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Monday, April, 22, 2024
The Ebay Authentication Program Has Become A Point of Contention
I want to talk a bit about a subject that has been nothing short of controversial. When eBay started their authentication program a few years ago, it wasn’t for cards, it was for shoes. Sneaker collecting had taken off, and fakes were wreaking havoc on the marketplace. The program was designed to root out fakes and prevent buyers from receiving items in a condition that was less than advertised. For the most part, it worked wonders.
Naturally, the idea of expanding the program to other collectibles was part of the plan since the start, as shoes were not the only thing that had issues. Purses, Jewelry, Cards, and other areas of the collecting ecosystem were all markets ripe with issues. Today, I want to talk about the successes and failures of the eBay authentication program because I absolutely hate it, but I also understand why it exists, and why it should continue to be a part of our auction experience – with a few tweaks, of course.
We’ve all been in a position waiting for the email telling us our purchase has been authenticated. Not just as a buyer, but as a seller too. Its a nail-biting experience in many cases because the program is only required when there is a lot of money at stake. Money at stake means emotional attachment, good or bad, and jubilation or madness depending on the result. Most of the time our experience has only been impacted by the amount of time it takes for the item to go through the program, not anything else.
There are a few times where things DONT go as planned, and for most of the people out there, those stories are filled with massive complaints and frustration, my own story included. Now lets start at a point of why this program exists beyond the objectives of it.
The program exists because the average collector has very little education, is impatient enough to buy things without researching, and then blame the wrong people when things go wrong. On the seller side, there is an element of deceit mixed in with the lack of education, which makes things even more complicated. The idea is to prevent the two sides from exploiting each other’s weaknesses without added cost (a key factor here), and make eBay a better place for all.
Where things tend to go awry is more based on the type of buyer and seller rather than the type of item, surprisingly. When a buyer is at the top of the education chain, knows what they are buying, and doesnt care as much about the things the program verifies, the whole thing is just annoying as fuck. Same thing for sellers that act within the means of their market, are honest and have no reason to fear big item transactions.
Because eBay cant police their massive marketplace in any real and meaningful way with established systems in place, they have to create this program that forces unwilling participants into the fold. Basically, they have to cater to the lowest common denominator, and for the most part it seems to have been very successful on their end. That being said, it is not without its faults or ways to navigate a complex buyer and seller relationship cycle.
Some cards are subject to the program and should not be – like why do I need to send a fucking redemption to this program for authentication? That just seems stupid. Others are subject to the program but should have the buyer option of declining the outcome. For instance, if I buy a 1/1 that I have been searching for over a long period of time, I dont want to risk losing it because some rando at an office park in Florida cant verify the condition as advertised, or even give me an option to proceed regardless of their feedback.
That’s the main issue right? If you offer a loophole in the program, it will inevitably create problems because no one will ever read the Ts and Cs. Buyers will opt out and then be upset when something goes wrong. Sellers will be put into extreme situations. Exploitation of the loop holes will impact feedback. Its a vicious cycle of major challenges, and as the purveyors of the world’s largest card marketplace, they should be required to put more thought into it.
Right now, eBay is seen as a necessary evil, because of their unwillingness to adjust any of their identified challenges that exist because they operate relatively lassez-faire of the problems most of us face. Whether its shill bidding, non-paying bidders, or any myriad of hurdles with their auction systems, they dont listen, EVER. Instituting a program like this feels more like a CYA for eBay than a help for the participants in their marketplace, even though I know there is benefit for both buyers and sellers.
The fact of the matter is that eBay is the largest card dealer in the history of the hobby, and they really have more issues with their product than most people should be willing to tolerate. For some large scale buyers and sellers, navigating the woven web of complexity proves to be a competitive advantage for their business, but for smaller casual participants, every hiccup is a giant impact to their collecting experience. Its unfortunate, because eBay has the means and the need to clean up their platform for the millions of items that are sold each week there.
For some reason they dont feel a need, despite major pushback from all areas of their universe. I hate doing business on eBay, and I similarly loathe dealing with people who dont know how the world works. It seems to be a perfect marriage of lack of features and function, as well as a lack of general education that necessitates the program’s extra wait time, and no frills experience when things go wrong. Im sure Im not the only one who feels that way.
I wish there were ways that things could change to better facilitate the buying and selling experience on the site, but I know that unless it has a financial implication to the bottom line, it wont make a difference to eBay enough to fix it. We are stuck here, and Im starting to see why the major auction houses have found ways to incorporate weekly auctions into their business model.
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