So what you're suggesting is that the authenticity program might motivate collectors to try to sell high dollar cards that were buried in their collections because they felt they couldn't find the right buyers before? I can see how that might happen, although as a buyer I'm personally not any more assured of the power sellers being more reliable than someone with a light, but good history. Sometimes I find them worse because I wonder where all these rare items came from.

It will be interesting to see if a flood of valuable cards, seldom seen, does pop up as a result of the program.

A non-sport dealer on Blowout is already reporting a return based on condition that went through this system.

The buyer opened the card on a youtube stream and the card may have been damaged in shipping post authentication -- but it is unclear.

It will be interesting to see what happens with this return.

Looks like the price has been dropped to $500 already. It also looks like they are excluding graded cards from the program in addition to autograph and patch cards.

quote:

Originally posted by webjon:
A non-sport dealer on Blowout is already reporting a return based on condition that went through this system.

The buyer opened the card on a youtube stream and the card may have been damaged in shipping post authentication -- but it is unclear.

It will be interesting to see what happens with this return.

I saw the thread and video earlier today. I'm not sure the packaging caused the slight corner wear but the packaging was not acceptable at all IMO.

I had my concerns about this new program but now having seen what eBay think is acceptable in terms of packaging, frankly I'm appalled and I am very worried should I ever want to make a high value purchase on eBay in future. If it had to go via this new program I would not make the purchase.

A penny sleeve in a 'Card Saver' so loose the card slips out is not acceptable compared to a toploader and teambag. And there is no way some ham-fisted shipping staff hasn't done some minimal bending to the card/card saver to get it wedged under the elasticated band that holds it all in place.

This reeks of a company that doesn't really understand the market or the product if they cannot grasp the importance of an industry bog standard benchmark that is the toploader. And who is handling the cards? A dealer who cares about his business and repeat custom? The passionate collector selling off their once prized items? Well yes, could be either, but now we have a middleman... someone in an office or warehouse who no doubt has a target to bust through/package x number of cards per hour. What do they care about condition of items that likely mean nothing to them?

Honestly this has got me so annoyed. The audacity to force this upon everyone is one thing, but to do such a **** job of it.

And what about the variables?

- What about sealed items from manufacturers? Sealed Topps Stellar mag-cases? RA sealed toploader incentive cards? These are not graded items so are seals to be sliced open so the card can be put in far inferior card saver?
- What about oddly sized cards? Widevison cards? Super thick costume and prop cards? Premium/thicker than your average card stock (think SW Masterworks)? Will eBay handlers have all the miscellaneous supplies to handle everything, or will they destroy items trying to cram them into incorrectly sized packaging?

Apparently card savers are the preferred way to ship cards in the sports card world -- PSA typically only accepts cards shipped in Card Savers from what I understand.

That said I also was not impressed with the packaging/shipping. They seem to have been going for a certain look rather than a high level of protection.

I am also very curious about cards that are sealed in a top loader or one touch by the manufacturer.

quote:

Originally posted by X:
...someone in an office or warehouse who no doubt has a target to bust through/package x number of cards per hour. What do they care about condition of items that likely mean nothing to them?

This. This worries me. Because if you've worked anywhere, and I mean anywhere, then you know that production numbers are #1, more so than care of the product. I see a lot of unhappy customers in the future.

I also wonder about the Rittenhouse gold seal cards. What will they do with them? If I bought one and they sliced it, I would be furious (I prefer to keep them in the seal, for now).

The contracted outfit responsible for eBay's authenticity program is CSG, Certified Sports Guaranty, which started in 2021 as a sports card grader according to what I have read. Grading is nothing if not condition conscious. So I can think of no way that CSG employees would not be trained in the importance of handling and packaging not just collectible cards, but specifically expensive collectible cards.

If eBay has already lowered the minimum to $500, that will just increase the potential volume of cards that will need to be submitted to CSG. Leaving out autographed cards, patches, graded items and maybe gold seals is probably simply because they have no idea what to do with them right now. Those types of in-demand cards are exactly the most expensive of recent and new releases. Vintage cards are probably easier for CSG to pass compared to the additional nuances attached to the best cards on the hot lists, which they are still trying to figure out.

It's early, but this is already being forced on people. There was no testing of it. It looks like one of those things where they are going ahead with it and will find out the problems as they come up.

We as card buyers can already anticipate the bad issues coming, but so should CSG because they are card graders, even if they are not performing that service here. There is absolutely no way CSG should be mishandling items or not protecting them properly in shipping. If it gets reported that it's happening, this whole program falls apart.

What is a card saver?
PS I don't like this program.

Has anyone seen the opening of cards returned to the seller on the Blowout Forum
Jeez the return packaging from CSG is phenomenal it must cost a fortune if every card is returned to the buyer in this format
Although tne packaging system seems to be made to protect the card it seems to not be infallible as one card had not been secured properly and had moved in its sleeve
The buyer was not happy
With this being said after all the tooing and frooing over this system I have come to the conclusion that it is not a grading service but a verification that the card is properly sold and described correctly by the seller with any defects not described by the seller noted
Were most of the posts seem to be thinking that the cards are going to be graded
But it seems that watching this video we are going to have to eventually pay something for this packaging as E Bay never do nothing for Gratis

For me, never thought it was a grading system, I thought it was a money grab for Ebay to say I'm not a grown adult who can handle their own business and need them to step in. If I were to make a mistake, I'd fix it without the added time nor expense. It should be opt in and paid for by buyers who want extra protection cause they have concerns. Most of us try to do the right thing because we also love cards.

For what it is worth the seller on Blowout indicated that eBay sided with him on the disputed card.

So there does seem to be benefit to sellers.

Also, a rumor was posted that eBay will be increasing fees by .3 percent on all transaction to cover the costs -- I assume that meant all transactions in the trading card section.

quote:

Originally posted by webjon:
For what it is worth the seller on Blowout indicated that eBay sided with him on the disputed card.

So there does seem to be benefit to sellers.

Also, a rumor was posted that eBay will be increasing fees by .3 percent on all transaction to cover the costs -- I assume that meant all transactions in the trading card section.

Did they admit to creating the damage? Or are just not going to allow a return and not say who caused the damage?

quote:

Originally posted by Jessica:

Did they admit to creating the damage? Or are just not going to allow a return and not say who caused the damage?

The seller didn't elaborate that I saw. They just indicated that eBay took their side and they were satisfied with the outcome.

quote:

Originally posted by webjon:
For what it is worth the seller on Blowout indicated that eBay sided with him on the disputed card.

So there does seem to be benefit to sellers.

Also, a rumor was posted that eBay will be increasing fees by .3 percent on all transaction to cover the costs -- I assume that meant all transactions in the trading card section.

So some seller abuse ebay's fee system by charging high shipping costs and low purchase prices and now we all pay 10% shipping. Now, because of some authenticity issues that may or may not exist, all sellers pay .3% more even if our sales never trigger use of the system. Yeah, seems fair.

quote:

Originally posted by STCardGeek:
So some seller abuse ebay's fee system by charging high shipping costs and low purchase prices and now we all pay 10% shipping. Now, because of some authenticity issues that may or may not exist, all sellers pay .3% more even if our sales never trigger use of the system. Yeah, seems fair.

As you note eBay has been doing this same stuff for years.

Sell somewhere else.

Sell on your own website, on Facebook on forums, on other auction sites, an email list, etc.

I see regular complaints about eBay, but rarely see anyone take their business elsewhere.

Here is another overview of the program.

I note that it says that items shipped to a PO Box will not be covered. So if you don't want to participate, rent a box and have the items shipped there. (I've been doing that anyway for 30 years of collecting)

quote:

Originally posted by webjon:

quote:

Originally posted by STCardGeek:
So some seller abuse ebay's fee system by charging high shipping costs and low purchase prices and now we all pay 10% shipping. Now, because of some authenticity issues that may or may not exist, all sellers pay .3% more even if our sales never trigger use of the system. Yeah, seems fair.

As you note eBay has been doing this same stuff for years.

Sell somewhere else.

Sell on your own website, on Facebook on forums, on other auction sites, an email list, etc.

I see regular complaints about eBay, but rarely see anyone take their business elsewhere.

I had my own elsewhere. My own auction and I maintain my own store. I have my own mailing list. They are but a pale shadow.
It shut down as it takes more than one person to make it work. I can be as unhappy as I want to but if there isn't a group effort to NOT use ebay, it fails.
So what you'd be saying is our option is to quit which I am highly considering at the end of 2022. And I'd be quitting cause ebay is treating me as a cheater.

Unfortunately, its only when the costs out way the benefits for the individual that extreme measures are taken. It's very hard to get a large group together when they are all not at the same point of frustration as individuals. No one cares what is happening to someone else until it happens to them.

I quit using eBay long ago because I didn't like the rule changes. They didn't notice.

But whether someone stays or goes, keeping quiet about it is no answer either. Maybe you won't get a movement going, but at least you can say your peace and let people know what's going on, if they don't know it already. Otherwise, there isn't any reason to give an interview to explain anything. There is no reason to even give the appearance of corporate transparency if no one is going to question anything.

It may make no difference and you may have to walk away, but if it's the only satisfaction you get, at least they will know why.

quote:

Originally posted by STCardGeek:

And I'd be quitting cause ebay is treating me as a cheater.

You seem to be taking this very personally.

I understand that. I'm an honest person, and it really ticks me off when I leave a store of some sort and they want to check my bag. It is a similar situation, I think.

eBay, and stores aren't implementing these bag checks and card authentications due to the 98% of honest interactions they have. They are implementing them because of the 2% -- the scammers.

Personally I believe I've bought at least 2 cards in the last year that eBay would have returned to the seller due to undisclosed damage. I probably should have returned the cards, but I didn't want to deal with the hassle. I didn't want to blame the seller for trying to scam me -- maybe they weren't trying to scam me -- maybe they just didn't notice the damage, but the damage wasn't obvious in the pictures so then it is my word vs theirs that I didn't cause the damage.

Unfortunately not all buyers are honest, and not all sellers are honest. Sadly the 98% of good people need to pay (literally) for the 2% of people who are taking advantage of others.

Had I not bought 2 expensive cards in the last year with undisclosed damage I might feel differently, but I did so now I'm not opposed to any additional authentication/verification/protection that eBay is willing to provide.

All that said there are very few full time entertainment card dealers. It might make sense to work together to come up with some other way to sell cards.

Outside of eBay I only know of like 2 websites where I can buy single cards from dealers.