eBay adds streetwear to its authentication service

eBay has added another product category to its authentication service, adding streetwear to the current offering of collectible sneakers, high-end watches, luxury bags, trading cards and fine jewelry.

The ‘Authenticity Guarantee’ will be available to new and pre-owned items sold for $200 or more, initially only within the US market, and as with the other product categories will involved authentication by a team of trained authenticators at an eBay facility in New Jersey, looking at element such as the structure, materials, logos, tags and packaging.

Brands covered by the guarantee will initially include Aimé Leon Dore, Fear of God, KITH, Supreme, Off-White, Palace and Stone Island, with the service due to expanded from September to include Adidas and Nike, as well as luxury brands like Gucci, Prada, and Louis Vuitton.

The launch of the programme copmes shortly after eBay agree to acquire Certilogo, whose platform uses digital technology to manage the lifecycle of garmets and allow consumers to verify the authenticity of purchases. That takeover is due to complete in the third quarter.

“eBay has pieces from nearly every notable streetwear drop that's ever happened – whether in 1993 or 2023,” said Garry Thaniel, global general manager of sneakers and streetwear at eBay.

“We've heard loud and clear from our enthusiast community that they want to be able to come to eBay to buy and sell apparel in the same seamless way that they can sneakers,” he added. “With the launch of authenticity guarantee for streetwear, we're delivering on that ask.”

Authenticated items are shipped to the buyer with a card guaranteeing they are genuine, with a QR code that can be scanned to access the item's documentation and information about the authentication process, and make it easier to re-list the item, according to eBay.

Inspection happens again if they are sent back to the seller, to guard against people trying to smuggle counterfeits into the system via the returns process.

eBay said that global searches for ‘streetwear’ on its platform were up approximately 100 per cent year-over-year between April 2022 and April 2023.