General Forum

First: humble brag. I came into some money and decided to splurge on a White Whale -- an Ernie Banks rookie card. (Yay, me!)

Now, question, possibly rhetorical. This was an expensive card. It's graded BVG 2, so I feel pretty confident about authenticity. But eBay had it sent first to its "authenticators." It seems to have passed that inspection and is now on its way to my home. But what was the point? It was a graded card. Does eBay really employ some brilliant grader who will, in less than a day, look through the plastic and "authenticate" that the card is real? I could see it, and would like it, if eBay authenticated some non-graded expensive card (which I wouldn't buy on eBay in the first place), but I really don't get the point for a graded card. I suppose somebody can briefly assess whether the case has been tampered with. Just seems odd....

v3

Congrats! That will always be a winning card to acquire.

Most likely since your card would have been shipped directly from the seller, eBay makes sure the slab and label are legit. This would eliminate any disputes between parties (most likely to keep scammers from attempting to distribute fakes). Who knows if it actually works in the 'my word against their word' department.

Anyway, enjoy it forever!

Money for eBay. 

Nice card, congrats! I was lucky enough to afford one such experience myself which was also a graded card. Like mentioned I suppose it is designed to curb altered slabs, cards that have been cracked and replaced, etc. while offering the buyer some supposed reassurance. I assume the seller doesn’t get their money until eBay confirms the card is on the up-and-up and generally just applies this to any sports card the sells for over $250 or something like that. Overall I was impressed at how quickly that process was, it didn’t delay my card much at all. With the amount of fraud in the industry it isn’t the worst thing!

Neither the seller nor the buyer pays anything extra for this. (Beyond the usual crazy high selling fees) 

ccook wrote:

Money for eBay. 

Not only a beneficial service for both parties, seller and buyer, but a good marketing tool for their platform. It helps attract and retain more of the premium / "high-end" user base, given the $250 or more requirement.

Although, there will come a time where this service will cost extra; "eBay covers all the costs for a limited time" [1]

[1] https://pages.ebay.com/authenticity-guarantee-tradingcards/

How so? Do the sellers have to pay them? I’ve never sold anything expensive enough to count. The buyers don’t pay anything….

v3

Fake slabs, fake labels and fake cards are all real things. The seller is safe after eBay authenticates it and an inexperienced buyer won’t get a fake or altered slab or card.

I believe the main reason is because buyers were claiming INAD and forcing a return, then they can scam when returning item, and who’s to say if the seller was completely honest or not. Also the fake, tampered slabs are a thing too. 
 

Not that eBay really cares much about sellers as longs as they get their cut. 

Earlier this year I bought a 1997-98 Totally Certified hockey card (ungraded) that was high enough in value to be sent through eBay's authentication service.  After inspection, it turns out out the card had what they called a clear substance on the back that could not be seen in the photographs in the listing.  I was offered a refund and the card was returned to the seller.  I have to think cases like this are extremely rare, but a good example of why the service is valuable.  Neither party pays anything extra for it, but it does delay shipping as the card is sent to Florida for authentication.

For what it's worth, the seller was, well, not pleased (will leave it at that).  He ended up giving the card to a consignment dealer who is not one of the well-regarded sellers often mentioned in these posts.  It sold without having to go through authentication again (I kept a note of the serial number so I know it was the same card).