Exactly, so it’d be nice if they spent a little money to try to fix the problem rather than AI that can’t ID the most common and obvious fakes in existence.
A single minimum wage employee who is taught to navigate tcgplayer would be better than this. The bar is so low.
Edit- I was so annoyed the first time I saw the report response message was changed from “customer service agent” to “automation or artificial intelligence”
“We looked into your report and didn’t find the listing to be in violation of our policy. This determination was made using automation or artificial intelligence.”
Easy policy change. AI covers the first 2 reports of a listing. After 3 reports it goes to an actual human.
And put a little incentive for reporting fake card listings that are confirmed fake. Idk how to do it, but maybe some perks that wouldn’t cost ebay much. Maybe free sponsored listings as a seller or more tools as a buyer. Or 1% off your next purchase up to $10 after reporting so many fakes
If that change was made I feel like there would also be an influx of listings that are flagged for the sole purpose of the incentives whether they are true or not.
I think ebay should step in and do something though. Possibly make it take longer to create an account, list items 1 week after creation, and have identity linked to it that would flag if you were banned and made another account.
Once again guys. You are trying to suggest fixing a problem that, for ebay, is not a problem at all. The things you suggest cost money and will result in them losing money on top of that. The status quo suits them just fine. Fake cards, fake coins, fake videogames, fake designer items, fake everything. It adds up to a lot of money.
Then why would ebay be eating a lot of cost with the authenticity guarantee through the grading companies. It seems so odd that people think ebay supports scams, while also spending money to avoid scams. I mean it can’t be both ways right?
Not dealing with scammers has lead to the FBI getting involved with ebay before. Obviously that was a much larger occurrence involving hundreds of millions of dollars, but still… a 6 year FBI investigation for fraud. Ebay has been sued and investigated for fraud over and over. I believe it will catch up to them again.
I’ve used the FBI Operation Bullpen website (listed on ebay) to have many autograph listings removed. Ebay is so bad at removing fake COA’s that I have had to copy/paste the link from their own website and tell them exactly where to look to see the FBI saying the COA is fake.
There is a middle ground, and this doesn’t feel like it.
Edit- *Long* hidden clarification on the first paragraph, but this is sorta interesting and on topic. Summary: Gotta be fair to ebay + Example of how ebay hosting fakes can affect them when companies apply pressure:
Ebay cooperated with an FBI investigation since their platform was used to sell forgeries by a larger forgery ring. There aren’t many successful lawsuits against ebay for fraud, and their involvement in investigations is due to being used by 3rd parties to sell forgeries. While they are generally well protected against fraud, I think the constant association with and reputation of rampant fraud, like the FBI investigation, is what can catch up to them.
For example, here is an article covering a counterfeits lawsuit between Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton and ebay. The article says, “After several years of fines and appeals, the two sides have finally agreed to work together to better protect intellectual property rights and fight back against the sale of phony goods…”
"…Companies such as LVMH , Tiffany & Co, and L’Oreal have long contended that eBay maintains a lax attitude toward the listing and sale of counterfeit products on its website. In its defense, eBay has insisted that it spends a great deal of time and money trying to clamp down on the sale of counterfeit items. Either way, eBay has certainly spent enough time and money in court trying to defend itself against the host of lawsuits from certain retailers. So the latest agreement will at least spare eBay further legal trouble from one of Europe’s largest fashion conglomerates.
I’ve seen many of these, as well, but as for ebay, As for the scam, I have to wonder if there are clear signs on the fake label. Is the return address correct? does the label properly scan into the USPS system? If taken to USPS, and rejected, this could be grounds to go back to ebay and file for a claim and fraudulent behavior. IDK, I have to wonder if mitigating steps could be taken…
Continuing from this, I see an unfortunate future where internet companies will be held completely liable for everything posted on their site. This would change things significantly. It would also decimate online communities like E4, many not surviving online afterward, so it’s certainly not ideal. It’s not a guaranteed future, but not so far from our current trajectory. HOpefully, we find that middle ground before too long.
You did a return on a fake card, ebay prompted you to print the return label, you print it, and send the card back.
What I dont get:
Where exactly in these steps were you asked to enter a tracking number? If you got the return label from ebay, they HAVE the tracking number since they generated the label. As many have said, none of this makes much sense.
Yeah, that’s not how it worked … yes I have done a few returns before and I did not have to enter the tracking number in manually after printing the label. Probably because they were legit?? For this, I did. Did eBay already know it was a bum return label?
Also, an interesting update - I pinged eBay’s automated system saying I wanted to talk to an agent because return label was fake. Immediately, without talking to anyone, I get a response of “After reviewing your case, we are issuing you a full refund”. That has never happened before either. I have always had to provide proof.
So this reinforces my belief - eBay is complicit in this scheme, whether willfully or through utter incompetence.
I’m tracking @Vertemes gold star Rayquaza quest and decided to see what price the card is tracking at. The top three results are as @dragonroll describes: grail cards priced way under market by accounts with little to no feedback.
While I agree with sentiments in this thread that these are obviously bait and you should know better, I do believe eBay has the capability to cull the top results of these listings. A simple algorithm that says: 1) If new seller, 2) Is this an auction or buy it now, 3) If buy it now, is the price within X% of the most recent sales for all conditions. If no, flagged as spam and removed with the ability for the seller to appeal.
Scammers are now moving upmarket with pricing. The perception that “oh you dummy, you bought a $200 card for $50, what did you expect?” is no longer true. The prices are no longer limited to below $90. There are fake Gengars and Zekroms now for right under $250 Auth Guarantee threshold. Buyers beware.
