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PAAS Certified Autographs Removed From eBay, Allowed Back Within a Few Months

Update: PAAS certified autographs with their new COAs and LOAs, which came out in May or June 2012 are now allowed on eBay again.

eBay has removed virtually all autograph listings with PAAS (Professional Autograph Authentication Service) COAs, apparently due to authenticity concerns.

It is estimated that approximately 800 listings were wiped out, and less than a dozen remained. eBay sellers reported that all of their PAAS autographs were removed except those also certified by other third-party authenticators. Sellers were told they would face possible suspension if they attempted to list them again.

While there has been no official statement by eBay, Michael Frost, PAAS's president and authenticator, acknowledged eBay's actions when I asked by email, but would not say why, suggesting we contact eBay. However he denied it was due to authenticity concerns.

However, emails from eBay provided to us by recipients contradict that.:

Why were the listings for my autographed items ended?
- We received reports regarding the authenticity of the autographs in your listings. Please be aware that we regularly receive such reports from rights owners, law enforcement officials and members of the eBay community. These reports were not the determining factor for why your listings were removed but they were taken into consideration.

In the past, blanket removal of a company's COA by eBay has been followed within a few months by an official listing on eBay's banned COA list. More on this situation as it develops.

Tags: banned, ebay, frost, p.a.a.s., paas, professional autograph authentication service

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Fuddjcal on March 10, 2012 at 8:51am

it's happening because people are sick of buying forgeries ......

I agree that E-bay has done a good job with the forgeries INFESTATION they had. It is NO LONGER a COMPLETE INFESTATION. It was one of the reasons I quit with the autographs because all I saw were forgeries day after day with a few authentic items mixed in. It made me sick. I've always said I'd PASS on PAAS, however, they never rose to the Level of STAT, Birdsick, or Moral ASS, & CSC proportions.

I do think that they should not have approved authenticators though, it makes people think that they are perfect. They should continue to add to the banned list. Drew Max (AAU) was on the original list that I remember 5 years ago, as was William Tell. They were somehow removed but deserve to be put on the list as well. ALL Items purchased through "ALWAYS FAKE AT AUCTION, & My Favorite Forgeries- Tony Podsada, should also be added.

I have NO TROUBLE SELLING MY REAL MICKEY MANTLES. I sold (9) 8 X 10 photos in 2 days....because they are real. Only 1 had a JSA authentication and guess what... it was real too.

Permalink Reply by CJCollector on March 10, 2012 at 9:13am

A long time ago when I first started investigating forgeries on Ebay, I was shocked at the high percentage of Jeter forgeries and I probably bashed Ebay the loudest. But in the last two years they have done a tremendous job in combating the sales of forgeries.

Getting Morales on the Banned COA list was a great move!!!!

Fighting the sellers of forgeries is a lifetime job. It's never going to end. You have your professional forgers and then you have your thousands (yes thousands) of what I call kitchen table forgers. It's never going to end, but the one we can do is to continue to expose them.

I don't know Mr. Cyrkin's hard drive space capacity on his server here, but I could certainly max it out with photos of forgeries in my files both past and present. O

One of the reason's I take screen shots of listings is so that the sellers know they are being watched. We have to continue to let them know they are being watched.

Permalink Reply by Brick Hunter on February 27, 2012 at 6:12pm

I don't think PAAS is the best option out there but they're certainly better than some of the other "authentication" rubber stamp outfits out there. They've certified a lot of good material over the years. There's plenty of bad material out there as well with PAAS authentication, which seemed to be a question of knowledge when authenticating and not one of being crooked like with certain other companies. I'll still continue to buy good items with PAAS authentication when they come along.

Permalink Reply by DB on August 8, 2012 at 6:03am

Well time to correct this. Frost chimed in on anther thread and based on it felt it time to revisit. It would appear that whatever scrutiny PAAS was under on EBAy it appears to be resolved. What was once being "systematically" removed appears to have ended;

http://www.ebay.com/itm/330774371881;jsessionid=7CE15DA9FEBE9C8EA54...

is a list of items for sale that are used by buyers for authentication of certain items...

& this is a listing that has been running for a few days in addition to a few others;;

http://www.ebay.com/itm/330774379702?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2...

Permalink Reply by georgejoey747 on August 8, 2012 at 6:57am

It looks like you are correct DB. There are several PAAS items on eBay. Big names too like Michael Jordan. if they were still not allowed I think a computer program would have wiped them off. Did you ask eBay why they decided to let them back on?

Permalink Reply by CJCollector on August 8, 2012 at 7:05am

It is important to note that PAAS was never on Ebay's Banned COA list.

Permalink Reply by georgejoey747 on August 8, 2012 at 7:12am

I never meant to imply that Christopher. They never made the list they were just gone for a while. Sorry if it came across that way.

Permalink Reply by CJCollector on August 8, 2012 at 7:20am

No offense taken, George.

Permalink Reply by DB on August 8, 2012 at 7:16am

That is correct but as we both know several COAs that weren't on the banned COA list were also being systematically removed. How that has changed with recent ebay staff changes remains to be seen.

@georgejoey747 - no. since it was in a "review" stage perse they get pretty tight lipped about the "whys".

Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on August 8, 2012 at 7:46am

eBay has allowed PAAS certified autographs again, as of a couple of months ago, so long as they are PAAS's new COA.

Permalink Reply by georgejoey747 on August 8, 2012 at 7:49am

What was the difference between the 2? I don't understand.

Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on August 8, 2012 at 8:30am

I don't know what the new one looks like, but the new COA probably came out around May 2012. There's probably a new Letter of Authenticity and as well as a new COA.