Pros and Cons of Ebay’s New Mandatory Authentication for Pokemon Cards

With the news of certain YouTube stars purchasing fake Pokemon cards for millions of dollars, Ebay is taking a stand against scam artists in the trading card category. Ebay officially announced that for listings sold over $750+, a free card authentication service is not only offered but required. This means the trading card will be sent to an authenticator before being delivered to the customer or buyer. The authenticator will examine the card, make sure it’s authentic and proceed to protect it in a slab for safer shipping and display. Though many collectors would probably prefer a rated slab such as PSA, these Ebay branded displays still look pretty nice. The good thing is, it’s NOT required to have this done if the card has already been rated by a creditable grading companies such as PSA or BGS.

The Good

The most important part of this is it will ultimately protect people from losing a lot of money to scammers that are selling fake products such as fake Pokemon cards. Ebay is a website that many people stay away from because they’re afraid of scams so it’s good to see the website take these things more seriously. Another thing Ebay did right is this entire authentication process is free! Getting a card over $750 authenticated by their service is all paid for by Ebay, the seller or buyer doesn’t have to pay a dime.

The Bad

On the flip side, many collectors have pointed out that scams that happen within Pokemon card listings and trading card transactions in general are small purchases. Most of these purchases are less than $750 because scammers know the people buying expensive cards are usually collectors that know what to look for and won’t fall for fake cards. In the end, all of these scams below the $750 price figure will go unnoticed. For this reason, make sure if you’re a victim to a Pokemon card scam to report it and attempt to get your money back. Also check out these scams you should watch out for when buying Pokemon cards!