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Authentication
Abuelo
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I do not know if you are aware of the new authentication system by eBay. You buy a coin and they send it to PCGS to authenticate. Mind you, they do not grade it or anything. This is for coins over 500 dollars. So I bought a coin recently, and it has been over a week and just arrived for authentication. The coin is PCGS graded, and of course I checked it was OK before buying. The point is if you buy a coin from eBay now it will take a substantial amount of time to receive it. I guess they were having a substantial amount of counterfeits? I do not know just yet how I feel about this as I hate delays, but possibly they are hunting for fake slabs.
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Just wait until PCGS back ups start to cause long delays. We’ll see how eBay deals with that.
My world regular gradings are over 3 months at this point.
As far as I can tell it is a decent policy in general. For buyers it cuts down on fake slabs, for sellers, seems like it will reduce the risk of return scams with swapped or missing coins.
There have been complaints about counterfeits on eBay for years and now that they're doing something about it, some people aren't happy.
Copying a legitimate slabbed coin image from a website somewhere and creating an eBay listing using that photo would be a trivial exercise. eBay's authentication program confirms that the item in the listing is the one that's actually sent to the buyer.
Have said this over on US board but I’d like to see an “opt out” option emerge.
Buyer chooses to forgo “authentication” at their own risk.
Interesting enough, I recieved an ebay coin that was graded in a box that was nicely done with a plastic film cover with an ebay authentic sticker on it. The sticker was destroyed when opened, but overall it was a nice packaging. I'm not buying any non certified coins on Ebay anymore unless I know the dealer. I have a stack of feke coins from Ebay over the years. BTW the coin was a variety that caused it to be very much more valuable than thought!
Contrary to the assumption, I am not unhappy for the service per se, in fact I do not know of anyone unhappy about reducing fakes. I am unhappy for the delays it takes. As of today I have been waiting 2 weeks for the coin. And this is clearly not free, while now there is no extra charge, that likely is coming as you are adding an extra charge for shipping plus the payment to our host. When the dust settles I think the fees on eBay will be higher than Heritage's. But the benefit is clear, no question.
I didn't say you were but clearly, there are others who are unhappy about how eBay is running the program.
The FAQ... a few selected of interest:
https://www.ebay.com/authenticity-guarantee/coins
What items are eligible for Authenticity Guarantee?
Authenticity Guarantee is available for graded US and World coins, and raw US coins, $500 and above. Eligible coins must be listed on the US site, ebay.com, and must fall within the following categories:
Coins: US
Coins: Canada
Coins: World
*******So no raw World or Canadian...
Are coins listed in the bullion category eligible for Authenticity Guarantee?
Not at this time.
Will I be charged a fee for Authenticity Guarantee?
No. Through the Authenticity Guarantee service, eBay covers the cost of authentication for a limited time.
What happens at the authenticator?
..............Then they confirm the item is consistent with the listing title, photos, and listing description............
*******The first buyer who gets a big cherrypick yanked from them might make the front page of the news.
Can I choose not to have my item authenticated?
Not at this time.
Oh, and:
How long will the Authenticity Guarantee process take? How long until I receive my item?
After you purchase an eligible item, the seller is required to send the item to the authentication facility, where authenticators typically inspect the item within one to two business days of receipt. Once the inspection is complete, the item will be sent to you with tracked four-day shipping.
I guess we'll see how that works out..............
@realeswatcher still waiting for the coin... was already mailed by PCGS but I have not received...
I think the added delays will end up killing the program. Nobody likes delays. We are an instant-gratification society.
They've been doing this with trading cards, sneakers, luxury watches, handbags, streetwear, and fine jewelry for several years now. The program started in 2020, initially covering sneakers and none of the categories added since then have subsequently been removed.
At least the turn around time isn't bad from your data point.
Finally arrived. Two weeks for a coin that traveled the country, East to West and back to East...
For a piece that was already graded and any idiot could tell it was legit in about a minute. Oy.
Glad it finally arrived - hope the coin is nice!
Thinking about the mailing, packing, and the little sticker with the code saying it was reviewd, it is a small fortune. No way this is done for free, so soon enough there has to be a charge for this or fees will go up as eBay will not be losing money.
1898-Mo centavo? Let’s see the coin!
One of the problems this program is attempting to address is where a seller advertises coin "A" and ships coin "B". Even if any idiot could tell the coin pictured in the listing was legit, there's still no way to be sure that the pictured coin gets sent unless it's inspected.
Yeah, good point... and while experienced eBay buyers could probably avoid such schemes pretty easily, it would definitely be a helpful security blanket for newer, more naive shoppers.
I WOULD hope, in time, that there would be an optout... and selfishly, I would hope they never start doing raw World coins (though I bet they might in time).
eBay doesn't provide an opt-out option for their other Authenticity Guarantee categories so I think it would be surprising if they did so for coins.
Not that it is going to affect me, as I buy the coin, not the slab, but what happens when you have an incorrectly attributed coin in the first place? Are they going to double down on the mis-attribution to avoid an embarrassing moment, or reject it, or charge extra to put it right?
Just thinking out loud because I bought an obverse uniface pattern penny I was outbid on in the Colin Adams sale in 2003 that turned up 6 months later on eBay courtesy of NEN that was slabbed as a Peck Unlisted halfpenny. It ranked equal 1408th in the pecking order the last time I looked! Clearly I knew what it was as did NEN, but wasn't going to worry about the incorrect attribution of a unique coin which was going to be removed from the slab in any case.
Would they be any wiser? I doubt it, but surely if identified correctly would be duty bound to reject it as wrong. Then what happens? Does it get returned to the vendor? That is equally worrying for people who are more clued up on a series than the grader and makes a good case for an opt out. 10 or 15 years ago, nearly 10% of ebay purchased slabs that I bought were for the very reason they were wrongly attributed, as it gave more chance of an unrecognised bargain.
Thankfully it is restricted to the US site only(?), but will likely be the final nail in the ebay coffin for me if the policy is used worldwide.
@robp2 Good questions. I do not know. For what I read, their beef is with counterfeits.