@alan@ebay - We might be allowed to authenticate again!

[albertabrightalberta]

Following a discussion on the selling board where alan@ebay answered a post I'd made about buyers not being allowed to post links to listings they're considering, he responded here saying that we "can post links to items as long as the intent is not to name & shame."

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/quot-The-selected-item-is-no-longer-available-quot-Can-t-view/...

If I'm interpretting his post correctly, it sounds like buyers might be allowed to post links to listings to verify authenticity BEFORE buying an item! 

This will save a lot of time and hassle if what he says is true! 

This is a change from what we'd been told several years ago when we were told that buyers had to first buy the item, take their own pictures of it and then come to authenticate it. At that point, the buyer would have to go through the dispute, return and refund process if the item was determined to be fake. 

alan@ebay - Am I interpretting your post correctly? 

Thanks.

[fashionclubgurl]

Sounds like a major improvement! If its true, lets hope the word gets passed to the Forum mods as well.

Now if they could only do something about the latest glitch where some Completed listings cant be viewed any more, or where we have to jump through half a dozen hidden hoops just to try and find them. How are sellers supposed to find similar items so they know how to price the items theyre selling? Sheesh, imagine the real estate business and the mortgage business with no way to find "comparables"!

[alan@ebay · Accepted solution]

Hi @albertabrightalberta,

I think that is fine for a buyer to share an item number and ask for advice on the item condition etc.

Where someone might run into trouble is if they post a link to an item and say something along the lines of "look at the seller XXXX, here is his listing, he is a scammer and sells fake items" - that would be considered name & shaming. If the link is shared with good intent, then there won't be an issue.

I will clarify with the moderation team, if there are any issues you can alert me and I'll take a look.

Hope this helps!

[bonjourami]

About time!

[a*river*runs*through*it]

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@bonjourami wrote:

About time!

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That's the understatement of the year!

[jsales0]

Thanks Alan. This is definitely an important change and IMO also way overdue. 

I’d also like to see a change in policy regarding when it’s OK to name a pro authenticator. From my understanding, we can only do it when specifically asked but many who post don’t know to ask. Why is it wrong to suggest someone we have personally successfully used? To do so IMO is not advertising or promoting an outside company. It’s strictly suggesting a pro that those that post have successfully used. 

All JMO.

[garmentvarmint2004]

a*RIVER*

I am still  a little lost.    Recently,  on another Board,    a Bag seller just lost a  Snad--even she said had paid  a  fee to  have her item Authenticated. 

So,  was that   fluke?    Are Authenticators now  being  accepted by  Ebay--or not. 

[albertabrightalberta]

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@garmentvarmint2004 wrote:

a*RIVER*

I am still  a little lost.    Recently,  on another Board,    a Bag seller just lost a  Snad--even she said had paid  a  fee to  have her item Authenticated. 

So,  was that   fluke?    Are Authenticators now  being  accepted by  Ebay--or not. 

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@garmentvarmint2004 

Would you please post a link to that discussion? 

[genemaat]

The Lithium mods may still be a bit confused about posts asking for authentication of a live item listing. A recent post asking for authentication of a Coach Carly bag listing # was answered by @fashionclubgurl but it had a duplicate post of the same question by the OP (also noted in reply that it had already been answered in the 1st.)

When I saw that a Lithium mod had moved the duplicate to the "bidding & buying" board I notified them asking why it had been moved instead of simply deleted as a dupe. When I checked back they had actually deleted both posts, including the original!

[genemaat]

P.S. This is the post that needs to be reinstated: https://community.ebay.com/t5/Moderated-Content/Need-help-authenticating-COACH-bag-current-listing/m...

[albertabrightalberta]

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@genemaat wrote:

The Lithium mods may still be a bit confused about posts asking for authentication of a live item listing. A recent post asking for authentication of a Coach Carly bag listing # was answered by @fashionclubgurl but it had a duplicate post of the same question by the OP (also noted in reply that it had already been answered in the 1st.)

When I saw that a Lithium mod had moved the duplicate to the "bidding & buying" board I notified them asking why it had been moved instead of simply deleted as a dupe. When I checked back they had actually deleted both posts, including the original!

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@genemaat wrote:

P.S. This is the post that needs to be reinstated: https://community.ebay.com/t5/Moderated-Content/Need-help-authenticating-COACH-bag-current-listing/m...

 alan@ebay

There seems so be some misunderstanding. Perhaps if you direct the Lithium mods to this thread, it might mitigate confusion. 

Thanks! 

[alan@ebay]

Hi all, 

It does look like a post was removed in error. We've moved it back to the board and have contacted the poster to advise of this. 

A reminder has gone out to the moderation team - posts like this shouldn't be removed going forward.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. 

Happy Friday 😁

[albertabrightalberta]

Thank you, alan@ebay!

[a*river*runs*through*it]

Bumping this to keep it on front page.