jonathanbrightlight

·8 months ago

0 View listings

Not my area of expertise, but Iâ€™m guessing it was a brand or specific criteria not met to qualify it for AG:

Which jewelry items are eligible for Authenticity Guarantee?

Authenticity Guarantee is available for select unbranded jewelry, branded jewelry and loose diamonds, in new or preowned condition, and sold for $500 USD or more. Auction items are also included in the service if the eligible item sells above $500.

Eligible jewelry that is listed and sold for $200-$499.99 USD is eligible for the add-on Authenticity Guarantee service.

All jewelry categories have eligible items except for Loose Beads, Loose Gemstones, Jewelry Care, Design & Repair, Jewelry Mixed Lots, Watches, Parts & Accessories.

Eligible brands are Bulgari, Cartier, Chanel, Chaumet, Chopard, David Yurman, Effy, Gucci, Hearts On Fire, Harry Winston, HermÃ¨s, H.Stern, Ippolita, John Hardy, Judith Ripka, Konstantino, Lagos, Le Vian, Louis Vuitton, Marco Bicego, Mastoloni, Mikimoto, Pomellato, Roberto Coin, Scott Kay, Simon G, Tacori, Tiffany & Co., Van Cleef & Arpels, Verragio, Vera Wang.

To be eligible for Authenticity Guarantee, unbranded and branded jewelry must also meet the following criteria:

Metal purity: Items must be one of the following metal types and purity: Sterling silver (925+), gold (9K+), palladium (500+), platinum (850+). For plated metal, the base metal composition must be as listed above.
Gemstone type: Gemstones are not required. However, for items with a main gemstone(s), all gemstone varieties are eligible except the following that are excluded from the AG program: Amber, Copal, Turquoise, Jet, Mabe Pearl, Ivory, Tortoise Shell, Plastic, Pyrite, Marcasite, Chrysocolla, Howlite, Musgravite, Taaffeite.
Secondary Stone: Any Stone, No Stone, except excluded stones mentioned above.
Gemstone treatments: colored gemstones that are eligible for verification are commonly treated. The assumption is that all gemstones are treated unless otherwise stated. In most cases, GIA will verify these treatments. However, some gemstone treatments can only be verified through complicated advanced testing. In these special cases, GIA will not verify the treatment. Any rare gemstone requiring complicated advanced testing will not be verified either. For a full list of treatments that GIA does not verify, see the AG program disclaimer.

https://www.ebay.com/authenticity-guarantee/jewelry (Scroll down to the FAQ section)

gurlcat

·8 months ago

2004 View listings

@jonathanbrightlight I know that's a big hairy thing to digest, but what it really boils down to is:
Major designer brands even if they're not made of precious materials (in this sense the brand itself is the value, same as a designer handbag even if it's made of cruddy vinyl, ha).

--OR--

Precious material even if it isn't branded (in this sense it's the inherent value of the materials -note, even loose diamonds, which can't have a brand mark on them obviously, can require AG if their value is over $500).

gurlcat

·8 months ago

2004 View listings

@tealt I can't see any reason. My #1 guess was 'wrong item category' but nope, fine jewelry. Looking at the original full listing view, I don't see the AG badge at the top-right, so it was not offered as an AG item as far as the buyer knew, either.

I see you have only 1-day handling so I realize you need an answer quick. Maybe someone smarter than I will jump in with the answer tonight, but otherwise I think you may just have to contact eBay.

tealt

OP8 months ago

6384 View listings

@gurlcat

Thanks for checking.

My "policy" is, if the buyer pays and eBay gives me an address, I ship the next business day. I've got...

signature required on the package

USPS full insurance on the package

the pendant is fully hallmarked

I know the provenance of the pendant (my late mother when she lived in Europe)

the buyer is a good repeat customer

So, I'm not anticipating any trouble.

I'm just really really curious about why no authentication required on this transaction.

gurlcat

·8 months ago

2004 View listings

@tealt Yeah I was going to [[cautiously]] state that you might just go ahead and ship, but only because this is a repeat buyer. If not, I absolutely would not, because it would be so easy for a dishonest buyer to pull a return scam on this, and $800 would hurt so bad! ðŸ˜¬

gurlcat

·8 months ago

2004 View listings

Hmmmm there's something screwy about that. No I don't believe eBay raised the $ threshold, and no a buyer can't refuse the authentication step. Hang on, I'll look at the listing and see if there's something there that might have caused the trigger to fail.

tealt

OP8 months ago

6384 View listings

@gurlcat

I checked the sold listing, and to me (the seller) all that was visible was the blurb about the MBG. Usually a blurb about the AG is right below, but it wasn't there (at least for me).

gurlcat

·8 months ago

2004 View listings

@tealt Right, because for some reason it never was an AG listing, from the start. It's not just a failure to generate the appropriate shipping address.