Authenticity guarantee is a scam and or severely flawed.

[james308au]

Just had an item marked as failing the authenticity test, I work for the company that manufactured product and was gifted the item by the company...yet it is not authentic.....lol

The model number is slightly different for employee gifts however the quality and specifications are identical.

From what I can see someone (the authenticator) just checks the model number against the company's online catalogue, very different from what is advertised by Ebay, certainly not someone checking and measuring the item as advertised and certainly not a specialist in this area.

Once the item is marked as not authentic you do not have any recourse or chance to know exactly why, it only states "Unable to confirm authenticity"

Now not only do I have negative feedback, but the whole transactions is also going to cost me money as I have to pay all the fees on top of the return freight from the so called authenticator.

Total scam

[inhawaii]

"Unable to confirm authenticity" is different than "not authentic".

They are not saying it's not authentic.

They are saying they can't prove it is authentic.

[vintagecraze50]

I would not use this program unless I sent the items to the authenticators first before listing the item. They have the process backwards as far as risks for sellers listing this stuff without authentication first. 

[vintagecraze50]

So, makes sense to NOT list and sell it until it is authenticated.

[james308au]

Well they obviously think it's a counterfeit as they have just removed my listing as it goes against their counterfeit policy....just goes to show how incredibly flawed the system is

[tatent]

Not sure that it relates to why they turned you down or to your product, but on their "How it Works" page, in regards to sneakers, they say they will fail them and return them to the seller if the description isn't accurate, not only if they are counterfeit. 

[james308au]

Now to top it all off I received the product back form the so called authenticator with no original packaging, all the original foam outside and inside missing, the item is just flopping around in a box with no protective packaging.

Warning to anyone...never use this service.

[joliztoyco]

And many of us don't use their service. Their authentication program for Nike/Sports shoes is..uhh... bad.

I give eBay an A- for the idea and a D- for execution. 

And that's probably the "cheapest" authentication services eBay pays for. But they can't afford to hire the qualified experts who can verify authenticity in high dollar items like jewelry or collectables.  Those people are busy working for Sotheby's,  museums, or high end, high priced selling venues.

Not eBay. 

It's a real problem and challenge for eBay...one that I don't think they'll ever solve.

Plus, if you truly want to sell a high end item, why would you do it on eBay? Because by using Promoted Listings on eBay it will actually cost you MORE to sell your item than through a reputable auction house.

[wantonaddiction]

Agreed!  I just received a pair of Nikes that are plainly fake, with six distinct differences from the real thing.  I already own the shoes in other colors. 

[2007sundance]

If they’re unable to confirm authenticity, then that’s because they clearly aren’t qualified to be doing this! It’s a total scam!

[retro_entertainment_collectibles]

Reality is gifts or even items with employee discount are generally not be resold.  I've never saw a single manufacturer yet who has said, "Oh yeah... Buy these up under employee discount or just take some and resell them."

In fact I can tell you in the software industry one can be very rapidly fired for doing so.

[niceguyandre]

If they are "unable to confirm authenticity" then they better have a reason why. When I called customer service I was told that they cannot give a reason because it might be used to sell better fakes in the future. I have been selling on Ebay for 22+ years and have over a thousand positive feedbacks. I'm clearly not in the business of selling fakes. The Authenticity Guarantee service is clearly flawed and I will no longer sell luxury items here since it's more trouble than it's worth. Way to go Ebay. Way to continue to lose your market share of online sales.

[kh-vince]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.