Paul Sawers reports in Venture Beat:
The service comes at a cost, but it’s hoped that the cost will be offset by a great degree of buyer confidence, which will lead to a growth in high-end buyers over the long term. For now, sellers can use eBay Authenticate to shift handbags valued at more than $500. Designed to encourage buyers to part with cash on expensive items, it uses a network of professional authenticators who take physical receipt of a seller’s products, validates them, and then photographs, lists, and ships the goods to the successful buyer.
Ecommerce giant eBay has launched a previously announced service designed to combat the scourge of fake goods on the platform.
eBay has proven popular with fake goods’ sellers for some time, with fashion accessories and jewelry featuring highly on counterfeiters’ agenda. The company announced eBay Authenticate way back in January with a broad focus on giving “high-end” goods an official stamp of approval prior to sale. Ultimately designed to encourage buyers to part with cash on expensive items, it uses a network of professional authenticators who take physical receipt of a seller’s products, validates them, and then photographs, lists, and ships the goods to the successful buyer.
For the launch of eBay Authenticate, the service is only available for luxury handbags from 12 brands, including Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Prada, and Valentino, though the program will be expanded to cover other luxury goods and brands from next year.
“With tens-of-thousands of high-end handbags currently available, eBay is primed to boost customer confidence in selling and shopping for an amazing selection of designer merchandise,” noted Laura Chambers, vice president of consumer selling at eBay. “We also believe our sellers will love this service, as it provides them with a white-glove service when selling luxury handbags.”
Of course, the service comes at a cost, but it’s hoped that the cost will be offset by a great degree of buyer confidence, which will lead to a growth in high-end buyers over the long term. For now, sellers can use eBay Authenticate to shift handbags valued at more than $500, and they will receive 80 percent of the final selling price, though for a “limited time” eBay is opening the service to goods valued at $250 and more, with sellers able to keep 90 percent of the cash.
Though eBay has offered anti-counterfeit services for a while, such as the Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) program that makes it easier to report fake items, the company has been the subject of a number of high-profile lawsuits. Tiffany & Co took eBay to court over its failure to prevent fake merchandise from being sold through its site, though the jewelry maker ultimately lost its case.
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