So, you can’t afford a 300 bucks plus subscription device that could certify the authenticity of designer handbags? Fret not, my friends, head over to eBay and you will probably have a peace of mind that the designer handbag or wallet you are buying is in fact the real deal. There’s a catch though. The sellers you are dealing with will have to subscribe to eBay’s new Authenticate service and obviously, this is not a free service to the sellers. Sellers who wished to have their products certified by eBay and subsequently, slapped with an “Authenticity Verified” label, the product in question will need to be of value of at least $500 and if the seller managed to offload the product to a buyer, he or she will only receive 80 percent of the sale proceed.
On the bright side, products authenticated by eBay will be backed by a 200 percent Money Back Guarantee. Though, to be honest, I am not sure if the 200 percent Money Back Guarantee is targeted at who. Sellers who took up this new service from eBay? Or buyers who bought stuff that are supposedly “Authenticated”? Anywho, back to the caveat. In a bid to promote this new service, eBay has reportedly pegged the minimum value at $250 or higher, as well as taking 10 percent less cut from the sale amount. However, we heard this promo is valid for a limited period and for how long, I have absolutely zero idea.
If you ask me, this is actually a brilliant service and it should improve consumers’ buying experience on eBay, but whether or not, sellers are willing to take the cut remains to be seen. Sorry that we can’t locate the origin of the news and therefore, we are not clear if the service is applicable to select brands, or any brand. It seems to be the case of select brands because, according to Vice President of Consumer Selling of eBay, Laura Chambers, they are (eBay) “looking forward to expanding this program to other brands and categories next year.”
Image and source: Luxury Launches.