eBay adds new security as second-hand watch market continues to grow

This week, eBay added Escrow, an escrow service, to its platform for luxury watches valued at more than $10,000. The service is designed to protect payments until both the buyer and seller are satisfied with a given transaction.

The process begins during checkout, during which customers are redirected from eBay to Escrow.com. From there, both parties create an escrow account through which payments can be sent and received. According to eBay, this one-time setup ensures that all data is shared privately between the escrow and the buyer or seller.

The rest of the process seems fairly straightforward : Escrow acts as a kind of third-party middleman. The buyer deposits the money for the watch into an escrow account. Funds are released to the seller only when the buyer receives the item in the conditions described in the eBay listing. Escrow claims that the security measures built into the service, from verifying checks to secure payments and chargebacks, prevent fraudulent sales.

Buyers will have seven days to inspect and examine any watch purchased on the eBay platform before the transaction is completed . Once a watch has been accepted by the buyer, or the seven-day inspection period has passed, no returns will be allowed. If a return is necessary, the watch will be sent back to the third party, which will give the seller up to five days to inspect the watch before the buyer can receive a full refund.

“eBay is changing the way people buy and sell luxury goods on eBay,” Tilas Kamdar, general manager of eBay Luxury , said in a statement .

The new service comes as sales of high-end watches on eBay are growing dramatically. eBay claims that more than 7,000 luxury watches valued at more than $10,000 have been sold since the authentication service was launched in the United States and Japan .

Today, nearly 80,000 new, pre-owned and vintage watches are marked with its "Authenticity Guarantee" logo, and eBay says 8 million luxury watches were sold on the platform in 2020.

Charis Marquez, eBay's vice president of fashion , said: " The relationship with third parties is designed to meet people's growing interest and demand for high-end timepieces: "Over the past year, we have seen a surge in interest in luxury watches . In the past year , more than 22 million consumers have searched for Cartier and TAG Heuer watches through the site, and the search volume has exceeded 15 million. "Escrow" joining the "Authenticity Guarantee" program is also eBay's response to the growing demand.

E-commerce platform

eBay Platform

Cross-border e-commerce market