Start preparing: New coin condition requirements coming to eBay
Rc5280
Posts: 1,342 ✭✭✭✭✭
This is an email (in quotes below) that I got today and I'm sure I'm not alone. Probably not a big deal in the overall, but anyway...
I'm wondering about the part regarding "For ungraded coins". How are they supposed to enforce that one?
Will a buyer have grounds for an easy out of the transaction buy simply disagreeing with the stated "condition category" the seller had chosen for the coin? ... Thoughts?
"Hello Rick，
We’re introducing standardized Condition requirements for Coins on eBay — designed to help you build buyer trust, improve visibility, and achieve stronger prices for your inventory.
What’s changing?
When listing coins in the categories below, you’ll now use structured condition details instead of relying on item specifics to describe condition:
• 253 – Coins: US
• 256 – Coins: World
• 3377 – Coins: Canada
• 4733 – Coins: Ancient
• 18466 – Coins: Medieval
For graded coins:
You’ll need to include:
→ Grading company
→ Grade (letter + numeric) (required)
→ Certification number (optional)
For ungraded coins:
You’ll select from clear, standardized condition categories, such as:
→ Uncirculated
→ Extremely Fine to About Uncirculated
→ Fine to Very Fine
→ Below Fine
Why this matters for you
This update creates a more consistent buying experience and makes your listings easier to compare and discover.
• Sell with more confidence → Buyers trust standardized condition
• Get discovered faster → Improved search and filtering
• Achieve better value → Clearer condition drives stronger pricing
Key dates to know
From early May – You’ll start seeing reminders in the listing flow
Early June – New listings must include condition requirements
Early July – Existing listings must be updated with condition requirements
Listings without condition data may be blocked or hidden after these dates.
What you should do now
1. Start using the new condition options when creating listings
2. Review and update your existing listings
3. If you use third-party tools or integrations, ensure they’re ready for these changes
Need help?
If you have questions or need support, visit help link.
This update is designed to make it easier for buyers to trust what they see — and for you to get the full value of what you sell.
Sincerely,
The eBay Team"
Comments
What are the standardized condition options? The ones shown appear to be examples only.
If you've got a couple of thousand items in your store, editing each individually is no small thing.
Coins & Paper Money
Uncirculated: The coin shows no signs of wear from circulation. All design details are sharp and fully intact, with most or all original mint luster preserved. Only minor handling marks from minting or storage may be visible
Extremely Fine to About Uncirculated: The coin has very light wear, typically limited to the highest points of the design. Most details remain sharp, and some original luster may still be visible, especially in protected areas
Fine to Very Fine: The coin exhibits moderate, even wear from circulation. Major design elements are still clearly visible, but finer details are softened or partially worn away. Little to no luster remains
Below Fine: The coin shows heavy wear from extensive circulation. Major and minor design elements may be faint or missing, and key details like the date or inscriptions can be difficult to read
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/creating-managing-listings/item-conditions-category?id=4765
Better to trust too much and occasionally get burned rather than be a miserable old curmudgeon always lamenting on the foils and folly of eBay.
I'm a small-fry, as I have an occasional raw and a few slabs for sale fairly regularly, but I get your point for sure.
Maybe this is where eBay's new coin "experts" will be going?
"Photograde enforcement patrol" lol...
Not gonna happen. There are over 2 million listings in the US Coins category. Anybody want to estimate how much time/how many "experts" would be required to grade them all? And do it over and over again as new items are listed?
If you have half a brain, you won't get burned. Too many ebay protections.
I will...AGREE!!!
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
The problem is people listing problem coins but selecting uncirculated in the details. I don’t see the new rules changing that.
so, does this eliminate / take away the differences / confusions of grading between a number of TPG's?
which one will they believe?
OR will the responsibility of grade / condition soley be with the respective TPG and their guaranties?
I think all this Feebay quabble was written by 2 AI's who were looking for emp;lyment????
We will have to agree to AGREE.
A grade (letter and numeric) will be required for graded coins. How would one list details coins or those labeled genuine in TPG holders?
There is already a drop down for special notations.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
So say someone is looking to list a coin like this one in June. What grade would they select in the drop-down?
fine to very fine
surely eBay could use AI to roughly grade the coin pictures in such large grading groups. They would not need an army of enforcers although they may piss off many sellers if they start frequently cancelling BINs or auctions.
If it were listed raw, then yes fine to very fine would work, but to list it as a PCGS slabbed coin it seems that one will have to select a letter and numeric grade.
I posted this copied offer almost two years ago.
It languishes despite the falsity and the price.
Time is criterion that they don’t use to discriminate offers.
Fine then details, i would assume. I don't know. Or maybe just details. I really don't see the problem.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
I really don't get this because most people with the 80% of junk on there - details/damaged will just list it as a higher grade to try for a better sale - and there's no real downside to doing so?
All for Ebay to have more item metrics in the listings?
'Fine' or 'details' will not be an option for slabbed coins in the near future, they must have a letter and numeric grade selected.
Many of the biggest numismatic sellers in my state, CT, do not indicate grade levels on raw coins to avoid an "item not as described" case. I don't know whether there is any advantage to listing an item with a grade level.
You're being far too literal with the email which is just a summary. They might also simply count as ungraded. Time will tell.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
I always specify a grade on raw coins. I've never had a complaint.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
There is already a required item specific for "Uncirculated" or "Circulated" for US coins. That doesn't stop people from selecting the wrong one, and adding more grade levels to select from will not be an improvement.
MS60, XF40 etc
I can see a can of "item not as described" worms happening here for sellers.
Sellers will need to add some additional info/FYI's/disclaimers in the "Condition:" / "seller notes" section of their listings?
Hopefully zero feedback sellers will still be able to list damaged 1965 cents as No Mint Mark RARE ERROR Penny for $600,000.
Fortunately they are not closing the door on uncertified coins and notes which all the major auction companies require.
No dog in this hunt, but my guess no substantive change other than the extra hassle imposed on some sellers.
Currently on eBay, Item Specifics say "Uncirculated"...
This kind of stuff has been listed all along so I'm guessing the number of "Not as described" claims won't increase significantly. Aside from making work for sellers with current listings that need to be updated, probably not much else will change.
People overestimate this. I have free returns. I get less than 5 per year on approximately 2000 sales.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
It's an improvement over selecting "Brand New" or "Like New" as a condition which is what they currently have.
I'm just hoping they let us accurate reflect the grade and have all permutations, but I bet they won't.
Such as MS66RD, PR69DCAM, MS67FB, MS65DMPL, MS66FS. Don't lump my DMPL Morgans in with your plebian non-reflective specimens!
Prediction: Nothing will stop people from listing their coins using any of those permutations regardless of what's on the label.
Well, we'll see what happens. Sounds like somewhat of a nothing burger from the veterans (aside from the updating work) here.
I take great care/pride in the accurate presentation of my listings, so I have no problem with this.
It's kind of sad seeing all of the bogus, fake, and inaccurate listings out there.
The only > @jmlanzaf said:
I do too. I rarely have complaints either, had maybe maybe 3 returns in 500 transactions, (I do miss hairlines or subtle problems now and then). If you know how to grade and take decent photos that helps minimize complaints and returns.
So when you list a coin, in the new dropdown box for grading service, you can choose from various "third world" slabs (such as PCI). So has ebay allowed them back, or can you just describe the slab but not a numerical grade?
Coin Grading is Subjective...just put in the listing that the buyer needs to look at the pictures because that is part of the description.
When it first started, it still wouldn't let me put a numerical grade on a PCI slab. I haven't tried recently.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
That doesn't help with the search function.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
I'm looking forward to this for help with basic sorting. If I know I'm looking for a coin in mint state condition today, I can't simply select uncirculated checkbox and hope I get everything I need to look at since too many sellers will not select even the basics so I have to wade through hundreds or more listings where the coins are nowhere near what I want. Once this search goes live, I'll be at least able to go through the listings that the seller marked their opinion grade on and pick out what I need. I only need their opinion to help with weeding out the listings that I have zero interest in.
Good luck with that. It's true that sellers will have to select a range of grades (Uncirculated, AU to XF, VF to F or Under F) but there's no way to confirm the grade of the coin actually matches what was selected at the time of listing. All eBay is doing is making sure the seller selects something from the list.
eBay has required sellers to select "Circulated" or "Uncirculated" for a long time now and plenty of sellers don't even get that right. It's highly unlikely that more refined grading ranges will result in more accurate searches.
I don't doubt that you're right but my hope is this will show me less results to weed through.
I don't care what the seller claims the grade to be. I will be the judge of that but if this takes away 10, 20, 30 or more percent of results I don't even care to see, it's a win in my book.
Time will tell.
I listed almost 20 coins this weekend, and I liked it because it felt faster. One of them was uncertified, and I really didn't have a problem with the condition selections.