Anyone else having issues with eBay authentication?

[SLGSports]

I'm really not enjoying this program lately, both as a buyer and a seller.

1. Buyer - Card damage... and when I say damage, I mean all 4 corners dinged, tons of scratches on the front, and a big chip on top. How rough does a person need to handle a card for all of these to happen? All of which are clearly not present in pics from the listing. And on a high-end $2K card

In another example, a pretty high-end card ($600) arrived from authentication (it passed), but it had corner damage. In this case, either they damaged it again or the seller doctored the pics. Hard to say for sure, but it's probably from rough handling.

2. Seller - I've had several cards come back recently, having failed authentication. Seems like they're not only doing authentication now, but also "grading" the cards now. And if they find any surface issue, they reject it. Cards were listed as 'near-mint' or better and I'm super confident they'd get PSA 8 or 9.

Anyways... anyone else having issues with them? The damage is causing huge loss in value to my cards. And it's super frustrating to have good cards rejected too. And we all know the selling price the next time I find a buyer will be less.

Update: here's a photo on my most recent card that failed inspection, which was sent to the buyer. Buyer didn't really see a major issue, but got scared off nonetheless. Maybe the edge is flattened a bit (or curled up a bit), but nullifying a sale for this is crazy.

[DynaEtch]

Aren’t #1 and #2 kind of self-contradictory though? That they are less strict than they should be, and also more strict.

Well unless they are just randomly doing the evaluations with no rhyme or reason, which is certainly possible.

I do think ebay AG is pretty lax if anything…if it’s borderline they probably just ok it. There so much volume going through there, if they were super strict to a T, that could somewhat hinder the flow of eBay transactions and cause problems. For something egregious I have pretty good confidence they’ll catch it.

For selling I haven’t had one rejected yet by ebay AG, knock on wood. I am pretty conservative with grading and if anything undegrade just to be safe.

[Bosoxfan5990]

There was a change from CGC to PSA for raw cards recently.

Perhaps PSA has different standards than CGC...

[collective]

What you get when you take on more than you can handle and staff your needs with employees making $17-$20/hr.

[SLGSports]

Didn't realize that. Their authentication team definitely needs card handling training that their graders get.

[oddstuff]

OP just to be clear, your examples all involve raw cards, correct?

[bear0555]

Pretty much been this way since the start. I just sold a card I bought for $500 for under $100 b/c they missed the damage on it. Ebay Authenticity Guarantee is garbage.

Try BBB and see if you can get something back.

[slogue2]

Those would be frustrating issues to deal with. Thankfully (knock on wood), I haven't experienced any of those yet. When I list a card, I'm taking the time to list any potential issue in the item description section. I've sold raw cards above the eBay AG limit, listed scratches or indents on the card, made the buyer aware whenever offers came in, and they passed authentication.

I am hoping that they passed authentication because I was very up front about issues with the card in the listing and confirmed the buyer actually read the description before offering and buying. It's shocking the number of buyers who don't read card descriptions before offering.

I bet folks who go the lazy AI description route and don't give a true description of condition spelled out directly are going to have issues with the AG program. Just an assumption though.

[smanzari]

Originally Posted by slogue2

Those would be frustrating issues to deal with. Thankfully (knock on wood), I haven't experienced any of those yet. When I list a card, I'm taking the time to list any potential issue in the item description section. I've sold raw cards above the eBay AG limit, listed scratches or indents on the card, made the buyer aware whenever offers came in, and they passed authentication.

I am hoping that they passed authentication because I was very up front about issues with the card in the listing and confirmed the buyer actually read the description before offering and buying. It's shocking the number of buyers who don't read card descriptions before offering.

I bet folks who go the lazy AI description route and don't give a true description of condition spelled out directly are going to have issues with the AG program. Just an assumption though.

Same - if I think a card will hit authentication, I'm listing every single issue I can find with a Max Best condition of EX (even if that sucker is a GEM). Its worked so far

[mc1]

Originally Posted by SLGSports

Didn't realize that. Their authentication team definitely needs card handling training that their graders get.

Who says they dont damage cards before or during grading? Heck, they can even damage them during encapsulation. Thats a factor not many consider as to why some orders have low gem rates. People always blame graders but theres too many steps and people that handle your cards.

[SLGSports]

Originally Posted by oddstuff

OP just to be clear, your examples all involve raw cards, correct?

Yes, I was referring to raw cards only. My understanding is that slabbed cards are just checked to make sure the slab is authentic (i.e., shine their fancy light on it). The card itself isn't even looked at to see if it's authentic.

I've added a pic to my original post as an example of a card that recently failed authentication for quality reasons (card was listed as 'near-mint or better'). Maybe I need to just listed everything as 'Excellent' now, just to be safe?

[orion9578]

Originally Posted by SLGSports

Yes, I was referring to raw cards only. My understanding is that slabbed cards are just checked to make sure the slab is authentic (i.e., shine their fancy light on it). The card itself isn't even looked at to see if it's authentic.

I've added a pic to my original post as an example of a card that recently failed authentication for quality reasons (card was listed as 'near-mint or better'). Maybe I need to just listed everything as 'Excellent' now, just to be safe?

Exactly what I've done recently. If I notice any issues at all, I just list as EX. To me it seems they're pushing for mostly graded cards to be sold, but what do I know?

I just had the first return in my 20 years on eBay, nearly 3k items sold. It didn't pass authentication. Luckily the buyer was a reasonable person and seemingly is just going to "let it go"/got refunded. I'd say I got lucky as far as that goes, as a lot of people act unhinged nowadays. The issue was either totally missed by me, which is possible...but my scans/photos don't show any damage...or happened after shipping. It's serious enough that I'd think I would have caught it, but it was on the back...which I tend to probably somewhat overlook(I won't anymore) . A scratch and a dent. My fault. I took the blame immediately and he was overly nice about it. Again, thankful for that and thankful my 100% is still intact.

So EX it is, even when I'm 99% it'd probably 8, maybe even 9. EX.

[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.

[Seatown206]

As a buyer, open a P.O. Box and have all items shipped there; that will eliminate eBay authentication, and you can dispute items that do not meet the description.

As a seller, try to sell only graded cards

Originally Posted by SLGSports

I'm really not enjoying this program lately, both as a buyer and a seller.

1. Buyer - Card damage... and when I say damage, I mean all 4 corners dinged, tons of scratches on the front, and a big chip on top. How rough does a person need to handle a card for all of these to happen? All of which are clearly not present in pics from the listing. And on a high-end $2K card

In another example, a pretty high-end card ($600) arrived from authentication (it passed), but it had corner damage. In this case, either they damaged it again or the seller doctored the pics. Hard to say for sure, but it's probably from rough handling.

2. Seller - I've had several cards come back recently, having failed authentication. Seems like they're not only doing authentication now, but also "grading" the cards now. And if they find any surface issue, they reject it. Cards were listed as 'near-mint' or better and I'm super confident they'd get PSA 8 or 9.

Anyways... anyone else having issues with them? The damage is causing huge loss in value to my cards. And it's super frustrating to have good cards rejected too. And we all know the selling price the next time I find a buyer will be less.

Update: here's a photo on my most recent card that failed inspection, which was sent to the buyer. Buyer didn't really see a major issue, but got scared off nonetheless. Maybe the edge is flattened a bit (or curled up a bit), but nullifying a sale for this is crazy.

[SLGSports]

As a buyer, there's a lot I like about eBay Authentication program -- as long as they don't damage the cards!

The "PSA 6" problem (where cards that appear gem-mint to an industry expert is deemed a 6 because of a hard-to-see issue that can only be seen under certain conditions)... is a real issue. So now a lot of mint/gem-mint cards will fail authentication because there's a surface issue that only PSA can see.

The only natural conclusion here is that sellers will sell everything as Excellent.

[JEA2880]

I just got a $300+ Pete Alonso card in the mail that had 2 incredibly obvious flaws that weren't noted or shown in the pictures. Somehow it passed authenticity guarantee. Of course I only saw them after I took the card out of the damn flimsy card saver they put it in. We're talking two massive dings on the top and bottom edges. Such a BS program, I've had enough.

[MavsRChamps]

I 100% hate Ebay Authenticity as a buyer.

I bought an expensive Muhammad Ali card (About $600) - I shipped it to Fanatics because they can grade the card through PSA directly for I think it was $25 (and I save $30+ in sales tax) ... Card looked sharp in scan and I know the set. Would have been fine with PSA 8 or 9 ... Well it got a 6 and when I saw it on Fanatics it has a huge corner ding that was no present in Ebay listing. 99% caused by Ebay Authenticity and I can't do a thing.

Also had a card RETURNED as a seller (for stupid reasons) that they creased up. Literally creased up.

I'm watching a very high end card right now, raw card and may bid $1000+ on it ... But I am steering away because at this point Ebay authenticity will prob damage card. Card is a Prizm card and should be guaranteed PSA 9 or PSA 10, but I cannot afford a PSA 7 for example.

What is going on with them? How in the world can they be damaging cards? I can't think of 1 example in my 20+ years of collecting, putting cards in toploaders, etc where I damaged a card.

[Snowcat]

Originally Posted by MavsRChamps

I 100% hate Ebay Authenticity as a buyer.

I bought an expensive Muhammad Ali card (About $600) - I shipped it to Fanatics because they can grade the card through PSA directly for I think it was $25 (and I save $30+ in sales tax) ... Card looked sharp in scan and I know the set. Would have been fine with PSA 8 or 9 ... Well it got a 6 and when I saw it on Fanatics it has a huge corner ding that was no present in Ebay listing. 99% caused by Ebay Authenticity and I can't do a thing.

Also had a card RETURNED as a seller (for stupid reasons) that they creased up. Literally creased up.

I'm watching a very high end card right now, raw card and may bid $1000+ on it ... But I am steering away because at this point Ebay authenticity will prob damage card. Card is a Prizm card and should be guaranteed PSA 9 or PSA 10, but I cannot afford a PSA 7 for example.

What is going on with them? How in the world can they be damaging cards? I can't think of 1 example in my 20+ years of collecting, putting cards in toploaders, etc where I damaged a card.

Because they're extremely rushed right now and will continue to be extremely rushed until they get out of their own way.

Hate to hear that your cards were damaged during the AG program.

[SLGSports]

Complain to eBay about it. If you have evidence (e.g., before and after pics), they'll likely agree with you that the authenticity team damaged your card. In my case, eBay offered $500 to compensate for the damage. Seemed reasonable at first, but when I sold it, I lost $700 from the damage.

I would imagine that the more people complain about damage, the faster they'll address this.

[bear0555]

The correct way to go is to try to work with Ebay first. It really is a hassle though. I took photos of two 3/4" dents, and they would state either they can't see them or question if the dents are there. I think they're just not card people and don't really understand how it goes.

Originally Posted by SLGSports

Complain to eBay about it. If you have evidence (e.g., before and after pics), they'll likely agree with you that the authenticity team damaged your card. In my case, eBay offered $500 to compensate for the damage. Seemed reasonable at first, but when I sold it, I lost $700 from the damage.

I would imagine that the more people complain about damage, the faster they'll address this.

My card with the two dents cost about $425. They have offered to provide a partial refund and I stated that it would be best if I auctioned the card and received a difference of the purchase price and what I netted after I sell the card with the damage disclosed. They didn't seem to understand and looked to ask how much I'd want back. So I stated I felt $300 would be fair. Between the much lower sales price of disclosing the damage and costs of the deal, I don't think it's unreasonable to ask.

I had a similar transaction where Ebay refused to work with me. The purchase price was about $500. So I auctioned off the card, and it sold for about $125. I calculated the difference between the purchase price and my net from the sale and it was over $400. I went to BBB, provided screenshots of the purchase and sales amounts and listing links, and was able to get the $400+ amount back. It is my understanding that Ebay will not refund over $500.