eBay puts authenticity at centre of new brand campaign

Online marketplace eBay is trying to shake off its association with counterfeit products with a new ad campaign that points to its recent efforts to guarantee authenticity of some product categories sold on its platform.

The Everyone Deserves Real campaign highlights the work of eBay's authenticators, claiming they are "making sure you never get f*ked over again."

 "The details, inspected. The fakes, rejected," continues the 30-second ad, which according to an Ad Age article is aimed at Gen Z customers who were not even born when eBay started operating in 1995. The 35- to 64-year-old age bracket is reported to make up almost two-thirds (61 per cent) of eBay's audience.

"Trust is the heartbeat of eBay, and 'Everyone Deserves Real' serves as both a rallying cry and a promise to our community of buyers and sellers," commented Emily O'Hara, eBay’s head of brand. "With this campaign, we're underscoring how confidence on the marketplace anchors our business."

The reality of course is that eBay's authentication service is limited to a few selected product categories – so far sneakers, high-end watches, luxury bags, trading cards and fine jewelry – an does not apply to the bulk of goods sold through the platform.

When it extended the programme to include fine jewelry in June, eBay said it had authenticated more than two million items across the five categories since the service was first launched in 2020, and in the next two years, it is expected to surpass five million items.

To put that into context, there is estimated to be around 1 billion active listings on eBay at any one time.