eBay Vault has some flaws that need addressed ASAP

[replacementradios]

So I jumped into the eBay Vault thing... I purchased 5 cards on eBay with Authenticity Guarantee and elected to have them sent to the Vault. I think eBay definitely needs to up their game though. Here are the problems I have encountered so far, in order of importance (IMO):

1) Results pages don't say Authenticity Guaranteed for Vault cards. -- Sure, there is verbiage in the listing that all Vault cards are authenticated and guaranteed, but the perspective buyer has to make it there first! If they are searching for a 1963 Clemente 540 and they'll only consider buying one that is guaranteed authentic, they might not even make it into my listing to see that it actually is. eBay needs to put the exact same logo and verbiage in Vault card listings AND on the itemized results pages. Search for '1963 Clemente 540 psa 6' and you'll see what I mean. There are currently three. The other two have a check mark and say Authenticity Guaranteed. But mine (replacementradios) doesn't... Even though it is... Even though it was when I bought it on eBay and has since been authenticated by eBay/PSA prior to final delivery to the Vault... It was never in my hands to have been tampered with. There is no reason the Authenticity Guaranteed logo should have dropped off there. The idea of perspective buyers not even looking at my listing because eBay is not letting them know it's authentic in all the same ways as non-Vault cards is concerning. This is just shooting Vault in the foot! If they want it to be successful, they have to make sure Vault purchases look like a BETTER option than non-Vault purchases. Not worse...

2) When you list a Vault card for sale, the seller has no input on the title. (You could argue this should be my #1.) -- Whatever the authenticator/eBay decides to input is what you get. That can present significant problems. Take my item 275806498549, for instance. Yes, it is a PSA 6, but it has an MC (Mis-cut) qualifier. That should be in the title! Otherwise perspective buyers will think I myself intentionally left it out, to be misleading. The title also doesn't say 'baseball card', anything about the centering, or EX-MT. Those are all possible terms buyers would use in searches. Sure, 'baseball card' may be implied (or obtained from some other field) but Search doesn't always work as it should. I think those things should be in the title too. At a minimum, eBay should have a Suggest Edit button for the title, along with a Comments field so you can make your case...

3) The Item Specifics section of a Vault card listing is not accurate. -- It says "Seller assumes all responsibility for this listing." No they don't. Like the title, the seller has ZERO input into the item specifics. Statements like this just lead a buyer to think the seller somehow misled them, if there is an issue. That can and will lead to bad feedback that will be entirely outside the seller's control. Maybe eBay would remove said feedback but we shouldn't have to go through that (somewhat painful) request process because of an oversight by eBay that can and will affect many sellers. If eBay and/or PSA is generating those specifics, they need to take ownership of them. They can't have the best of both worlds: make the Specifics say whatever they want but still leave the seller on the hook if the buyer takes issue...

4) The Item Description section of a Vault card listing is not accurate. -- It says "Item description from the seller" No isn't. Like the title and the Item Specifics, the seller has ZERO input into the Description. All the same concerns and arguments from number 3 apply, with that being the case. (So I won't re-type them.)

5) There is no way (that I can find) to search only cards in the Vault. -- There are benefits of buying cards from the Vault. And eBay is heavily promoting the Vault. So why can't we specify "Cards in the Vault' as a search Filter? If it's such a great concept, why not give us the ability to search only those cards? 

I am currently on full pause with the Vault... These issues are just too concerning and I feel like they will have an impact on my ability to sell my Vault cards. Luckily for me, Trading Nights Across America will be in my town this weekend, so I'll have a chance to speak with eBay Vault employees. If anyone else has any Vault concerns they would like addressed with them, please let me know. 

[allthingssurplus]

He is your mistake.  You have made an assumption that eBay will offer up a program that works.  Bad assumption.  eBay has been turning out program after program all of which have not been perfected.  However all of those programs in one fashion or another seem to generate more revenue for eBay.  Do not entrust your cards of value to eBay to hold for you.  Read on these threads about how the authenticity programs are not working.  People are complaining that item purchased from the manufacture are being deemed fake by the authenticity centers eBay has commissioned.  eBay only knows how to generate fees not sales and your best interest is their last concern.  This from a 23, what they call a high valve Seller.   

[crazystuff4sale]

#5 is actually hilarious...

or maybe they don't want to reveal how few cards are actually in the vault?

[farmalljr]

This is all easily solved, by taking physical possession of the cards. While the vault might be some novel idea, it's not one I would ever use. 

If you don't hold it, you don't truly own it. 

[the-hook-and-the-loop]

The only thing good about the Vault is the photo shopped picture they used to promote it. I don't believe Santa or the Easter Bunny exists either.

[chapeau-noir]

I see a load of wasted space in that image, that's for sure.  It's not like it's a museum, it's just a storage unit for paper ephemera.

[crazystuff4sale]

Has ebay published any stats on the progress of their vault operation?

How many items, how many users have items there etc?

[replacementradios]

I haven’t been able to find anything in regards to the number of cards that are actually being stored there. Perhaps it’s not going that well and that’s why they’re not providing a search filter for Vault cards…

Of course, if they would address obvious issues, such as the ones I’ve presented, savvy collectors might be more inclined to use the service. It does have it’s benefits. Especially for the remainder of 2023, while expenses are reduced.

But they’re not going to get buy-in from the collecting community if they don’t make Vault listings AT LEAST as appealing as normal $250+ Authenticity-eligible listings… When you look at 3 results, one of which is Vault stored and the other two aren’t, you shouldn’t see the two non-Vault cards with ‘Authenticity Guaranteed’ and a special logo, while the Vault listings look like any other ho-hum listing on eBay. The Vault listing should be bold or a couple font pts higher or red, or something like that. Not the exact opposite. Either Vault is better or it isn’t…

[allthingssurplus]

This vault program is just as crazy as the eBay Cafe, if you have been on the site long enough.  That program was a joke from the get go.  All of this silly stuff is just to acquire more revenue no matter how much time and effort Seller's waste.  eBay has never understood that by wasting Seller's time really cost eBay revenue.  That time could be used to purchase items to list or increase a Seller's listing on the site.  No thinking power in eBay management.

[toomuchstuffagain35]

The 'vault' is probably a row of locked filing cabinets.

[maxine*j]

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@the-hook-and-the-loop wrote:

The only thing good about the Vault is the photo shopped picture they used to promote it. I don't believe Santa or the Easter Bunny exists either.

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And I still say that looks like a space-age columbarium.  😄

[simba6]

looks like a lot of space for a few cards.   That device in the back round that reaches from floor to ceiling, some sort of robot place and retrieve system?    If I can find a Rainbow Dash card with a high enough price I could keep it there.

[sextons-sweet-deals]

Wouldn't that be called false / deceiving advertising and the Government has done nothing about it? Of course, we see these type of adds every day on TV and the internet and nothing is ever done. 

No one would want their cards in a constant lighted case. No matter the light output, it will affect the card colors and decrease value due to being faded. 

[chapeau-noir]

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@toomuchstuffagain35 wrote:

The 'vault' is probably a row of locked filing cabinets.

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Shoeboxes.  But they lock the closet.

[a_c_green]

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@sextons-sweet-deals wrote:

No one would want their cards in a constant lighted case. No matter the light output, it will affect the card colors and decrease value due to being faded.

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Their whole presentation of the "eBay Vault" has been utter nonsense since Day 1. I've seen only one or two images associated with the "Vault," including the one in this thread here, and they look preposterous.

To begin with, eBay doesn't allow browsing of the vault contents in person (perhaps understandably), and I don't believe they even divulge the location, so there would be no reason to build a museum-quality viewing environment such as what is implied in the image since no one can visit anyway.

Secondly, no one would display high-value collectibles in wildly overlit individual cabinets such as what is shown in the image. If nothing else, each display cabinet for each individual card in that image looks to be occupying a good eight or nine square feet of wall space, which is not only wasteful overall but also hugely expensive in terms of facility size, maintenance, energy costs, you name it. 

So okay, the image is fake and intended to gull the rubes out there. I'm wondering if they will ever find enough rubes to make the whole "Vault" enterprise worthwhile, or if it will die a quiet death in the near future, with the inevitable posts from collectors who had cards in eBay's possession and are now wondering how to get them back.