eBay Authenticity Guarantee Missed Key Issues on My Panerai Purchase

Looking for some perspective on an eBay watch purchase.

I bought a Panerai PAM1272 for about $5,000 with tax, and it went through eBay Authenticity Guarantee. After receiving it, I found a few issues that were not clearly reflected in the listing:

the warranty card showed 2022, while the listing said 2023
the leather strap was far more worn than expected, nearly unusable
the rubber strap raised concern because the back had no OEM markings

I contacted the seller first. To his credit, he agreed to a $500 partial refund rather than forcing a return, which I accepted.

My concern is really with the authentication process. These may not all be authenticity failures in the strict sense, but they are material discrepancies that I would have expected to be flagged during inspection.

I still plan to have the watch checked by Panerai for my own peace of mind.

Has anyone else had a similar experience where the item passed authentication, but important condition/details were missed?

camaron190

37 View listings

Posted 4 months ago·Last reply 4 months ago

1 comment

albertabrightalberta

·4 months ago

I can explain it to you but I can't understand it for you.104 View listings

@camaron190

I've only sold one item through the AG program and it went as smoothly as can be.

However having been an active poster on the boards, I've seen a lot of instances of errors and missed details.

Authentic items have been deemed fake.
Fakes have been deemed authentic
"Issues" have been missed by the authenticators
"Issues" have been found by authenticators but sellers didn't disclose them in the listing
Buyers had complaints after receipt of their items

There are several things to keep in mind:

Ebay's lack of transparency in the expertise of authenticators is a concern
Authenticators who assess items are human and as such, can make mistakes. (This isn't to excuse an error; just that it can happen
Many sellers' listings don't have the best pictures or descriptions
Many buyers don't ask questions or request clearer or more definitive info
Many sellers ignore buyers' questions

"I found a few issues that were not clearly reflected in the listing"

1. the warranty card showed 2022, while the listing said 2023

If it's the listing I think you purchased, it shows the card. I don't know watches and I don't read Chinese so I can't read the card but it was clearly shown in the listing

2. "the leather strap was far more worn than expected, nearly unusable"

The strap is shown but the picture couldn't have been blurrier! The wear you're claiming wasn't disclosed

2. "the rubber strap raised concern because the back had no OEM markings"

No clear picture but I do get that you'd expect the authenticators to catch an anonamaly if there was one.

Since you plan to have the watch checked anyway, if it turns out to be genuine, you seem happy enough with the partial refund.

I get that mistakes and omissions happen. There's no way to eliminate them completely.