Launching on Thursday, the eBay “Certified by Brand” program is based on direct partnerships between the marketplace and luxury brand partners. Brands taking part in the program gain access to consumer insights from eBay’s global network of shoppers, which they can leverage to inform the pricing and imagery of their products being sold on the site.
With more luxury brands dealing with fakes and unauthorized sellers, the eBay program offers brands a means to own authentication of their products on an established site. Rather than verifying a brand’s eBay account — in the vein of the (lost) Twitter checkmark and checkmarks verifying accounts on Instagram — eBay’s new program uses a badge to verify brand-approved products across accounts.
The program is set to be separate from eBay’s own Authenticity Guarantee program that launched in the U.S. in 2020. It will only be available in the U.S., to start, though the plan is to roll it out to additional markets in the future. At the moment, participating brands include Badgley Mischka, Ernst Benz, Konstantin Chaykin and Perrelet, among others.
Listing for products that are “Certified By Brand” will be tagged with one of two badges. The circular “direct from brand” tag on a product listing will indicate that the new or pre-owned product was either sourced directly from the brand’s manufacturer or previously authenticated by the brand. The second, “brand-authorized seller” badge will be used to indicate that an item was listed by a brand-authorized seller that sources products directly from the brand.
“The secondary market for premium and luxury goods grew significantly in 2022, propelled by consumer enthusiasm for collecting, scarcity and passion investments,” said Tirath Kamdar, gm of luxury at eBay. “Luxury brands are being edged further into the resale space and are seeking partners to capitalize on this opportunity to scale their brands.” Kamdar said there is no charge for brands to take part in the program. As a rule, eBay sellers earn a 5-20% of a product’s selling price.
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Fashion and luxury brands have increasingly invested in building their own resale channels as the market for luxury resale has heated up. Brands offering DTC resale include Patagonia, Eileen Fisher and Ralph Lauren. However, platforms like eBay and Vestiaire Collective have a comparatively wider pool of products and more trust from sellers who use the sites to buy products peer-to-peer. For its part, Vestiaire is helping brands like Chloé link their new digital IDs to its resale platform to ensure authentication. The global luxury resale market is expected to be worth $250 billion by 2027, according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
On eBay, watches featuring the “Certified by Brand” badge will come with a minimum one-year warranty. Meanwhile, purchases of badged jewelry and handbag items will come with a certificate of authenticity.
“As watchmakers, we respect eBay’s commitment to delivering a trusted and confident marketplace, which aligns with our commitment to authenticity and transparency,” said Leonid Khankin, CEO and creative director of independent Swiss watchmaker Ernst Benz. “The market for pre-owned watches grows yearly, and we are confident that [the certification] will give customers the assurance they need when purchasing a pre-owned Ernst Benz timepiece on eBay.” Currently, the brand has 39 products on eBay. That will increase, as Ernst Benz newly plans to directly populate the site with products. At the moment, the brand has no other official resale partners.
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The majority of eBay’s watch and handbag listings are pre-owned items, according to data from eBay.
Perrelet, a luxury watch brand with a 250-year legacy, is looking to benefit from the new access to consumer insights that the program provides. “We were in the process of launching our Certified Pre Owned program [on our own site], so partnering with eBay was an obvious way to expand our presence in the secondary market and access a new U.S. audience,” said Hugo Adrian Lesizza, Perrelet director. The brand currently has 63 resale items on eBay, with plans to add more as a result of the partnership.
Ebay has been growing its luxury-focused resale categories. Its used watches, handbags, jewelry and sneakers have seen roughly double-digit annual growth since the fourth quarter of 2019. As of March of this year, the average daily fixed price for live listings of luxury watches and handbags grew by double digits year-over-year in eBay’s three largest markets.
