Announced today eBay Launches Authentication Service for Luxury Handbags

[ijazzu]

The service appears to be similar to using a valet to sell your high priced handbags. So if you wanted to brand your eBay store as selling high end handbags, it doesn't sound as if the buyer would even know what seller was actually offering the handbag. The Authenticator would appear to be the seller, unless you sold them yourself and the buyer requested the service?

What I find interesting is this:

If the returned item is not the same item as the one sold, not in the same condition as sold, or the eBay Authenticate tag has been removed or otherwise damaged, the return will not be accepted. If the industry expert paid for the return shipping label, eBay will charge you for the cost of return shipping. You can request to have the item mailed back to you at your expense, with no refund. The item will not be mailed back to you unless you have paid the cost of return shipping and the cost of having the item returned to you. We also reserve the right to exercise any and all remedies, including limits on or suspension of your ability to use eBay, and referral to law enforcement if appropriate.

My thoughts are what if the buyer paid with paypal, is paypal going to override a denied return by eBay after 179 days of use??

Who decides the return will not be accepted? An eBay CS rep like they do now with all other items sold on eBay and always find in the buyers favor or does the expert automatically win? Do the expert sellers word mean more then any other seller that claims an item was returned in a different condition or a totally different item was returned all together?

 eBay has always stated that items must be returned in the same condition as received and yet never once in my 17 years has a CS rep ever backed that up and allowed a return to be denied.

These are high end handbags, we need to know what is being told here will actually be handled this way by the reps that handle these escalated return cases. They certainly haven't been up till now with other items.

https://www.ebay.com/s/itemauthentication/seller#terms-and-conditions

[nawlinsron2]

If they want to "authenticate", start with Chinese sellers....

[campesinoplastic2014]

I'm sure this will work so well (at making them money) like evrything else

[missjen831]

I find it highly comical that their "expert" /authenticator sells fake purses! Did eBay not properly vet them?

[mrv71]

First of all, who are these famous experienced "Industry Experts" who are supposed to "authenticate" your expensive desinger bags??? The only mentioning of them is in "terms and conditions" as "Eastvale Store LLC. is the Industry Expert that lists, sells and fulfils orders of items that go through eBay Authenticate. Eastvale Store LLC is located at 4560 Hamner Avenue, Eastvale, CA 91752."

And if you google "Eastvale Store LLC", you know what comes first?? EBAY VALET!!! It's not even funny, especially if terms and conditions state that "the Industry Experts may collect your name, address, phone number, email address and PayPal email address for participation in eBay Authenticate. Your personal information will be used only to provide you the Services and any additional services you request. The Industry Experts may share your personal information with eBay for eBay to measure and improve eBay Authenticate and its related services and for trust and safety purposes. The Industry Experts may also share your personal information with service providers who help with their business operations. The Industry Experts do not sell or rent your personal information to third parties for their marketing purposes without your explicit consent. The Industry Experts may combine your information with information collected from other companies and use it to improve and personalize services and advertising." So, looks like, it's at least just another plot of eBay to collect and sell your personal info to a highest bidder... Also, if you look here at eBay Valet terms of use, it gives you the same address:

https://www.ebay.com/s/valet/terms

Moreover, if you google the address of these famous "industry experts" 4560 Hamner Avenue, Eastvale, CA 91752 - IT DOESN'T EXIST!!! Neat, huh? So, what kind of "experts" have a non-existing postal address???? Can we trust them??? Are they scammers? There's a clause in the agreement that these "experts" are allowed to sell your precious handbags basically for any low price they want:

• The Industry Experts will consider the condition of the item and use their expertise and other comparable items on eBay.com to set the asking price for a fixed price listing or the starting price for auction-style format. The Industry Experts will determine the price in their sole discretion. The sales price range that is presented to you when you create your online eBay Authenticate order is an estimate only and the Industry Experts reserve the right to sell your item for a lower price.
• The Industry Experts may reduce the price of a fixed price listing, or the starting price for an auction-style listing, at any time.

Since we all know that eBay often recommends to price everything at 99c, how do we know that the "experts" will not do that, leaving seller with basically nothing??

I don't know who in their right mind would trust their original expensive designer handbag to anonymous eBay people without real postal address and absolutely no verifiable credentials to call themselves "Industry Experts" (with capital letters!). Is it another eBay plot to scam sellers out of their goods and money??? How do we know if these "experts" would not purchase the bags for themselves for a very low price, and then resell it for their own profit?

[labratdolls]

Yeah eBay Valet is just the worst (the pictures are so increadibly awful) so there is no way I am sending my CHANEL bags to them. So I can see this service being about as awful. I will take my chances. I know my stuff and if the buyer is not happy, given the low prices lately, I am more than happy to take my purses back. 

[a_c_green]

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@mrv71 wrote:

Moreover, if you google the address of these famous "industry experts" 4560 Hamner Avenue, Eastvale, CA 91752 - IT DOESN'T EXIST!!! Neat, huh? So, what kind of "experts" have a non-existing postal address????

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What are you talking about? That address is perfectly valid. The full 9-digit ZIP is 91752-1038. The ZIP code is in an area known as both Eastvale and Mira Loma, and either City Name can be used.

[ijazzu]

Congratulations Jen on your new user name, I love it!

I want to be able to go it get authenticated, get it tagged and sell it myself. Then be able to have all the policy rules apply to me as the seller. I don't like the valet part of this 😞

Have a great night, Good Night

[emerald40]

 4560 Hamner Avenue, Eastvale, CA 91752 -

______________________________________________

The address exists.  It is a distribution warehouse.

[jonathankirkland]

Really, there's a simple solution for everyone's concerns: don't sell luxury handbags on ebay.

Seriously. Anyone even "thinking" about selling an expensive handbag on ebay may want to go have a look at the thread with the woman who almost lost out on a $6,000 handbag to a scammer claiming a cheap knockoff was sent instead. And she is STILL fighting a Paypal chargeback case right now on it.

I'm not saying every single person who sells these is going to be scammed every single time, but it seems like it's rapidly becoming one of the top scam categories along with cell phones.

[emerald40]

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@jonathankirkland wrote:

Really, there's a simple solution for everyone's concerns: don't sell luxury handbags on ebay.

Seriously. Anyone even "thinking" about selling an expensive handbag on ebay may want to go have a look at the thread with the woman who almost lost out on a $6,000 handbag to a scammer claiming a cheap knockoff was sent instead. And she is STILL fighting a Paypal chargeback case right now on it.

I'm not saying every single person who sells these is going to be scammed every single time, but it seems like it's rapidly becoming one of the top scam categories along with cell phones.

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Yes, but where does it end.  There are expensive items in almost every category that are scam magnets.

What is safe to sell here - except the same low price items everyone else is trying to sell?

Wish there was a viable way to protect sellers, but this does not seem to be it.

[jonathankirkland]

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@emerald40 wrote:

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@jonathankirkland wrote:

Really, there's a simple solution for everyone's concerns: don't sell luxury handbags on ebay.

Seriously. Anyone even "thinking" about selling an expensive handbag on ebay may want to go have a look at the thread with the woman who almost lost out on a $6,000 handbag to a scammer claiming a cheap knockoff was sent instead. And she is STILL fighting a Paypal chargeback case right now on it.

I'm not saying every single person who sells these is going to be scammed every single time, but it seems like it's rapidly becoming one of the top scam categories along with cell phones.

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Yes, but where does it end.  There are expensive items in almost every category that are scam magnets.

What is safe to sell here - except the same low price items everyone else is trying to sell?

Wish there was a viable way to protect sellers, but this does not seem to be it.

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I agree with you 100%.

I am pretty new here and don't pretend to know everything, but what I do is the learning curve for selling here is very steep and as a seller you need to come in armed-to-the-teeth in understanding the policies of ebay & Paypal just to have a chance at protecting yourself.

As I said in another thread, ebay should offer some kind of training course or "Seller Exam" that would help teach sellers vital information to protect themselves better here. An incentive for this could be providing them with free listings based on their performance on such a test instead of just giving literally EVERYONE free listings and simply saying "List. Sell. Get Paid." Right now it's more like "List. Wait forever for sales. Good luck getting paid!"

[mrv71]

They should stop mandating Paypal as a form of payment, and go back to cash or postal money orders, they are the safest for the seller. Much harder to fake a postal money order than to fake an email for a "pretend" PayPal payment.

[jonathankirkland]

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@mrv71 wrote:

They should stop mandating Paypal as a form of payment, and go back to cash or postal money orders, they are the safest for the seller. Much harder to fake a postal money order than to fake an email for a "pretend" PayPal payment.

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I wasn't around for those times. How does a postal money order protect a buyer? What if I buy something for $500, send the postal money order, and the seller just cashes it and never sends the item?

[mrv71]

That's why there used to be a working and honest feedback/communication system that built a relationship of trust between buyer and seller. It has been destroyed since by corporate greed and inserting intermediaries like PayPal who only wanted their cut instead of building relationship between two individuals.