Ebay Authenticate finally pulls the curtain back

If you’re a luxury-handbag hound on the hunt for one of the big guns (Gucci, Bottega Veneta, et al) at a sweet secondhand price, you may have found yourself scrolling through the Authenticate section of the vast resale marketplace that is eBay. Instantly recognizable marques like Chanel and Prada abound on this humble landing page. If any of the luxe totes appear enticing enough to warrant further clickage, you may land on the product page to behold a bold-red proclamation: “Authenticity Verified.” It’s a new-ish claim — launched officially in October of 2017 — that’s the product of a painstaking campaign on eBay’s part to provide airtight verification of the secondhand luxury goods for sale through the online marketplace.

Led by Senior Director of the Authenticate James Hendy, who came to eBay in 2017 after 18 years in the auction world (including a turn at storied resale house Bonhams, where he sold Sam’s piano from Casablanca and the Cowardly Lion’s costume from The Wizard of Oz), the authenticate program employs a rigorous approach to evaluate the authenticity of luxury merchandise across a few highfalutin’ categories: watches, diamonds, and, in an area of particular interest to us, designer handbags.