In recent months, there has been a lot of hype around expensive and rare Pokémon cards. Recently, however, a million-dollar scam made headlines, where the prominent YouTuber fell for a Ebay fraud. Now the company itself is taking action.
What exactly happened? YouTube star Logan Paul purchased a box in December 2021, which he believed to be the “only sealed box full of first edition Pokémon cards.”
- This box was said to be “authenticated,” meaning guaranteed genuine.
- However, he did not unpack it, otherwise it would lose value.
- The box was sealed in 1998 and certified as “authentic.”
- He spent $3.5 million or 3 million euros for the fun.
- In February 2021, he had purchased a box for 2 million US dollars.
However, the latest purchase turned out to be a scam. After there were already doubts about the authenticity of the cards, the YouTuber eventually opened the box. Instead of the hoped-for first generation Pokémon cards, he found only G.I. Joe trading cards.
The case caused a stir and drew a lot of attention. Now the platform Ebay, where Logan Paul purchased this box, has responded and wants to take action.
Well-known streamers jumped on the hype train and spent larger and larger sums on packs of cards, hoping to hit particularly rare cards live. Nowadays, streamers like Logan Paul even invest millions in such boxes, hoping for value appreciation.
Ebay introduces verification program for valuable goods
This is how Ebay plans to prevent such million-dollar scams in the future: In the future, there will be a special verification program to check the authenticity of valuable items. This is intended to ensure that counterfeit goods don’t even reach the buyer.
- Items valued at $750 or more will fall under the program and be checked for authenticity.
- Once the purchase is properly completed, the product will first be sent to a verification team.
- If the item is rated as “genuine,” it will then be shipped to the buyer.
Ebay states: “Your card will be verified and authenticated through a multi-step review process, and will receive a tamper-proof sticker and a QR code to confirm the authentication.” (via invenvglobal.com)
Is such a program also available in Germany? Currently, only the minimum price in US dollars is known. A price in euros has not yet been listed anywhere. There is also no indication of such a program on the German Ebay website.
It looks as if the verification program will only launch in the USA for the time being. However, it is conceivable that it will be implemented here sooner or later.
Dawn Block, VP Collectibles, Electronics and Home at eBay, stated:
Our collectibles business has grown over the past six years, and the recent surge speaks to the immense cultural significance of this category […] . As hobbies transform into investments, authentication services have become a priority in high-value categories for collectors. […]
With the launch of the authenticity guarantee for trading cards, we are giving enthusiasts exactly what they want, while also strengthening trust in the market.
via prnewswire.com
What goods are eligible? On the official ebay website for the program, in addition to categories for trading cards, there are also areas for sneakers, watches, and handbags.
Such measures would also be quite useful for electronic goods, such as gaming consoles. Especially in the hype surrounding the latest console generation, some people have fallen for fraudsters who also demand absurd prices for their PS5 and Xbox consoles.
Whether it will be implemented in the future remains to be seen.
For now, it must be awaited whether the program actually works in practice and can reduce fraud schemes.
Also, NFTs are currently very much in the news. However, among many critics, NFTs are mainly seen as scams and rip-offs. An example of such an NFT scam is the case of the Twitch founder who launched an NFT site and was then scammed out of €132,000.
