Watch Authentication Program

[buzwards]

I sold a watch on eBay.  It was marked Rolex, but I stated clearly that I didn't know if it was authentic.  I started the listing at $9.99.  As soon as the price hit $2000, eBay kicked in the authentication program.  My watch sold at less than 1/2 the price of an authentic watch of that model.  Now, my money is in limbo, the watch is going to authentication, and I have no recourse.  How is this fair?

[buzwards]

Very helpful.  Thank you.

[buzwards]

Not the point.  eBay takes possession of the watch whether or not it is real.  The process only pertains to the value of the item and has nothing to do with whether or not you have other licensed certification.  You people really need to read the policy.

[buzwards]

You folks really all need to read the eBay policy.  The point is that whether or not you sell an authentically license certified watch, it could even be a toy watch that sells for over $2000, eBay gains possession and jeopardizes the safety of the item by rerouting its intended destination.  They will not provide the authenticator's qualifications and provide no legal reconciliation for opposing certifications.  

[darmurr-92]

The actual point is, eBay has had so many issues with sellers peddling fake watches, they've felt the need to set up a process to have them verified, and you're tossing a hissy because you suspect your watch might not pass verification.

You are mad because in the past you could have taken the money, and had the buyer not opened a case, ran off, and left the potentially fake watch for the buyer to deal with a few years down the road.

Stop selling stuff you don't know what is and your problems will go away. 

[buzwards]

I don't care whether the watch passes or not.  It's fine with me.  Like I said, even if it were certified when I listed it, its delivery would still have been circumvented.  A lot of folks have had issues with this authentication "program".  

I can't believe all you hostile people that are supposed to be providing "community support".  You just decided to join eBay yesterday?  Why?  That's interesting.  Seems like you yourself might be fake.  You have no expertise and no experience and no right to critique me.  Stop wasting my time.  

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

I'm not sure I understand your objection here.

Were you under the (incorrect) impression that, having started the watch at 9.99 and not at the $2000 authenticity threshhold, it would NOT be sent to the authenticator even if the price hit $2,000?

Or did you understand that , if the price hit $2000, it WOULD be sent to the authenticator, and your issue is basically that you object to the Authenticator program generally? 

You are certainly correct that if you had had it authenticated locally before listing it, that decision could be superseded by eBay's Authenticator. However, if you had had it authenticated locally, you could have provided that information in your listing. And you could have included information in your listing to let buyers know that if the bidding hit $2000, ebay would be providing its own free authenticity evaluation. 

I'm just not clear on what your specific objection is here?

[darmurr-92]

It's a posting ID because I had a wacko from the boards decide to buy several of my items just to leave me bad feedback because I told her that her purse was a fake, a bad fake at that.

I mean it said "**bleep**" not Coach...as for you, stop selling stuff that you don't actually know what it is, two examples have come to light in this thread.

A potentially fake watch and dogs being sold as Felix the Cat. Maybe you should spend less time being mad and more time doing research. 

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

@buzwards 

    Buz, I read your description on the sold Rolex and the lists of concerns you wrote. From " off center dots" " tilted 12 o'clock face" ( or something like that). You do understand that Rolex doesn't make mistakes on engineering their timepieces?

     I'm really surprised that your listing didn't get reported and removed, seriously. EBay did you a favor and protected this buyer as well by sending it to get authenticated. Guaranteed, it won't pass, it's a fake, even you suspected something in your description. 

     The posters here responding to you are all very professional and long time contributing members of this forum.

     So bottom line with your listing, it didn't matter if you started it off at $9.95 or .01 cent, the fact is the title had Rolex in it. 

[albertabrightalberta]

I don't get posters who come here looking for advice and have temper tantrums when the responses aren't what they were hoping to hear. 

@buzwards 

We aren't here to coddle you and tell you how wronged you were when you did the wrong thing. If you want someone to agree with you, go into the bathroom, look in the mirror and tell that person your story.  

I don't sell Rolex (or other designer) watches but I do sell highly faked brands of fashion accessories. On occasion, I invest in a professional third party authentication and include that info in the listing. I do it for 2 reasons: Firstly, it adds credibility to my item and secondly, it gives my buyers reassurance that they're getting what they paid for. 

There have been a couple of occasions when my buyers needed more reassurance of authenticity and opted to purchase their own pro authentication. And in those cases, their own independent authenticator came to the same conclusion; item was authentic.

So had you gone to a jeweler, you would have found whether you could list the item. The jeweler would have deemed it fake and you'd save yourself the embarrassment of the buyer learning that they bid on and won a fake but worse, the ding on your account when ebay restricts you from selling designer items/jewelry will hurt even more! 

Instead of blaming the posters who have told you that YOU were wrong, thank them for pointing out the pitfalls of not vetting your items before listing and hope that you can redeem yourself and your account. 

And BTW, those "Felix the Dog" items are still listed! You really need to end those listings!

[buzwards]

You are hostile and uninformed.  Those are not dogs, they are marked "FELIX" and "GERMANY".  If you could read, you'd know that.  I think I know who the wacko was in that situation.  Hiding your identity is a sign of dishonesty.  And, truly sir, you don't know what you are talking about.  

[buzwards]

So why do you think it was that eBay didn't contact me and/or remove the listing?  You shouldn't be surprised.  They don't miss a trick.  I've being selling on eBay for over 20 years.  

Regarding the buyer......they and I have had honest conversations about the watch back and forth throughout the auction and there were no surprises to anyone here, except for eBay's pop up policy, the legality of which, by the way, is being evaluated.  eBay does not inform the buyer that their purchase is being confiscated and rerouted to some "vetted" "authenticator" whose credentials they refuse to disclose and whose deliberation they prohibit from reconciliation.  This is way off the mark and probably will be eliminated in short time.  

[buzwards]

Ill informed hostile response. 

Doesn't matter about your certifications.  Once your watch hits $2000, it gets confiscated en route and goes directly to the undisclosed  "authenticator" of unverified credentials.  If that person disagrees with your certification, it gets disqualified and you lose.  You end up with money you spent going down the drain, with no recourse of reconciliation and a **bleep** off customer.  Check out some of the feedback on this, and do yourself a favor, and read the policy of questionable legality.  

The "dogs" are marked Felix and Germany and are a well know perfumery item to any knowledgeable collector.  You shouldn't critique things when you are so unqualified to do so.  

You shouldn't be responding with false information for others to read.

[a*river*runs*through*it]

I'd just like to point out that you have made a grand total of 15 posts to the Ebay Community boards.

You might want to take a look at the posters profiles that you say are hiding, hostile, posting false information, calling rude and uninformed, etc.

As to your post #13: "That's ridiculous. They don't kick you off the site for that. They would message and explain or call directly."

I wouldn't bet any money on that if I were you. It happens quite often.

BTW, Federal law states that any sale of a counterfeit item can garner a fine of up to $250,000 per sale. I'm frankly quite surprised you didn't get a formal letter from Rolex themselves. They scan this site 24/7 and do report and get many fakes removed from the site. Then they send you a nice little email, which you will not enjoy reading nor responding to.

But have a blessed day.

[albertabrightalberta]

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@buzwards wrote:

Ill informed hostile response. 

You shouldn't be responding with false information for others to read.

---

There's nothing "ill informed" or hostile about my response nor is there any "false information" in my post (or that of any other poster). 

Just because you aren't being told what you were hoping to hear doesn't make us rude, doesn't make us hostile, doesn't make us ill-informed, but it sure makes you look ungrateful! 

The responses you've received are intended to HELP you but you just aren't getting it. 

If you don't like ebay, if you don't like their rules and policies and don't like that they want to make sure that sellers are honest, there's no one and nothing forcing you to stay and sell here. 

[buzwards]

Actually, false information has definitely been posted in this overall response thread with regard to my current auction listings.  Responses were hostile, mocking, and not in any way helpful or informational.  As for the premise of this issue, most of you are not fully informed, nor do you take the time to read all of the content.  Had any of you been in this situation, you wouldn't have appreciated it.  Had this watch been certified by a licensed jeweler, (which I still intend to do, if I ever get it back), it would not have mattered.  It would still have been redirected to said "authenticator".   This is a money making scheme.  The authenticator's credentials were and will not be provided, and, no reconciliation is possible with regard to the findings, flawed as they may be.  Moreover, eBay has broken their own "ship only to PayPal verified address" policy.  They did not inform the auction winner, and they were extremely upset.  This entire process is flawed.  eBay claims it's part of the "global shipping program", which it is not.  This was a domestic shipment, but this is how they get around not shipping to the intended owner.  eBay recommended that I not refund the money until I received the watch, yet, they have refunded the buyer and I have no watch.  If you all took the time to investigate this process you would see how flawed it is with buyers receiving "authenticated" watches that were actually Frankenwatches, watches that were authentic, but, just as mine "could not be confirmed", and lots of other horror stories.  eBay provided me with the authenticator's finding report that stated he could not confirm one way or the other, but informed the buyer that the watch was "not authentic".  They are truly lost in this process and clearly did not think it through before they launched it.  I have been in program design and engineering management all my career and can tell you that a process should as this would have never been vetted in professional manufacturing science.  This program is in the testing stages right now, and is free.  Wait until the time when eBay starts charging for this, which they will, as stated in their policy.   You people need to stop ganging up and put on your thinking caps.