Authenticity Guarantee program... Question.

[ittybitnot]

I light of looking around the info and FAQs regarding eBay's Authenticity  Guarantee programs for sneakers and watches this morning a question came to mind. 

For the most part, the "buyers" need to be in the US (with the exception of Canada or Australia for sneakers).  These need to be eBay.com listings. 

So the question I have, if anyone knows, do the eBay authenticators ship to US freight forwarder addresses? They are, after all US addresses. 

[valueaddedresource]

@ittybitnot  - that's a great question!

I suspect the answer is yes, they will ship to those addresses as long as they meet all other criteria for authentication and I would really *hope* sellers would be protected on any returns or claims, but I don't know the for sure.

I posted a link to this thread and tagged the eBaySneakers page on Twitter to see if we can get anything official though - will let you know if they respond.

[ittybitnot]

will let you know if they respond.

@valueaddedresource 

Thank you. My interest is in light of the post this morning about the "authenticator program" with regard to watches.  The rules for sneakers seem to basically follow the same guidelines, but only address EBAY CLAIMS.  

Research going back on the boards to when the these programs started seem to indicate problems for sellers when buyers go to their payment processor for a complaint, as opposed to following the MBG eBay claim system that required returns to be sent back to the authenticator, and then are forwarded to the seller.  

There is indication that the less than honorable buyers that use US freight forwarder addresses are abandoning the eBay claim system for phony SNADs/empty box, and going directly to their payment processor for redress.   It is basically working fine, at the seller's expense of course.  The seller, of course, does not get to see the actual address used by the buyer. 

[valueaddedresource]

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@ittybitnot wrote:

will let you know if they respond.

@valueaddedresource 

Thank you. My interest is in light of the post this morning about the "authenticator program" with regard to watches.  The rules for sneakers seem to basically follow the same guidelines, but only address EBAY CLAIMS.  

Research going back on the boards to when the these programs started seem to indicate problems for sellers when buyers go to their payment processor for a complaint, as opposed to following the MBG eBay claim system that required returns to be sent back to the authenticator, and then are forwarded to the seller.  

There is indication that the less than honorable buyers that use US freight forwarder addresses are abandoning the eBay claim system for phony SNADs/empty box, and going directly to their payment processor for redress.   It is basically working fine, at the seller's expense of course.  The seller, of course, does not get to see the actual address used by the buyer. 

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@ittybitnot  yeah, I've seen a few reports of chargebacks gone wrong and sellers not being protected. ☹️  I have seen some sellers in that situation push back and get a "courtesy refund" from eBay, but it's not easy and I'm sure adding a freight forwarder into the mix makes it even more complicated.