Thoughts on eBay's new shoe authentication program

[mulletshop]

eBay implemented a new authentication program for certain shoes (Jordan's, Yeezy's) that sell for over $200. This requires me as the seller to ship the shoes to a center which authenticates them (for now this is free, but no doubt they will charge for it in the future). I know the purpose of this was to make sure legit shoes are sold not fakes, which is an obvious issue on eBay. But this is not good implementation on a few different levels.

     - There is only one authentication center right now, in New York. For a seller like me in California, I now have to ship them clear across the country at a higher cost since I offer free shipping and use USPS Priority (which eBay wants you to do as a good seller)

     -The buyer was in California, they would have received the item in 1 or 2 days from me, instead it went to NY, then they had to take a few days to authenticate them, then ship them to the buyer through FedEx Ground. The whole process has taken over 10 days.

     -The buyer has had to wait over 10 days to get the shoes they ordered, it costs me more money as a seller because I had to ship them clear across the country (works better for sellers in the NY region)

I have sold over 2,000 pairs of shoes, have 100% positive feedback and don't sell fake shoes, but eBay treats me like I someone who does. It would be great for buyers to have the option to "opt out" of the whole authentication process.  Even if the seller could opt out it would be great, it could be a positive or negative for sellers, depending on how they want to serve their buyers. The customer would get their shoes quicker, it would save eBay money not having to authenticate/reship, and in some cases save the seller money in shipping. 

What are others thoughts on this new feature that eBay offers?

[janet9988]

It is unfortunate that you do not get the choice as a member of ebay to opt out of this program. IF you really read the fine print ..ebay states they can change this program at any time. You could get stuck paying something in the middle of your sale. If the 3rd party authenticator  misplaces your item or does not deliver it or damages the item YOU are on the hook to pay the buyer via ebay's MBG program. The part I highlighted in red is the scariest part ..ebay can just abruptly decide they no longer want to have this service.YOU will be on the hook to buyers when the Authenticator  does not ship the shoes to your buyer.

https://pages.ebay.com/authenticity-guarantee-sneakers/

• Authenticity Guarantee Service Fees.

  The Services are provided at no cost to sellers and buyers for Eligible Items that are bought or sold on eBay.com; however, eBay reserves the right to institute, alter or amend fees or costs associated with the Services at any time, at eBay’s sole discretion.

• Lost, Damaged, or Items Not Delivered.

  Items that are lost or damaged during the Authenticity Guarantee process are protected by eBay’s Money Back Guarantee, subject to the eMBG guidelines.

• Service Updates and Discontinuation.

  eBay has the right, but not the obligation, to alter, amend, replace, suspend temporarily, and/or discontinue permanently, the Authenticity Guarantee service, the name of Authenticity Guarantee, any of the Services provided, features, and/or functionality offered under Authenticity Guarantee, and/or the service providers used to provide any or all of the Services under Authenticity Guarantee, at any time, in its sole discretion, with or without notice to you.