Blowout Cards Forums - View Single Post - Anyone else having issues with eBay authentication?

GuacamoleCards · 01-08-2025, 01:51 PM

Thought I'd update this with a case I'm dealing with right now.

Bought a raw Antman PSA Silver in September, listed as Near Mint or better. It passed authentication and came to me.

Sold the same card in November, listed as Near Mint or better.

1) Took a month for the card to even get to the authenticator due to the holidays
2) It then failed Authentication. Just off the phone with eBay and they tell me that the Authenticator evaluated this card as "Excellent" instead of "Near Mint or Better". They reached out to the buyer to see if they still wanted it, but the buyer never responded so they just failed the card and are sending it back to me.

The eBay agent told me that PSA is doing the authentication now, and that the authentication of raw gards includes this mini "grading" to ensure that the condition of the card matches the listing.

The agent did tell me to file an appeal when I get the card back since I purchased this card as Near Mint or Better and eBay authenticated it, though I'm not expecting much from this.

They also were not going to refund the seller fees through the normal process until I brought it up with the agent, and she apologized and refunded me that $38. She was going to try and jump through hoops to refund my $5 shipping label as well but I told her not to worry about it.

My concerns:

1) Now there is a burden placed on us as sellers to be amateur graders. The line between "Near Mint" and "Excellent" is pretty thin, one would say almost arbitrary, but now your cards will fail authentication if you don't choose properly. I might change all of my raw listings over $250 to "Excellent" to avoid this and hope it doesn't impact sales.

2) We're also now at the whim of the fickle nature of PSA. We all know they are far from perfect. We've seen cards graded a 6 get resubmitted into 10s... but now an eBay sale hinges on whether the authenticator is having a good day.

I really like the concept of the eBay authentication program, but this seems like hair splitting that will lead to a lot of unintended consequences.

01-08-2025, 01:51 PM	#13
GuacamoleCards Member Join Date: Aug 2024 Posts: 186 guacamolecards	Thought I'd update this with a case I'm dealing with right now. Bought a raw Antman PSA Silver in September, listed as Near Mint or better. It passed authentication and came to me. Sold the same card in November, listed as Near Mint or better. 1) Took a month for the card to even get to the authenticator due to the holidays 2) It then failed Authentication. Just off the phone with eBay and they tell me that the Authenticator evaluated this card as "Excellent" instead of "Near Mint or Better". They reached out to the buyer to see if they still wanted it, but the buyer never responded so they just failed the card and are sending it back to me. The eBay agent told me that PSA is doing the authentication now, and that the authentication of raw gards includes this mini "grading" to ensure that the condition of the card matches the listing. The agent did tell me to file an appeal when I get the card back since I purchased this card as Near Mint or Better and eBay authenticated it, though I'm not expecting much from this. They also were not going to refund the seller fees through the normal process until I brought it up with the agent, and she apologized and refunded me that $38. She was going to try and jump through hoops to refund my $5 shipping label as well but I told her not to worry about it. My concerns: 1) Now there is a burden placed on us as sellers to be amateur graders. The line between "Near Mint" and "Excellent" is pretty thin, one would say almost arbitrary, but now your cards will fail authentication if you don't choose properly. I might change all of my raw listings over $250 to "Excellent" to avoid this and hope it doesn't impact sales. 2) We're also now at the whim of the fickle nature of PSA. We all know they are far from perfect. We've seen cards graded a 6 get resubmitted into 10s... but now an eBay sale hinges on whether the authenticator is having a good day. I really like the concept of the eBay authentication program, but this seems like hair splitting that will lead to a lot of unintended consequences.