eBay Authenticity Guarantee Sneaker Program Issues

[qualityworld-8]

The eBay authenticity guarantee sneaker program is flawed. I spoke to with an eBay customer service rep who mentioned that it’s a third party program with 2 years in existence and ebay wouldn’t have exact information on the specifics. I sold a pair of vintage 91 converse chuck Taylor sneakers with its original box. There are two other sold comps within 90 days with similar solds with the original box but their soles are cracked and still passed authentication! I originally purchased them from Foot Locker when they were first released. My pair didn’t have cracked soles and are in excellent vintage condition relative for its age a pair of 91s which was stored in my personal collection.  My listing indicated preowned and minor  flaking on the tongues and normal wear to be expected due to age. Included photos of all angles and a video.   I shipped them to an authenticator in LV.  From

the tracking the authenticator received it yesterday who was not able to authenticate them because that it didn’t match the listing description and photos?!!! They submitted a return and refunded the buyer from

my account with not even an explanation.

This is absolutely unacceptable. I reached out to eBay CS who reviewing the listing with the leadership team.  Their response was they aren’t sure why the authenticator couldn’t authenticate because the reason was it didn’t match description and photos. They’re just taking a guess as to why.  They said the issue isn’t its authenticity because ebay wouldn’t be returning the item back to be relisted if there is an issue with authenticity. Their guess is that it might be because that the listing indicated excellent vintage condition but they are not sure because they don’t have specific details from the authenticator. How is that possible or acceptable? That’s absolutely ridiculous. How do you run a business let alone platform by guesses and not having information from a third party entity that eBay owns?  Most likely these 91s are probably older than the authenticator themselves. What are the authenticator credentials?  So if I’m allowed to relist them because the issue is not their authenticity but how would buyers know that??? This leaves a poor experience all around for both the buyer and seller.  What guarantees do I have if I’m able to find another buyer that the same issue won’t happen again if it goes through EAG? The EAG was an absolutely poor experience with no communication from the authenticator,

I t seems like just an automated process with no explanation from them. If they never seen a pair before wouldn’t they go to eBay solds to see Look there are the same pairs which passed authentication twice recently within 90 days. And look even one of the sold pairs had cracked soles! The EAG program is definitely a flawed new program with problems and issues which needs to be worked out. Why should sellers be responsible for a third party individual’s incompetence? I am now out of $750 for the sale and lost out on a potential future buyer.  That’s a lot of money for a small seller like me.  I deserve to be paid for the sale and for the buyer to receive the item from another eBay authenticator. It's not fair for the oversight and possible human error of this 3rd party program which enlist a 3rd party individual in their home who has no supervision.  As I understand, the authenticator is not located in an eBay facility or warehouse with managers or supervisors available. I am requesting a Manager to review this case and for a different authenticator to authenticate the shoes to send to the buyer. As discussed with an eBay rep please refer to the sold comps April 14 and Jan 31 2023 where similar shoes sold and passed authentication with the same box. The April 14 sold listing had cracked soles. When you review my listing it's indicated that it's preowned and in excellent vintage condition for it's age relative to all of the other listings. I filed an appeal hopefully it’s not an automated response with no resolution. This experience has been very disheartening.  Thanks for listening and hoping someone on here has some insight and guidance. 

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

@qualityworld-8 

Understand your frustration now I'll try to answer some Q you have.

In your description you use the word Excellent condition ,  your sneakers are not and neither is the box which looks to be in poor condition. Excellent condition means just that, not a single thing wrong, fresh from the store.

     Never use the word Vintage, it means different things to alot of people, just not a good descriptive word when dealing with high-end sneakers.  Just the facts and the year will suffice. 

     You want to know the qualifications of these authenticators? Well I'm sure they mostly learn on the job but a while back I posted the job description according to my local Las Vegas newspaper. 

     The qualifications for a LV authenticators were must be 18 years old and 1 year experience online.

     I must mention that your video was nicely put together and to me I thought your sneakers were very sellable for what they were.

    I didn't see and close up of the flaws you mentioned and damaged to box ( in which I understand is part of the whole package) was not stressed enough. 

     It just boils down to title, description and actual item, does it all match precisely?

[ittybitnot]

@qualityworld-8 

I am not an expert on shoes, but as a buyer of a wide variety of vintage and antique items two phrases I particularly despise are "normal wear to be expected due to age"  and "excellent or good vintage condition (consistent with age)".  "See pictures for condition" is another of my NOT favorite terms.  Maybe I am too fussy, or may too old school to expect to be shown and described anything that makes the item NOT mint.  I don't want to consult blurry photos take three feet away before I decide to  spend.  I want to actually see up close and personal that "nick" on the underside of an antique Lalique glass vase before I buy. 

What exactly is "normal or vintage condition"?  Were the shoes worn every day to garden in the mud? That might be 'normal' for some.  What is "consistent with age"? Were they worn every day for ten years?  once a week to walk to the store? 

That said, I do understand your situation as well.  FWIW eBay now owns the authenticator service for sneakers, making the 'independent third party expert' claim suspect at the very least.  Nobody is saying what a human authenticator has for training or criteria for expertise.  They must authenticate the brand AND make sure your item matches the description and photos.  If either is lacking the item will not pass.  At the same time, an item that previously passed the inspection may not pass when shoes are submitted again. 

Local for cash sounds like an option to explore. 

[qualityworld-8]

@silverstatetreasureboxes @ittybitnot 

Thank you both for your prompt responses.  I appreciate the helpful info and your insight.

Update: I'm still waiting to hear back on the appeal. So it also seems it's the luck of the draw in who you get as an authenticator. It's not a very consistent process.  How can the ebay authentication team's explanation be it's the description?  I double checked the sold comps and another pair sold yesterday on May 1, 2023 and went through ebay authentication. The listing had similar verbiage.  "Excellent preowned condition ....The only cosmetic defect is a little flaking of the outer surface of the tongue and the top edge of the shoes. Please see the close up photo of the tongue. The flaking is difficult to notice as the underlying surface is flat black as well. The rest of the shoes are in excellent condition and show in almost as new condition."  Based on this finding, the ebay authenticator should just send the shoes onto the buyer instead of returning them back and I should be paid for the sale.  According to the tracking, the shoes are still in the authenticator's possession. The FedEx label was created on May 2nd at 1:15am and not shipped back yet.  It's not fair, if the other seller's listing passed authentication and they were paid then I should be too.  Very frustrating and absolutely ridiculous!

[the-shoe-guys]

Sorry to read about your experience. I have been selling sneakers on eBay for the past 9 years and at first I was cautiously optimistic about the authenticity program. It’s really worn on me over time though. I thought it would get better from the bumpy start but it really hasn’t. The mandatory $14.95 fee really felt like a turning point for the worst after telling us for years free shipping was #1. Then a discounted FVF only for sales over $150. They have cut off communication once the purchase is made from the start which I’ve never understood. I just get around it if needed but many buyers are frustrated and think I’m to blame when I am “silent”. It takes 3-4 times longer to deliver an item. Just got a negative feedback today for that very reason. Trying to solve that. And so much more. Before Authenticity I almost never had to deal with issues. Now, I am regularly putting out fires not of my own making.

The only reason I’m responding right now is I’ve had 6 rejections in the past 10 days—all by shoes going through Vegas and all because the “size doesn’t match the description.” However, many of my listings are multi variation and I AM sending the correct size. Whoever is inspecting them has no idea what they are doing. I’ve never had issues with this before but 6 sales totaling roughly $1000 all being rejected is absurdly frustrating. I’ve spent over 2 hours on the phone with an authenticity rep in 3 different conversations over the past two days as it keeps happening to me. They have been nice and seem to be sincerely trying to help but have no idea why it’s happening. It’s embarrassing. I even had a pair rejected and sent back to me. I messaged the buyer and explained that it must have been an honest mistake by eBay and that they could buy them again with no chance they would be rejected again….they were rejected again for the exact same thing—twice in a week. They ordered a size 14. I sent a size 14. The listing says I have a 14. Rejected for the size not matching the listing. My title says “sizes 9.5-14”. My description says the same thing. I have several sizes…hence the range. It’s just plain stupidity. I don’t trust them at all. I may start writing personal notes to the authenticator in the package so they won’t reject a pair incorrectly. If they are getting proper training by eBay, then I’ll do it for them.

I’m starting to edit all my listings to be under “Mens Casual” so they won’t be sent through Authenticity. It’ll make it like it used to be. I can be in control. I only lose out on a few $ for anything over $150 but it think it will be worth it. My feedback is my authenticity guarantee. Plus I offer free returns. I bet my sales will go up. 

My sales have been so sluggish since January. There are probably a few reasons but I strongly believe that $14.95 fee change in combination with the long delivery times has a decent amount to do with it. Even if I adjust my prices to compensate, people don’t like paying for shipping anymore and waiting 10-14 days to get something. Most of the shoes I sell don’t need to be authenticated anyway. The buyer just wants their shoe to wear and this process is not good at delivering that. 

I could go on but you get the picture. 

[qualityworld-8]

So sorry to hear about your experiences.  That’s absolutely awful and ridiculous! Thanks for sharing your insight and the helpful info. I’ll look into that on Mens Casuals.  Sorry to hear about the neg feedback, that’s terrible and unfair for something out of your control. Perhaps  reach out to buyer and explain about the delay from the EAG program for all sellers and if they would be considerate and revise their feedback.  This further confirms how terrible the EAG program is, especially the poor experience with the LV authenticators who repeatedly don’t know what their doing. Just incompetence.  Has the personal note to the authenticator worked before or is it a suggestion to try? Sounds like a good idea, hope that works.  But that’s awful to hear that you don’t have any guarantees and it happened to you a second time.  That’s ridiculous!!! So if they send them back and tell you to relist but its because of the listing. And I see your point you have multiples so you’re doing the right thing by following eBay listing policies to have one listing and not have different listings for similar shoes in different sizes. So what are you suppose to do just to pass authentication and list each size individually? Absolutely ridiculous!

Update: I sent messages to 2 different community managers on May 1st and 2nd and didn’t hear back. Filed an appeal on May 1st still haven’t hear back. The generated message said to expect an answer in 48 hours. Still nothing.  I received the  sneakers back on May 4th from the LV authenticator.  Absolutely horrible job returning the shoes back!!! So annoyed. First of they shipped them back in a smaller box which barely covered the shoebox it’s in and just a couple of air bags thrown in.  These are $750 shoes and they carelessly sent them back not protecting all sides or with any protective plastic or polybag with it back. I always carefully  package all my items and my feedback shows.  Especially for this one, I video recorded the shipping process. It was meticulously packaged in a large box with extra paper filler, the sneakers and shoebox in a polybag, enclosed a small gift for buyer and surrounded by paper  to prevent movement during transit.  Upon receiving the return back I called eBay CS and got through the eBay authenticity team rep and explained my annoyance and frustration with the program. I also indicated that I video recorded prior to shipping.  This is absolutely unacceptable.   I asked specifically what guarantees do I have it I sell them again that it won’t happen again? I also requested if so, I don’t want to send back to LV let alone the same authenticator. That would be absurd. Rep escalated to management and would get back to me.  They promised to call back within 24 hrs. I’m waiting to hear back.