Street Legal: Ebay Expands Authenticity Guarantee to Cover Streetwear
Ebay has expanded its Authenticity Guarantee to streetwear to help ensure all new and pre-owned items sold for $200 or more can be verified for authenticity. This adds a sixth category to Ebay’s authentication service, which also includes sneakers, watches, jewelry, handbags and trading cards.
All eligible streetwear bought and sold in the U.S. will be vetted and verified by Ebay’s professionally trained authenticators, using a combination of physical inspection and technical equipment in Ebay’s new state-of-the-art facility in New Jersey. Eligible items are marked with a badge of Authenticity Guarantee at ebay.com/streetwear.
Products from Aimé Leon Dore, Fear of God, KITH, Supreme, Off-White, Palace and Stone Island will be immediately eligible for the service. Ebay plans to add additional brands including Adidas, Nike,Gucci, Prada and Louis Vuitton by the end of September 2023.
“Ebay has pieces from nearly every notable streetwear drop that’s ever happened — whether in 1993 or 2023,” said Garry Thaniel, Global GM of Sneakers and Streetwear at Ebay in a statement. “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. With the launch of Authenticity Guarantee for streetwear, we’re delivering on that ask.”
Ebay is launching its streetwear guarantee during a time of heavy expansion for the category — global searches for “streetwear” were up 100% in April 2023 compared to April 2022. Interest in streetwear was already high last year, with top brands including BAPE, Fear of God, Off-White, Stone Island and Supreme. Last year, global Ebay customers searched for Supreme more than 30 times per minute.
Ebay has been putting an emphasis on trust-building across its business, particularly in luxury categories. The efforts have been paying off: Ebay reported double-digit annualized growth across its luxury offerings from Q4 2019 to Q4 2022. Some of the initiatives undertaken to boost trust include:
- The acquisition of Certilogo, a provider of digital IDs and authentication tools for apparel and fashion goods, in May;
- The launch of the Certified by Brand program, which enables Ebay to partner directly with luxury brands and help them scale their presence in the secondary market; and
- The opening of the Ebay Luxury Exchange pop-up store in New York City’s Diamond District in late 2022 to promote authenticated pre-owned jewelry, handbags and watches during NYC Jewelry Week.
