The cost is relatively low and it’s unsure how long the appraising process will take.
They do not say who the appraiser is for trading cards. They list the company below but they seem to specialize in sneakers.
The appraisal will be conducted by IVA Corporation, which operates FAKEBUSTERS.
One final note, there are exceptions for items eligible for this service but they keep it vague:
Even if the “Authenticity Appraisal Option” is displayed on the Buyee product page, there may be cases where the appraisal is not available.
Even if the item is eligible for appraisal, the transaction will be canceled if the conditions are not met. In such cases, the item will be returned to the seller for a refund.
Regardless, any buyer protection is welcomed in my opinion although I’m sure there will be flaws/loops with the process.
FAKEBUSTERS also handles trading cards - they’re one of those companies in Japan which mainly focused on sneakers in the past but stepped into trading cards when card collecting became popular during COVID.
You can check out more details on Mercari’s guide on the service:
However IIRC one thing to note is that they put anti-tampering stickers directly onto sealed products after verification, so if you plan to preserve what you bought in sealed condition you might want to consider if you accept that before using the service.
There are reports of failed authentications while the service was provided domestically. Below is a video describing the case of a fake 20th Pikachu slipped through the authentication which the buyer appealed and eventually got money back:
(Click on the settings icon on the bottom right to enable auto-translate)
So you might also want to check if Buyee would assist on getting refunds if the service failed.
Thanks for sharing Rabby. I would be highly skeptical about using this for sealed boxes (if its even eligible). And I would still thoroughly review any listing for red flags but for ~$10, the service might be worth it for a layer of protection.
Will be interesting to hear from any experiences good or bad.