Posted By:
davidcyclebackNot concerning this partcular dispute, I think authenticity should be guaranteed for life-- with the caviat that if a buyer takes four years to return a 1969T Willie Mays he shouldn't be suprised if the seller rememebers neither the card nor the buyer. For a four year wait on a 69T Mays, the buyer should keep the the receipt and a convincing argument he is returning the same card.
For condition, the return period can reasonably be much shorter, even a week, as any collector can make a reasonable judgment of the condition. When he receives it, the buyer can inspect the card, judge if the condition matches the advertised description and decide whether or not to keep it. If the buyer and the seller agree on grade, what's to argue? ... Now, if there was a seller's guarantee that the card would professionally grade at a certain grade, that would be different.
For alteration, which sort of falls between grade and authenticty, the period should be in between, much closer to grading. While a seller should refund for undescribed alterations, it's fair for a seller to be paranoid about what did or did not happen to card since the five years he sold it.
It should be noted that most arguments are settled beforehand when the authenticity/return period is stated as part of the sales description. Stating the terms saves problems for both the buyer and the seller. While my ideal guarantee is that authenticity is guaranteed until infitity, if an eBay seller states the buyer has a finite time to get it authenticated by a grader I have no argument with their policy.