Should eBay require sellers to specify a grade for cards?

dtkk49a

I hate when I see this in a auction description
"All cards are near mint or better unless otherwise noted.  Thank you."
And a lot of auctions lately don't even list a grade!
I think eBay should require a seller to specify a specific grade for each card they sell.
I couldn't sell a car on eBay by listing its condition as " used to new"
The same should go for sports cards. Your thoughts?

alifaxwa2

No. That gives everyone an easy SNAD argument.

Dpeck100

No.

Anytime a card gets posted a large number of people have a different grade for it and they are trained eyes.

The seller should point out major flaws and let the scan speak for itself.

digicat

Can't do it. There's way too much variation in how people grade.

Sure you can post standards, but based on the fact that there's a thread-a-day dealing with submitters shocked at the low (or high) grades they got, about the "overgraded" PSA cards on Ebay, etc, you can see that no one has it perfect.

Heck, people can't even get centering right, and you can measure that.

I can see it now.
NEG FEEDBACK: Seller said item was NM/MT. PSA graded the card as NM. SCAMMER!!!!

JoeBanzai

Bad idea!

Sales of raw cards would really be hurt.

Baseball cards and cars? There's two similar type items! I can see it now, 30 or 40 photos of the card from every angle, front, back, individual corners.

I just hope for good scans and make up my own mind.

Joe

Estil

It's the ones that try that whole "I'm not a professional grader" excuse that irk me

Mapleleaf

<< <i>It's the ones that try that whole "I'm not a professional grader" excuse that irk me >>



That's my favourite; what they really mean is "Even I can see that these cards are crappy".
No way I bid on their auctions.

digicat

<< <i>It's the ones that try that whole "I'm not a professional grader" excuse that irk me >>



One of those "I'm not a Professional grader" guys actually kept paroting that when I asked direct questions...

Me: Are there any creases on the card?
seller: I am not a professional grader and therefore am not qualified to render an opinion as to the condition of this card. Please see the scan.
Me: But telling me if there are creases isn't "grading", it's stating a fact.
seller: I am not a professional grader and therefore am not qualified to render an opinion as to the condition of this card. Please see the scan.
me: In the scan, it appears as if there may be a crease in the lower left quadrant of the card. Can you confirm or deny the existance of a crease in that location?
seller: I am not a professional grader and therefore am not qualified to render an opinion as to the condition of this card. Please see the scan.
me: The scan is small and blurry, can you post a higher-res scan?
seller: The scan provided is sufficient. I will not be providing additional scans.

Me: What's your return policy?
seller: no returns.


The seller then got pissed when I asked him if he knew of any alterations done to the card and gave me a "HOW DARE YOU!!!" response and told me that he blocked me for wasting his time. LOL.

cardbender

Not sure if ebay should require grades on raw cards, but I do grade each
raw card or lot I list for sale on ebay. I try to align my grading with PSA's
standards. It's really not that hard to do. I point out hidden flaws too.

I've never had a return on a raw card yet, but have had them on graded cards. Go figure.

Estil

Please tell me all that is an early April Fool's joke.

handyman

Should we then ask a grading company to grade cards 100% accuarte? Is that even possible?

WalterSobchak

Another reason why not is that many people selling cards would have no idea how to grade them. They just want to get them out of the house.

digicat

Heck, even if you do decide to use your "amateur" grading skills, people will complain. A few years ago I sold a chrome rookie card of a guy who was popular for that given week that I judged to be nm/mt. A guy bought it, and as soon as it got in his hands, he complained that the card would probably not get a BGS 9.5 if he submitted it.

WalterSobchak

<< <i>Heck, even if you do decide to use your "amateur" grading skills, people will complain. A few years ago I sold a chrome rookie card of a guy who was popular for that given week that I judged to be nm/mt. A guy bought it, and as soon as it got in his hands, he complained that the card would probably not get a BGS 9.5 if he submitted it. >>


Sounds like he agreed with you!

digicat

<< <i>Sounds like he agreed with you! >>



First he wanted to return it, saying that he thought he was getting a gem mint card. I pointed out that I called the card nm/mt, not gem mint. He ended up keeping it, but obviously he didn't pay attention to the listing description.