I don't think this will last long. (1) There aren't enough "experts" out there for the number of $2,000+/vintage watches sold on eBay. (2) There will be shipping fiascos (EVERY watch > $2,000 gets shipped twice). (3) There will be "expert" wars ("My expert is better than your expert"). (4) There will be authenticity definition issues ("This is an authentic Rolex dial, it has simply been re-inked").

In the short run, I think we'll see a lot of watches priced at $1,999.99, and a lot of vintage watches listed without the word "vintage" and (perhaps) with the year shown as "nineteen sixty four" instead of "1964," so as not to trigger the automatic authenticity check mark.

In the longer term, this will turn into a swamp for eBay, the eBay attorneys, and the experts. They might make it voluntary (for a fee) with sellers, but I don't think it remain as an automatically-triggered program on this large subset of watches sold on eBay.

 

"If required the watch will be given a light cleaning (by cloth, steam, or ultrasonic bath) and a battery replacement as needed."
Just what I need, an eBay-serviced watch. This feels like the equivalent of taking your vintage watch to Kay's Jewelers for work. The potential for damage to a valuable or original watch feels high. Want to place bets on how many micro-rotors will be swapped for an Energizer button battery?

 

The teenage mall watch kiosk workers have a very strong union.

 

And they are vicious on social media. Don't piss them off or they will 'cancel' you.

 

Just did a quick check. Well over 100 watches have sold today above the $2,000 mark and it's not even dark out yet. How many "experts" are they going to hire?

 

One of the OF members was looking to sell on that platform last year. I wonder if he went ahead with it.

 

Might be a good way for some of the "experts" here to make some side coin. First rule of eBay authenticator's club... don't talk about eBay authenticator's club.

 

Please will lawyers chime in. Who precisely are the parties in this transaction? The authenticator is the hireling of the ebay platform - neither vendor nor purchaser are forming a contract with them. So, e.g. if an inauthentic watch is "authenticated" and traded in good faith on that understanding, who pays up when the piece is found out and loses its value? Maybe I'm showing my ignorance, but just saying "call customer service" doesn't quite cut it, imo.

 

This is going to be a disaster for eBay, I don’t think it will last long. All it takes is for them to get enough litigation by their experts destroying a $$$$ watch during evaluation for them to just give up on their authentication process.

 

Hopefully this will spawn more competitors to ebay auctions that don't ram paypal down your throat as well.

 

At least they will be creating more topical dials with that fancy steaming process.

 

I don't read this as required, more like an optional "service" by ebay.

Edit: No, changed my mind. It looks like the seller has no choice about it. I really don't like it.

 

So what will happen if you have some aftermarket endlinks on the bracelet that were disclosed in the listing? This is going to be a mess. I guess it's eBay's way to compete with Crown and Caliber and similar sellers. Presumably, their market research told them that they were losing sales because of buyers worrying about authenticity.

 

Does this mean you're not going to list on ebay that nifty 5513 you picked up? What could go wrong?

 

“Hey eBay:

How about policing the listings that are patently fraudulent? How about enforcing listing requirements about quality and number of photos? Are you paying attention at all?”

Hard to imagine how this change will work. I’m a regular eBay customer and I will stop using them if this is imposed on pieces I want to buy.

 

Yup. The possibility for failure on so many levels is incalculable. And I really don’t understand why eBay would want to get in the middle to begin with. They take their cut and that’s it. But as mentioned above, they must have a bean counter somewhere that sent a memo suggesting they were leaving money on the table.

 

From the ebay faq file:

"How do you determine Authenticity Guarantee eligibility for auction-style listings?
All auction-style listings starting above $2000 are eligible for Authenticity Guarantee. In addition, top models from luxury watch brands (e.g., Rolex Submariner, Omega Seamaster, Breitling Navitimer) are also eligible regardless of the auction starting price."

Surprisingly vague for such a large company. They describe the feature as "eligible" when in fact it is mandatory if a watch meets their criteria.

They state that a starting price of 2k makes it "eligible." If the watch sells for less than 2K then it is still authenticated.

If a watch is less than 2k but comes from a luxury brand then it is "eligible." They appear to state that all Rolex, Omega and other deemed luxury brands will be authenticated even if below 2k. $200 Omegas? They do not identify an exception.

This is very poorly defined. We can barely agree on a system of 1 to 5. How are these authenticators going to authenticate a watch? What if you descibe the lume as original, god forbid?

The intent seems to be to stop well made forgeries (obviously.) That is a noble quest. They did not think this through. As noted, the nice litlle cleaning they offer (for free!) Is chilling.

It is difficult at this point to consider using ebay.com to sell a "luxury" watch, whatever that may mean to ebay. Even buying a watch is problematic. Do you want some random authenticator handling your new watch? To what extent will they go to authenticate? Will casebacks be opened? They will open to replace a battery. What about mechanicals? They have to open it to check for fake movements, right? What are their qualifications and standards?

More questions than answers.

 

So we can tell you some sad news.