• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, December 19, 2022

In its first brand campaign since 2019, eBay highlights its ferocious commitment to authentication, themed “Everyone Deserves Real.”

The online marketplace hopes the new work will strengthen trust, showing how it weeds out fake luxury goods, including sneakers, handbags, watches and jewelry. With close-ups of its authenticators hard at work, the ad promises viewers that they need “never get f*ked over again.”

The campaign, from Joan Creative, is the latest move in the eBay's stepped-up offers to weed out the phonies. Last month, eBay and Edelman launched the eBay Luxury Exchange, an in-real-life experience in New York’s Diamond District. The two-day event, timed to occur during Jewelry Week, allowed shoppers to bring in their luxury items and have them appraised and assigned a value. They could then use that value as currency, shopping the store’s collection of designer watches, handbags, and jewelry.

“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,” said Emily O’Hara, head of brand, in the announcement. “With this campaign, we’re underscoring how confidence in the marketplace anchors our business.”

Other recent initiatives include collaborating with the Gemological Institute of America and expanding eBay’s Authenticity Guarantee program to new and pre-owned fine jewelry sold for over $500. That marks the fifth new category for authentication, following sneakers, watches, handbags and trading cards.

EBay also updated its services for sneakers, offering new protections for eligible items, aligning final value fees and working with FedEx to provide free shipping labels for sellers to ship sneakers to authentication centers.

In its most recent quarterly results, announced last month, San Jose, California-based eBay reported a 5% drop in revenue to $2.4 billion, down from $2.5 billion in the third quarter of last year. Net income fell from $591 million to $552 million, a 7% decline.

It’s hard to overestimate the impact of online fakes on the luxury market. Last month, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the problem is reaching record highs. It reports the Los Angeles/Long Beach Seaport seized $1 billion dollars’ worth of counterfeit items in less than a year, a 38% jump from 2021’s total. Apparel, accessories, handbags, wallets, footwear, watches, jewelry, and consumer electronics are among the most-pirated items.