Authentication Service

[otwellc]

I have sold several cards in the past week from my Magic the Gathering Collector's Edition set, and the first one that had to go to the Authenticator service from Ebay, was deemed "Unable to Authenticate" without giving a reason...  WHAT!!??  

I have a dozen or more of these cards now enroute to the same address of TC01 in Sarasota, FL.  

What determination does the Authenticator service actually use?  What happens if *THEY* are definitively wrong in there.  These were cards that I split out of a complete set that I've had for years, and I know are legitimate.  Does this put the financial risk back on the seller?  Wasn't the point of the Authentication Service to relieve the risk from the seller?

[mega-ma-roo]

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@otwellc wrote:

Wasn't the point of the Authentication Service to relieve the risk from the seller?

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I can't help with the other questions, but this one you got wrong. The point of Authentication Service is to relieve the risk from the buyer. I am not aware of eBay ever doing anything to relieve the risk from the seller.

[otwellc]

If that is truly how it gets treated, then it's a complete failure.  I didn't request it.  It was mandated on me, but it sounded like it was to benefit me.

Originally, I was leary of posting higher end stuff on Ebay because of the financial risk involved and this service made it sound like I could use it as an evidence of validity against people making claims.  

[mega-ma-roo]

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@otwellc wrote:

Originally, I was leary of posting higher end stuff on Ebay because of the financial risk involved and this service made it sound like I could use it as an evidence of validity against people making claims.  

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Well it does do that, but your items need to pass authentication first.

[otwellc]

Then that tells me the person that is authenticating the item needs to explain *why*, because the items are legitimate as stated.

[mega-ma-roo]

I can't find anything in the Terms and Conditions that says the authenticator needs to provide a reason for their decision. I also don't see anything about appealing the decision either. I guess you could contact eBay and ask them about it.

You can contact eBay Customer Support by following this link to the bottom and select "agent" to have them call you or you can use live chat:
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/How-do-I-contact-Customer-Support/m-p/32016431#M1783851

You can also reach them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eBayForBusiness/
You can also reach them on Twitter: https://twitter.com/askebay?lang=en

[otwellc]

The third auction with this statement within a single week, "We wanted to let you know that your item is on the way to your buyer, but unfortunately we can’t provide our Authenticity Guarantee. The item was miscategorized in your listing and isn’t eligible for this service. This may be disappointing for your buyer, so we recommend you check the item category on any of your other listings to help make sure this doesn’t happen again." 

For an artist signed Magic the Gathering Card, what the hell could the Item Category if it's not "Individual Card"?  That doesn't make any sense.

[mega-ma-roo]

I'm wondering if the autograph is the problem. Have any of your autographed cards been authenticated?

[otwellc]

No.

[mega-ma-roo · Accepted solution]

I bet that's the problem. I don't know of any way to contact the grading services and I am doubtful that customer service can give you a straight answer. You could try asking on the Toy discussion board to see if anyone there has an answer.    Toys & Hobbies - The eBay Community