But a March report from Red Points found that 68% of American consumers were concerned about knockoff or poor-quality products sold online due to the coronavirus pandemic. The timing of these features comes as the COVID-19 pandemic is encouraging consumers to shop online.
EBAY WATCHER SOFTWARE VERIFICATION
"We know trust is paramount among the watch community, and with Authenticity Guarantee and adding escrow services for watches, eBay has evolved to give watch customers exactly what they want - incredible selection with an added layer of confidence through authenticity verification by independent experts for their high-valued purchases," Kamdar said in a statement. Now the company is reducing merchant fees by up to 35% for goods sold for more than $1,000 and 30% for goods sold for more than $2,000, a move that the company hopes will attract shoppers seeking items for better prices. The company highlighted its inventory of brands like Omega, Patek Philippe, Rolex and Panerai.
Luxury watches have been among eBay's top-selling categories, Tirath Kamdar, general manager of luxury at eBay, said in a statement.
For years, eBay and its marketplace competitors have fought fake goods on its platforms separately and together. In early August, the company teamed up with Prova Group to authenticate sports memorabilia sold through the site. In the rare case a shopper believes that he or she has purchased a counterfeit item, they’ll get their money back.Ebay's debut of new authentication services for luxury watches is a continuation of the platform's ongoing efforts to build trust with online buyers. “eBay’s Money Back Guarantee also applies to virtually all transactions. “eBay's best-in-class Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) program has allowed more than 40,000 rights owners to quickly report possible counterfeit goods,” he said.
Hendy says this is the latest anti-counterfeit program from eBay to help ensure that goods are sold as advertised.
EBAY WATCHER SOFTWARE FULL
If the person is unable to verify the product’s authenticity, the buyer will receive a full refund.ĮBay hasn’t outlined the costs of eBay Authenticate for watch merchants, but its handbag program carries a 20 percent fee. The item will then undergo another inspection from an independent third party expert. If a buyer has doubts about the authenticity of a product that was purchased, he or she needs to contact the seller and return the watch in its original condition with the eBay Authenticate tag attached. “We’re adding third party authentication to this inventory because we know the importance buyers place on trust for high-value purchases.”ĮBay Authenticate Rolex Submariner watch eBay The secondary luxury watch market is estimated at $5 billion and watches are one of the top-selling categories on eBay, Hendy says, adding that this program provides an extra level of confidence for consumers to make luxury purchases. With this program, eBay is entering an increasingly crowded marketplace for secondary watches that have some kind of authentication or verification process-ranging from consignment etailer RealReal to watch specific companies like WatchBox and Crown & Caliber, to watchmakers from Audemars Piguet to MB&F setting up their own authenticated secondary business specifically for their watches.īut the potential rewards are strong as eBay and others try to take advantage of the huge increase of watches produced in the past 20 or so years. The price of watches range from $500 to $50,000 and the program is expected to grow to nearly 10,000 luxury watches in the coming weeks, says James Hendy, eBay senior director who heads eBay Authenticate.