"enhancing" color scans in auction listings
blue227
Posts: 185 ✭✭
Lately i've noticed that it is becoming more the norm that sellers whether on eBay or a major auction houses like Mastro have been more liberally "enchancing" the color scans of cards in their listings in order to get the card to show better, or what seems to be more prevalent lately, to show A LOT BETTER.
While I'm aware that some scanners, monitors, or catalog printing processes can give you washed out colors that make a card's look worse than it does in person, lately it seems there has been more aggressive enhancing of scans to the point that more sellers & auction houses have crossed a line between trying to get a scan to look like the card does to the naked eye and are basically posting what should be called a doctored scan whose purpose seems to be to deceive potential bidders/buyers.
In my own personal experience, i've had a couple of recent cases in which i've bought some decent $ price cards only to be disappointed when i got them. In one recent buy, what looked like fire-engine red detailing in the scan turned out to be an orangey-red that looks washed out by comparison. In another case, by adjusting the exposure of a scan, one card appeared to have a bright clean surface when in fact it there was some very noticeable browning on the card.
Since most sellers of PSA graded cards won't accept returns which eliminates a buyer's ability to get their money back has anyone ever tried (with success) to get a seller to refund their purchase due to visual differences between what a scan looks like vs. the actual card?
While I'm aware that some scanners, monitors, or catalog printing processes can give you washed out colors that make a card's look worse than it does in person, lately it seems there has been more aggressive enhancing of scans to the point that more sellers & auction houses have crossed a line between trying to get a scan to look like the card does to the naked eye and are basically posting what should be called a doctored scan whose purpose seems to be to deceive potential bidders/buyers.
In my own personal experience, i've had a couple of recent cases in which i've bought some decent $ price cards only to be disappointed when i got them. In one recent buy, what looked like fire-engine red detailing in the scan turned out to be an orangey-red that looks washed out by comparison. In another case, by adjusting the exposure of a scan, one card appeared to have a bright clean surface when in fact it there was some very noticeable browning on the card.
Since most sellers of PSA graded cards won't accept returns which eliminates a buyer's ability to get their money back has anyone ever tried (with success) to get a seller to refund their purchase due to visual differences between what a scan looks like vs. the actual card?
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I work in the throughbred racing industry and from what I understand what goes on at the high-level sales to make those yearlings look better borders on fraud in some cases.
Seeking primarily PSA graded pre-war "type" cards
My PSA Registry Sets
34 Goudey, 75 Topps Mini, Hall of Fame Complete Set, 1985 Topps Tiffany, Hall of Fame Players Complete Set