So after a very long conversation with eBay, I finally found out why many high-end graded Base Set cards do not have an eBay Authenticity Guarantee.
Apparently the issue is with sellers using the term “set” in the title. The word “set” makes the eBay algorithm believe that the listing is for more than one card, and only single raw or graded cards fall under the Authenticity Guarantee.
TL;DR: If you are selling high-end graded Base Set cards, do not put the word “set” in the title or you will not be covered by eBay’s Authenticity Guarantee. eBay refuses to change the algorithm or edit the listings themselves .
But then when someone searches “base set charizord” your charizord listing won’t show up?
Unless the workaround is to use those metadata fields on the listing? If the “Set” field is “Base Set”, will your listing show up in “Base Set” searches? I’ve sold enough that I should know the answer to this but I don’t
“Base Set” will bring up the listings because “Base” will be included in the title. If the seller does it “correctly” as eBay wants, they will also fill out the set in the metadata field.
Good idea PFM. This is an interesting issue. a similar problem for Base set 2… I’m glad I don’t plan to sell my 1st base set cards anytime soon. You’d think the algorithm would go by the category and item specifics selected, not the title which can have ultra-high entropy.
Personally I think the ebay aunthenticity guarentee is an extra step that not only wastes our time, but puts more points of possible failure into the system.
I’d honestly rather the seller put some word in that sidestepped the sytem so I don’t have to deal with it
I experienced this with a Mewtwo gift box gold star card. It was the same exact grade and price as the Alakazam gs I had in auction, but it didn’t have authenticity guarantee because of the word “box”.
I’ve talked to my eBay rep several times about this, finally they were able to determine if you put Base Set in parenthesis, it still allows those to be searchable words but the Authenticity Guarantee excludes them from it’s criteria. So for example, PSA 10 1999 1st Edition (Base Set) Charizard #4 Holo L@@K ST0NKS
Whatever words are in parenthesis are still searchable words, but the AG doesn’t look at them in making a determination to whether or not the card qualifies. So in the example above, AG looks at any title with the word “set” and says this doesn’t qualify. Putting (base set) allows AG to not look at words, therefore qualifying for AG. Sorry if I still didn’t explain that right.
Long story short, if you want base set cards to qualify for AG, use parentheses.
I had a psa 10 20th anniversary stamped pikachu that someone wanted to buy but only with authenticity guarantee. I called ebay to see what was stopping it and the rep said in this listing it was “PSA 10”…
I went and found the same card with different wording, clicked “sell similar”, and instantly the authenticity guarantee appeared. Ebay is still working out the kinks.
I hope that eBay will release statistics on the success of their authenticity program. I can’t imagine that there are many faked PSA/BGS/CGC slabs coming through the authenticity program, but I bet there are tons of rejections from the raw card review at CGC.
I’ve heard that CGC will reject the card and send it back to the owner if the pictures/description do not match the card received. Now that is a worthwhile service! We’ve all paid for an expensive card, only to find that the seller sneakily took pictures to hid binder dents/dings/damage.
I just had a 2k purchase rejected from PSA. “Item’s authenticity can’t be verified.” That’s all the info I got.
Didn’t notice any red flags from the seller, guy listing his personal collection it seemed. Little bummed cause I got a solid deal but mostly annoyed that it was rejected on the 8th and it still hasn’t been sent back to the seller so I haven’t been refunded yet.
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