Your experience bidding on poorly photographed Ebay cards
 

At the risk of calling attention to a card I am thinking of bidding on Ebay, I wonder what other’s experience and advice is when the card photo looks a little “off”

It looks like the card I am interested in is just on very low contrast because the card image colors look pretty dull… but as a friend of mine smartly pointed out, the white in the grading company tag looks equally washed out. I just wonder if the seller just has a low contrast photo and it all may look much brighter in hand.

I reached out to the seller to ask if he’d be willing to share additional images of the card. I was disappointed that he told me that he was not able to do this and that the image on eBay was an accurate reflection of the card, color, etc.

I’m a bit torn now. The other aspects of the car look great. Centering, corners, registration, etc.

But I can’t decide if it’s worth the risk to not know how bright the colors are live and in person.

Wondering how others have dealt with this when chasing a card like this?

Thanks, Looking forward to hearing your own experience.

Jeff.

Its always tempting to bid/buy but I would not risk it

I would contact the seller thru the ebay contact and ask them to email you or post better quality pictures

If he does not or cannot not that I move on to something else

What Jeff said.

If a listing has poor photos I generally assume they are trying to hide something.

I have had eBay buyers ask for different or additional photos many times--and I always do it--it is super easy and you have a possible buyer!

Either they are trying to hide something or are just so grumpy that you wouldn't want them to have your money anyway!

Sometimes there are poorly photographed SGC cards, and if you can get the Cert. # from the seller, you can look it up on SGC's website and get a better look from the "seller ready" pictures there. Of course, that won't show any damage to the slab that may have occurred, but you can always get a new slab.

If I cannot see a cards front and back clearly, then I move on. If the person does not have the time to do that simple thing on eBay, I don't have the time for what they are offering.

Butch

Risky but
 

Is there a return policy ? This may help you decide….. but no question you are playing a gambling game …. there’s sellers on the internet that prey on people trying to get a “bargain” so tread carefully my friend!!

Net54 never fails to help! Thx lads!! Such good advice here… love the SGC cert # idea.

Will try that next!

Jeff

I’ve bought several poorly listed or photographed items on eBay - and it’s always paid off. Some examples:

I got a box full of boxing T cards for $500 because the seller stated there were several hundred but only showed like 40 of them. With eBay’s return policy, it was a 0 risk buy. Turned out to be like 1,100 cards.

I bought a lot with a T206 Brown Cubs on Shirt, an OM southern Leaguer with name at top, and a T220 silver boxer for less than $15 because the photos were so grainy it was difficult to make out which card was which and it was in the wrong category. Again, with eBay’s return policy, no risk.

I bought some uncut T card panels for less than 1% of their value because they were listed as “old reprints”. That risk was on me, not eBay, if I was wrong in assessing they were probably authentic, but the low price made the risk very low.

Bought a gorgeous and colorful Turkey Red card that looked dull and washed out because of the scan. The slip helped me ascertain that the card was almost certainly not how it looked in the scan. Bit of a dice roll, but paid off, got it for under value.

Knowing what eBay’s return policy will cover helps mitigate risk. The first 2 examples here, were 0 risk because eBay would have quickly refunded me. The bottom two were low risk, but a little bit of risk, and the last mirrors the OP situation.

A few years ago, a seller listed a lot of four signed cards that included a tough one I needed for my 1953 Topps project. The photo was terrible (I could barely see the signatures, much less make an assessment of them) but at the listing price I figured it was worth a shot. It ended up working out; the signatures were all good, and I landed them for a fraction of what they would have gone for with better pictures.

Most of my best buys on Ebay have been poorly listed and/or with poor images.

I've had a couple that weren't great, but overall way more good ones than bad. I may just be good at seeing what's there.

Yeah, I think that's the key. If you bought every out of focus card on ebay it wouldn't be a good strategy. If you know enough to be able pick out the lots where the seller doesn't know what he's got, I expect you can get some really good deals.

This!
 

Perfectly stated!

I've gotten a few bargains on poorly photographed cards that turned out to be quite nice. It's definitely a risk, though.