An in-house team of experts scrutinizes any suspicious item that makes it past their smart technology detection.

Tradesy prides itself as the leading peer-to-peer marketplace focusing on luxury goods – designer handbags, jewelry, accessories, the works. Its high-end niche sets it apart from other online marketplaces such as eBay, Mercari, and Poshmark. That’s why it is only fitting that Tradesy has a zero-tolerance policy against counterfeit items of any kind. They make use of a smart technology that reportedly detects up to 99.7% of replicas and automatically removes fakes from their platform.

Since the system doesn’t have a hundred percent accuracy, there’s still a chance, however minuscule, that fakes somehow manage to make their way into the site. A potential buyer who comes across a Tradesy review about a purchase of a replica may be wary of buying from this platform, which is understandable as luxury fashion items don’t exactly sell cheap. Buyers wouldn’t want to end up with a dud, especially for high-value items.

Tradesy knows this well; that’s why it has in place a robust authentication process that protects not just the buyers but the sellers as well because a team of experts will be handling the complaint and they are well equipped to determine an item’s authenticity.

How to send an item to Tradesy for authentication

Any item that buyers wish to subject to in-person authentication at the Tradesy HQ must request for this service within 4 days since the delivery of the item, following the steps below. Authentication is free, and Tradesy covers the postage as well as return shipping if the buyer would like to have the item once it has been determined as the real deal.

1. Using the mobile or browser version, locate the “Purchases” page from the menu. If using the Tradesy App, this page can be found after selecting the “Me” button either on the bottom toolbar (for iOS) or on the top right corner (for Android).
2. Under “Purchases,” find the item in question and then click the “Request Return” button. Choose the reason for return – “Authentication inspection request.” Then, select the relevant concern from the details that will pop up (for example, issues with the hardware, stitching, or production codes). Keep an eye for the field where it may be indicated if the buyer would like to receive back the item if its authenticity is verified.
3. Prepare the item for shipment, complete with all the accessories that it came with (dust bag, removable handle, care card, etc.). Carefully house them inside any serviceable box. For the shipping label, head again to the “Purchases” page and print the prepaid FedEx label, and stick it on top of the box.
4. Ship out the package to any FedEx branch no more than 5 days, as it needs to be received by the Authentication Team at the headquarters on a maximum of 10 days since the return request transaction. Otherwise, the item will not be eligible for authentication anymore and will be returned.
5. Allow for some time for the authentication experts to investigate the item. They will be scrutinizing its details against the known features of a genuine article distinct to a particular designer brand.

If the item is determined to be a fake:

The Authentication Team will reach out to the buyer via email for the verdict. If the item is found to be a definite fake or if its authenticity could not be determined, the buyer will receive a full refund for the counterfeit item.

If the item is determined to be authentic:

On the other hand, if the authentication process verified the item’s authenticity, the buyer has the choice to receive Tradesy Site Credit equivalent to the selling price of the item (which can be used to buy new luxury items from other closets!), or to request for the item to be mailed back if they wish to have it. For the latter option, the buyer must notify Tradesy ahead of time, as mentioned earlier. Otherwise, the default is to receive the store credits.

The platform, the sellers, and buyers have their respective responsibilities in keeping fakes away from online marketplaces. Until such time Tradesy comes up with a super-smart system that can detect a hundred percent of the fakes at any given time, users of the site can help by reporting any suspicious-looking items they see listed.