Another layer of protection has been added for collectors who buy high-end, graded sports cards.
Officials at eBay announced Monday that the third-party selling giant is expanding its Authenticity Guarantee for trading cards to include graded cards sold for $2,000 or more. This time, the company is partnering with PSA.
When a graded card is sold for more than $2,000 in the U.S., the seller will send it to PSA. A newly established team —independent from PSA’s core group that is working on its existing backlog — will verify that the card matches its listing description. The team will also ensure that the sealed plastic holder and label are authentic and have not been tampered with or counterfeited.
Officials at eBay added that eventually, the Authenticity Guarantee Service will expand to include any graded card sold for $250 or more.
The move is the next logical step for eBay. In January, the company unveiled its Authenticity Guarantee service. Single cards that sell for more than $750 either by auction or a straight purchase are sent to CSG, the sports card arm of Certified Collectibles group before they are delivered to the buyer.
Raw cards that sell for $250 or more will still continue to be authenticated by CSG, eBay said.
eBay is counting on PSA’s expertise in authenticating the pricier cards to “deliver a seamless experience” that will also boost collectors’ confidence. They hope to give collectors a comfort level, knowing that what they have bought is indeed legitimate.
“As casual buyers become collectors and collectors become investors, authentication services have never been more important,” Dawn Block, eBay’s vice president of collectibles, electronic and home said in a statement. “eBay is the top destination for buying and selling high value cards and collectibles, and PSA has been a leader in the authentication and grading of trading cards for more than three decades. With this latest partnership, collectors can feel even more confident in their purchases of graded cards, and eBay continues to set the standard for this category.”
“Our trading card expertise is the perfect complement to eBay’s breadth and depth of inventory,” Kevin Lenane, president of PSA Lenane said in a statement. “For more than 30 years, we have played a vital role in the card community. This partnership allows us to help eBay create a trusted and confident experience for collectors, adding further integrity to the hobby.”
The Authenticity Guarantee concept is not new to eBay. The company currently has guarantees for sneakers, watches and handbags. The guarantee applies to handbags that sell for more than $500, sneakers that sell for more than $100 and watches that top $2,000 in price.
After announcing its original Authenticity Guarantee for cards in January, eBay said it hoped to include graded, autographed and patch cards that sold for more than $250 by midyear.
In the first half of 2021, trading card sales–including sports and non-sports trading cards– hit $2 billion in transactions – equal to all of 2020.
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