Seller - eBay Authenticity Guarantee Nightmare Begins?

[chidela]

I wanted to post somewhere to keep track of everything that's going on in order to either warn future sellers, or hopefully provide an instance of eBay looking after sellers. We'll see how this ends up.

A couple of months ago I sold an item for $2200 using eBay's Authenticity Guaranteed program. eBay quickly authenticated the item and it was delivered to the buyer. Now, two months later out of the blue I get an email saying that the buyer has opened a Payment Dispute with their financial institution. eBay asks me to provide proof that the item was as described. I'm only allowed to submit a single photo, no text. I choose to screenshot the tracking from eBay showing that the item was authenticated by eBay as well as delivered to the buyer. 

I contacted support and was told that:

"I have confirmed that in this case you are protected. The buyer put their reasons for opening the dispute as item does not match the description of your listing. eBay has authenticated your item, meaning we have taken full responsibility and verified your item listing was accurate. This is why you are protected against any payment disputes." 

and: 

"You are guaranteed a reimbursement but for legal reasons, they money would have to come from you to the buyer. Then eBay will take over and protect you as one of our sellers and reimburse you."

This sounds way too good to be true. Has anyone else had this outcome? I will keep this thread updated as things develop. 

[samanthasb0utique]

I am so curious to see what happens with this! Praying for the best!

[ittybitnot]

@chidela 

Thanks again for the update.  Sorry there is not better news for you at this time.  Plenty of us are waiting for the results of this as well. 

[chidela]

Small update:

I was informed that eBay/Ayden’s behavior in this situation is potentially violating their license as a Money Transmittor in my state so I’ve just reached out to my state’s Attorney General explaining to them what’s going on. It sounds like they aren’t permitted to withhold money from a customer for as long as they are. I’m hoping my message to the AG will also make them reconsider allowing eBay/Ayden to continue to treat sellers this way in my state. 

[valueaddedresource]

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@chidela wrote:

Small update:

I was informed that eBay/Ayden’s behavior in this situation is potentially violating their license as a Money Transmittor in my state so I’ve just reached out to my state’s Attorney General explaining to them what’s going on. It sounds like they aren’t permitted to withhold money from a customer for as long as they are. I’m hoping my message to the AG will also make them reconsider allowing eBay/Ayden to continue to treat sellers this way in my state. 

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@chidela kudos for following through on this with your AG - hoping they will be able to help you get some resolution. 🤞

[fashunu4eeuh]

Hi, have been following along with your thread. So sorry to hear of your anxiety. If it is any consolation, your experience will surely help others, and i appreciate your sharing it. Best wishes for a speedy resolution, hopefully to your benefit. Hang in there.

[williamtippen]

eBay rules cant keep up with the scammer. eBay has become the land of the scammer. A honest seller is frequently explaining himself to a person that has never sold on eBay. I amnot sure what is worse the the scammer or the person with 8 feedback giving you negative because their 4 dollar, mass produced items don't match the picture. 

[chidela]

Update:

Things have gotten kind of weird. 

I still had about 16 items listed for sale on eBay so I went ahead and deleted all of those sales as I obviously feel pretty uncomfortable selling on eBay again at this point.

The next day I see that the $2200 hold on my eBay account has been removed but the dispute is still open.

Ive tried contacting the Authentic Watches eBay email address but they responded with copy and pasted segments from the website that didn’t address any of my questions. Their responses will be in different fonts in each paragraph as they are literally copy/pasted from other sources. 

eBay for Business on Facebook will no longer respond or even read my messages. 

I feel like I’m in some sort of eBay purgatory.

[chidela · Accepted solution]

FINAL UPDATE:

It’s over! PayPal just ruled in my favor. So it would appear that PayPal seems to accept the eBay Authenticator’s findings as evidence of an item being as described. 

[playklax]

Congratulations!!  What an ordeal you were through!  I feel relieved for you!

[chidela]

Thank you! That took way longer than it should have. The relief is immense and I feel slightly better about continuing to sell on eBay in the future, however, for now I will definitely be taking a break.

[insanebuyer88]

What was the buyer’s name? I’m sure most sellers want to put him/her on their black list.

[affinitywares]

This is another DESPICABLE BUSINESS PRACTICE THAT EBAY HAS UNFAIRLY IMPLEMENTED TO THE SELLER TO INCUR HUGE LOSSES! I LOATHE EBAY MORE ANF MORE...SINCE 1999 THEIR CHANGES ARE GIR THE WORSE. JUST GOT BLIND SIDED WITH A 17.00 LOSS TO SHIP BECAUSE THEIR INEPT AUTHENTICATION TEAM DOESN'T KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING! THEIR PROMITE FEES ARE A SHEER FINANCIAL **bleep**! 

[robs11958]

Here's a new twist on Authenticity Guarantee that I haven't read yet.  I sold a 2000 Skybox Impact Tom Brady and was of course, obligated by EBAY to send it to their authenticator, PSA in Santa Ana, CA.  The card was originally authenticated and encapsulated by PSA 21 years ago as being in GEM MINT condition. PSA 10. My buyer got a message from EBAY saying the card needed to be re-slabbed. (It's been in a vault since inception and remains in GEM MINT condition.) I called EBAY authentication department and after about 90 minutes and many hang ups, I reach Jenny who I authorize to start an investigation. The following day, my buyer is told he's getting a full refund. (Thankfully). The outcome of the 18 hour investigation was that PSA said they permanently lost my card. Hmmmm... THEFT by PSA employee is all I can logically say happened. Card was not autographed or serial numbered. No way to ever track it !!!  It's been a about a month and I haven't received a refund, a message nor a call.  I told EBAY & PSA I am filing the complaint with the Dept. of Justice, etc. with all corroboration and the buyers willingness to testify. I took down all my listings including the 6 high dollar cards with bids on them and EBAY charged me almost $250 in fees for removing the listings rather than have them stolen as well when they go to authentication. NOW, after 3 weeks I decide to list 4 top shelf Josh Allen cards and they're literally "HIDING" them. I have another seller who never even bothered to print a tracking label 23 days ago for a card I purchased for $150 and they keep telling me their system is having a "hiccup", try again later. Tomorrow is the final day to ask them to 'step in and fix the deal and refund the money paid and they are ghosting me to shut me up.  Hello!!!  Think I won't take action? I have pictures of everything printed out. New owners (private investors like the owner of the New York Mets eleven months ago.) Time to take action folks.  It's out of control and they have it all. We are just pawns in there "get rich quick" scheme. 

[dssslw]

I am in the middle of a similar ordeal with eBay authenticity guarantee. I purchased a Rolex Watch that was authenticated and sent to me. A few months later I decided to sell the product, and listed it. Shortly thereafter, eBay notified me that the product listing was removed due to violation of the counterfeit items policy and that I could not sell the product due to it being a counterfeit watch. 

when communicating with eBay, they informed me that Rolex the company will monitor listings on eBay and have them removed if they deem them to be knockoff/counterfeit watches that are reflecting their brand.  So instead of eBay authenticity guaranteed offering to refund my original purchase of $4,000, they just said “obviously Rolex is wrong about this product being counterfeit” and offered no other solution. 

i am speechless on the inability to stand behind their service when THE WATCH BRAND THEMSELVES DEEMED THE PRODUCT TO BE COUNTERFEIT. 

[kh-laura]

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.