eBay Authenticity Guarantee: 2026 thresholds by category

Which items eBay checks, and the price where it starts

eBay's Authenticity Guarantee covers seven categories: watches, sneakers and other shoes, streetwear, handbags and small accessories, jewelry, trading cards, and coins. Inside each one, an item has to reach that category's price line before eBay will send it to an independent authenticator: $100 for sneakers, $200 for streetwear and single trading cards, $500 for handbags, jewelry, coins and other shoes, and $2,000 for watches. Above the line, the check is automatic and eBay pays for it, though US buyers pay $14.95 shipping on authenticated sneakers. Below it, three categories let you buy the check at checkout, and the rest get no check at all.

Read the scope column as carefully as the price. A $900 single trading card goes through the program. A $9,000 sealed box of the same cards doesn't, because eBay only authenticates single cards.

Every figure in that table comes from eBay's Authenticity Guarantee help page, its buyer's guide to the program and its trading cards page. All of it applies to purchases on eBay.com.

Trading cards: $200, single cards, accepted graders only

A single card qualifies at $200 and up, raw or graded, and both of eBay's card pages now give that number. Until recently, eBay's trading cards page said $250 while its help article said $200. When eBay added cards to the program in 2022, the line for ungraded cards was far higher than either number (eBay's launch announcement). So if a page gives you anything above $200 for a single card, it's working from an old copy of the rules.

The price can be the listing's Buy It Now price or what the card sells for at auction. If a card is listed at $200 or more and you get it for less through Best Offer, eBay still sends it for authentication.

Graded cards only count in a holder from one of the graders eBay accepts. Those are PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator), SGC (Sportscard Guaranty), BGS (Beckett Grading Services), and the Certified Collectibles Group's two card labels, CGC Cards and CSG. eBay names GMA, HGA, KSA, WCG and GBA as examples of graders it won't accept.

PSA does the inspection for every card. On a raw card, it looks at the corners, edges, surface and overall condition and compares them with the listing. On a graded card, it checks the plastic holder for signs of tampering and confirms the case and label are genuine. Nobody grades or regrades your card along the way. A card that passes comes to you in sealed packaging with a tamper-proof sticker and a QR code you can scan for the inspection details.

Two things catch card buyers out. The inspection doesn't verify an autograph, patch or relic, even one the manufacturer put on the card, so a signed card comes back authenticated as a card and nothing more. And you can't take a bid back in the Trading Cards categories at all, which eBay states on its bid retraction page. The check happens after you've won, so the decision has to be right when you bid. Our post on which bidding mistakes you can undo covers the rest of eBay's retraction rules.

Watches between $500 and $2,000

From $2,000 up, a watch in the Wristwatches or Pocket Watches category is authenticated automatically. Between $500 and $1,999.99 you can add the check at checkout for $80 plus tax. Under $500 there's no way into the program.

That $80 weighs very differently across that price range. On a $600 watch it's 13% of the price. On a $1,500 watch it's about 5%, and on a $1,999.99 watch it's 4%. If you add it and later return the watch because you've changed your mind, eBay keeps the $80.

The line also works against you in auctions. eBay says a watch that sells for under $2,000 in an auction may not be eligible, so a watch that opens at $1,500 and finishes at $1,950 can lose the free check it would have had at $2,000. If authentication matters to you on that watch, add the $80 option when you pay.

Some watches are out at any price. Smart watches, watch parts and accessories don't qualify, and neither do watches eBay calls customized: original brand parts swapped for non-brand parts or parts from the wrong model or era, or anything modified from the factory design, like diamonds added to a bezel. Vintage watches get some slack. A replaced strap, bracelet, crystal, spring bars or gaskets won't disqualify one, and neither will a non-original part when the maker no longer produces it.

The customized rule is where authentication and value come apart. A frankenwatch is assembled from genuine parts in a combination that never left the factory. It can be turned away as customized, or it can get through on the strength of its genuine parts, and a pass doesn't tell you the watch is original. Our watches guide explains frankenwatches, homages, aftermarket parts and service parts, and what each does to the price.

Coins joined in August 2026

Coins are the newest category, added in August 2026 (eBay's announcement), so lists of the program written before then leave them out. The line is $500 for both kinds of coin. Raw coins have to be listed in US Coins. Graded coins can be in US, Canada or World Coins, and the holder has to come from one of five graders: PCGS (Professional Coin Grading Service), NGC (Numismatic Guaranty Company), CACG (Certified Acceptance Corporation Grading), ANACS, or ICG (Independent Coin Graders). Professional Coin Grading Service does the inspection. Both the seller and you have to be in the US.

What happens after you pay

When you buy an eligible item, the seller ships it to an authentication facility, not to you. The authenticators first check that what's in the box matches the listing, then inspect the item itself, along with any packaging and accessories that came with it. eBay says that's generally done within two business days. An item that passes is repackaged and sent on to you by expedited, secure shipping, with a card or tag saying it was verified. Anything worth $1,500 or more needs your signature on delivery.

If the item fails, or its condition doesn't match the listing, it doesn't come to you and you get your money back. Small mismatches are handled differently. If the item is genuine but, say, missing its original box or carrying a mark the listing didn't mention, eBay contacts you with the details and pictures and asks whether you still want it. Say no, or don't answer in time, and it goes back to the seller and you're refunded.

The extra stop adds days. eBay's Authenticity Guarantee help page and its trading cards page both currently carry a notice that some Authenticity Guarantee orders may be delayed by 7 days or more. You can't opt out of the check on an eligible item to get it sooner.

What the program leaves out

Plenty of collectibles never go near it. Video games, comics and modern collectible figures aren't on eBay's list, sealed or graded. That's why our video games guide leans on spotting reproduction cartridges and resealed boxes yourself.

Inside the seven categories, a few things fall through:

• Items in the wrong category. eBay's example is a pair of boots from an eligible brand listed under sneakers. The authenticator can confirm the condition matches the listing but may not be able to confirm the boots are genuine. The same goes for items modified from their original state, like a sneaker with custom artwork.
• Loose stones. Loose Gemstones, Mixed Lots and Loose Beads are out, though loose diamonds of $500 and up listed under Loose Diamonds are in.
• Anything priced under its category's line, including items a seller has priced just under it. You can still buy the paid check on a watch down to $500, or on a handbag or jewelry item down to $200. In the other four categories there's no way in.

Some purchases also slip out even when the listing shows the blue checkmark. eBay lists four ways that happens: your delivery address is somewhere the program doesn't reach, you don't pay through eBay, you buy on another eBay site (a US buyer on eBay.fr, in eBay's example), or the seller ships straight to you. If a checkmarked item turns up at your door in the seller's own box, it wasn't authenticated.

Where you live counts too. Watches, trading cards and jewelry only go to the continental US. Local pickup is excluded in every category, and most categories exclude PO boxes too.

Does a passed inspection mean a good buy?

It means the item is genuine and matches its listing. It doesn't mean the price was fair. A real watch bought at twice what similar watches go for is still a real watch, and the authenticator won't comment on what you paid. For that half, FindersKeepers, the site you're reading, puts a listing's price next to what similar listings on eBay are asking right now.

Papers deserve their own look. eBay says the authenticators review any packaging and accessories that come with the item, but its watch authentication page also says the authenticator "will not inspect any aftermarket documentation of provenance for authenticity." And a box and papers are only worth their premium if they belong to that watch. Our watches guide explains how to match them, and our post on eBay buyer scams covers the other tells.

The Authenticity Guarantee also changes what eBay's Money Back Guarantee will do for you. Some authenticated purchases count as final sale, usually when the seller doesn't take returns or the listing's return window has closed. On a final sale, eBay won't cover a claim that the item doesn't match the listing. It still covers damage in shipping and a seller who won't honor their own return policy.

Trading cards and coins have a short clock on top of that. Normally you get 30 calendar days from delivery, or the seller's return window if that's longer, to report an item that doesn't match its listing. For trading cards, coins, bullion, paper money and anything sold for parts, when the seller doesn't offer returns, that window is three calendar days after delivery. Our Money Back Guarantee post covers the rest of the exceptions.

Before you bid on something near a price line

Look for the blue Authenticity Guarantee checkmark. eBay shows it in search results, on the listing, at checkout and on your order, and there's an Authenticity Guarantee filter in search if you only want to see eligible items. The checkmark is eBay's own decision about that listing, so it answers whether a particular card, bag or coin is eligible. The checkmark can't see how you'll pay or where the item is going, so pay through eBay and ship to an address the program reaches.

In non-sneaker shoes, handbags, jewelry, trading cards and coins, a Best Offer under the line keeps the check as long as the Buy It Now price was at or above it. eBay's page doesn't give that rule for sneakers or streetwear, so on those, plan around the price you'll actually pay.

On cards, eBay's answer to whether you'll be charged for authentication is no, followed by the words "for a limited time." If you're buying a card for $200 or more mainly because the check is free, look at the trading cards page again before a big purchase.