I've been selling sneakers on eBay for a while now, never had any issues, returns or complaints until this new eBay Authenticity thing came into play. So recently I had a typical order for a pair of Nike Air Maxes (ran the customer about $120) which I got directly from Dicks Sporting Goods. This was my first order for shoes over $100 since the new authenticity guarantee, so I sent them over to the address.
Well, ultimately they failed inspection...so in my mind I'm just wondering what could possibly be wrong because I know for a fact they're not fake and they're brand new, they came directly from Dick's. I'm looking everywhere on the website for a reason or indication but they leave it totally open ended, just a simple "Failed Inspection." I searched around on some messageboards and found out that people were in fact getting inspections failed due to the boxes having some type of damage. I figured this would have to be the only reason so I accepted the loss, explained everything to the buyer/refunded, and waited for my shoes to come back.
So I got the shoes today. Again, the shoes were exactly as pictured - 100% authentic, brand new, never been worn, directly from the store. The box still looked brand new as well but upon further inspection I did notice some dents and scratches, which kinda surprised me that they would fail inspection over that since buyers in this price range typically don't care about the box being in pristine condition, they just want their shoes. It's not like I'm selling collectables or Yeezys or something, but whatever, that's neither here nor there.
I guess I ultimately wouldn't have a problem with this if eBay actually gave the REASON for the fail, but they dont. They simply just say Failed Inspection. So in my eyes (from a buyer's perspective) it looks like I'm just trying to pass them off some fake shoes, which I would never do and have never done. I feel like it's a bad look for business and makes buyers not trust you. I think eBay needs to at least give the seller and the buyer a REASON for the inspection being failed, don't just leave it open ended because then you're making us legitimate sellers look like we're scammers or something. Not to mention, (I'm guessing) the buyer can still leave feedback on these orders so just imagine a buyer bidding on sneakers for 5 days, waiting and expecting their order for the next week-2 weeks, and then then they get a notification that it failed authenticity with no reasoning or proof. It just looks bad on the seller in my opinion and will definitely lead to some bad ratings.
All in all, I don't have a major issue with the Authenticity Guarantee because in the end, it does in fact protect the buyers and the sellers. I can understand why it's needed but I just see a lot of issues down the road with this. I feel like eBay should've had everything in order and gone over every possible scenario before they launched this type of program.
I also don't feel like every single sneaker over $100 even needs an authenticity guarantee in the first place. I tend to sell the most basic of basic Nikes, most of these shoes aren't exclusive or even popular by any means, why should they automatically need an Authenticity Guarantee?
Also, my advice to sellers: make sure you're detailing EVERY SINGLE THING wrong with the box, even if it seems pointless because they are in fact failing authenticity inspections due to this. Which is dumb in my opinion, but hey, it's their website, gotta play by their rules. I can see a lot of legitimate sellers getting screwed over by this in the future, while others may not have any issues. All in all, they have A LOT of work to do with this new guarantee program, that's all I'm saying.
