It was a bit of a shock to turn on the BBC and see professional shoe sniffers on the breakfast news, in fact yesterday on BBC Breakfast Naga Munchetty looked positively repulsed, but it’s all part of the eBay Authentication Guarantee programme which is rolling out in the UK to verify that fake trainers aren’t sold on the platform.
In the UK, eBay have verified hundreds of thousands of pairs of trainers and they are seeing buyer satisfaction above 80 as a result. Sales of trainers valued above $100 grew at a triple digit rate once again in the lastquarter, and eBay are expanding engagement with Gen Z and Millenials through a wide range of social channels.
If you don’t sell trainers you might wonder what this has to do with you, and the answer is that people attracted to eBay for a rare pair of kicks then go on to spend heavily in unrelated categories and that’s where you start to see the benefits. Local eBay authentication centers and are launching in the UK, Australia, and Canada this quarter.
“One of the key advantages of our platform is cross-category shopping. Our luxury watch buyers like our sneakers enthusiasts spend thousands of dollars on other categories across the platform.”
– Jamie Iannone, CEO, eBay
Checking the stitching, serial numbers and genuine accessories are all present for a high end pair of trainers is an essential part of the authentication process, but who know that professional shoe sniffers can literally smell a pair of fakes as each brand and type of trainer apparently has it’s own distinctive smell! It’s all part of the job and ensures buyers can relax in the certainty that when they’re spending hundreds (or even thousands!) of pounds on the rarest of rare trainers that they will actually receive the genuine article.
2 Responses
Regardless of authenticity, i’ve always thought that “odour” should be part of a second hand item’s grading. More often than not the troublesome smells are that of mould, cigarette smoke or that kind of dank smell from being stored in an outbuilding etc. I don’t so much mind perfume or food smells though it’s not ideal.
A lot of people really don’t look after their things!
Maybe they can help sniff out what’s going on with my recent very odd eBay Sneaker Authenticity Guaranteed buying experiences.
One pair of shoes at about $50 showing eBay Authenticity Guaranteed was drop shipped from Amazon directly to me – not sent to authentication.
One pair won at auction for about $40 also showing Authenticity Guaranteed and *was* shipped to authenticator.
One pair listed with Buy It Now/Best Offer showing Authenticity Guaranteed – accepted offer and sold for $80, also was shipped to authenticator.
Here in the US, eBay seems to have a problem with people somehow being able to get the Authentication badging on their listings even if they sell for well below the current $150 minimum for eligibility.
Are similar things occurring on eBay UK?