In response to the post on eBay’s view of fraud on its site, we received a note from Josh Baer, the art advisor and editor of The Baer Faxt, who has been consulting with eBay on its new art marketplace:
There are more eyes on eBay’s art site than The Daily Beast article implies. Much of what The Daily Beast covered is ancient news. I know because I lead a small team to vet works on the site and remove ones that are clearly fake.
Since I began advising eBay, almost a year ago, we have approached this market with the firm belief that it is our responsibility to protect buyers from fraud. No buyer–or potential buyer–who is willing to pay $25,000 for something that they believe is worth $25,000 should have to worry that the work is a fraud.
My team, and eBay, is diligently trying to protect our buyers–and potential buyers–from criminal sellers, fraud, or, even, a simple mistake. And no one at eBay blames the victim for being taken in an art fraud.
