Looking for advice

ZodiacMindwarp

I posted this on the community message board but I did not receive any replies. I am hoping that you guys can help me out.

First off, to the moderator: Please do not move this thread to the “B/S/T” board because I am not trying to sell the set here, I am just looking for advice and more people read this board. Thank you.

Now for the advice part: I am planning to sell a mostly raw 1969 baseball set on eBay in the near future. The set is about 20% excellent, 40% excellent-mint and 10% near mint. The remaining 30% is either lesser or would receive an “oc” or “st”, etc. qualifier. I want people to realize that these grades are what I believe the cards would get if graded by PSA. I think that many sellers of raw cards do not use loupes when reviewing their cards and I don’t want people to think that this is another group of overstated cards. I plan to start the listing with this paragraph:

“If you have ever purchased raw cards on eBay then there is a strong chance that you have received cards that you felt were overgraded. In most cases, it’s probably not that the seller was dishonest; rather, they are probably unfamiliar with the grading standards used by the professional grading companies today. If I had sold this set 2 years ago, I probably would have said that most of the cards were near mint. Using the old Beckett guidelines and the naked eye, most of these cards appear to be in that condition. Since I have become familiar with looking at the cards under 10x magnification, I feel confident that you will at least agree with my assessment of condition.”

I will also include scans of the 7 PSA graded cards (in 2 pictures) along with 24 of the other key cards (6 cards in 4 pictures) with the supersize option. I couldn’t figure out how to use Vendio so I am limited to the 6 pictures available through eBay.

Any/all advice would be welcome. Thank you.

CandyFactory

Zodiac

I assume the advice you are looking for is whether or not you are giving an accurate and fair description. You want to get across that your cards are graded closer than the "average person" who just says the card is "EX".

Sometimes I buy raw vintage. I also am a professional in the Marketing industry who writes ads often. I can tell you that what gets my confidence in bidding on a raw card is the sellers guarantee that if you don't like it, they'll take it back. People like to know that you stand behind what you sell. Often times, even if it is overstated in their mind they'll keep it because it's a hassle to send it back.

Another great idea is to allow someone to supersize the picture and state "Check the card out for yourself and bid accordingly". This puts the seller in charge and says to them once they receive it "I made the decision to bid on this and was not misled to the condition".

In my opinion, the only advice that turns me off of a card is to say "All sales final.". To me, this implies that what you get is yours regardless of what the description says. A simple guarantee of satisfaction goes a long way.

Just my thought.
Ryan

magellan

Mike, I agree with what Ryan says about the guarantee, that certainly imparts a sense of security to a potential buyer for a fairly big ticket item. I like what you have to say as far as your grading background goes.....I've sold some raw cards on eBay in the past and never had a complaint about overgrading , what you state is reasonably close to what my description of my own grading would be. Good luck with this.
Dave

NickM

Zodiac - if you have some web hosted space where you can put more pictures up, do so - and then include a link in the auction to those pictures.

Nick

ZodiacMindwarp

I just wanted to say thank you to the guys who responded. To Ryan and Dave, I added a guarantee to the auction and to Nick, since ebay increased the amount of photos from 6 to 12, I was able to provide enough scans to give a good indication of the condition. I also took advantage of ebay's .10 fixed price listing special they had last week. I am very happy with the result.

Thanks again for your input.

Michael

67standup

Good replies, but I'm a bit wary of offering a guarantee as the bidder can switch the card; maybe they're upgrading, maybe they collect doubles, etc. Besides the feedback, it does come down to instilling comfort. Provide the supersize photo, but also provide a detailed description. For example, three sharp corners, but one has ding noticeable only in the light, top to bottom centering is 73/30, the moustache you see was drawn by my kid, etc.

If it’s EX-MT (a subjective term), would it most likely earn a PSA 5, 6 or 7? If you insist on a guarantee maybe offer a refund of shipping.

magellan

I'm glad you got your price Mike. Everything ok with the buyer being low feedback?

Dave

ZodiacMindwarp

Dave,

I thought it was strange that he made one purchase in 2000, one purchase in 2002 and now a purchase in 2004 but he paid quickly and he has left positive feedback so it went well.