Battersbox ebay seller question on condition
 

Hi folks,

I'm on my Gil Hodges career run hunt for topps and bowman cards and I see Battersbox sells a ton of raw nice looking cards. Some of them look great and are listed in vg-ex condition. You can see the corners aren't perfect they're sometimes a bit oc I would agree the cards are ex looking usually. However they use this paragraph in the description of every card-


Please note if a card looks too nice for the grade that we have applied, there is a reason why. We can not possibly explain every flaw in the title on 250,000+ cards, but they are graded accurately. It is not realistic to expect a card that looks NM in the scan to be NM if we grade it VG-EX or lower,not to have a crease, wrinkle or some other problem.

A few cards they have I'm looking at do look like nice excellent cards that they say are vg-ex. And the price seems very fair. But I'm concerned I'll get them and they will have obvious creases that scans don't show, which is unfortunately extremely common on eBay with raw cards. How can they expect somebody to buy a card with that paragraph? These aren't $1 commons I'm looking at. I would think they would list if a hofer card from the 50s is creased or not.

I think people take GM for granted, the simple fact they say crease in the title makes me honestly bid with them much more than expected.

Please let me know your experience. Thanks

I’ve bought a lot of raw cards from them building my 52 Topps set and 54 set. They’ve all been accurate to pictures from my experience and it’s cheaper when you buy directly from the website off eBay.

Thank you I appreciate the insight and the tip

Their grading is accurate based on cards I have bought from them over the years to complete sets. They basically put that disclaimer in to cover them if they flat out miss something when grading the card which I am sure happens from time to time.

Thank you for the testimony! Appreciated

Never had an issue with them on Ebay, over the phone, or saying hi at their booth at the National. They also offer returns so if you aren't happy with any of the cards you can send them back.

I've bought from them, the raw cards might not cross grade for grade to PSA with their current 6 is the new 8 system, but they seem accurate enough.

Thanks for the all the replies. I bought a card from them 😄. They seem to be doing a free shipping promo of some kind (my card was free shipping on eBay) so it actually ended up cheaper to buy on eBay vs their website. I will report back when it arrives!

I've bought plenty of cards from them over the years, and I've always been happy with how they grade their cards and their prices. If you get a card you don't think matches what you saw in the pictures, you can always return it with no problems. The same card is priced cheaper on their website than on eBay, but on their website, you have to order at least $100 to get free shipping. On eBay, it's a lower amount from what I remember, so if you're just buying q few cards, it may end up cheaper on eBay.

seller
 

Battersbox..always good with me

Never had a problem with BB cards and the condition they are described in. In the past when I have had questions, the email I send will sometimes be answered with a phone call. Very solid organization, IMO.

I like dealing with these nice folks but you have to take their grading with a grain of salt, instead using the scans provided to make your own determinations.

Their note you mentioned regarding there being a reason why a nice looking card seems undergraded should be taken into consideration, however. Other grades, not so much in my experience. I generally concur with their raw grades about 70% of the time. Not terrible, I guess, but these are for raw grades only and not to be held up against PSA's grading system (whatever that might be at any given moment).

I do find them to be far too generous on grading when it comes to o/c cards, but are pleasantly strict when it comes to fairly assigning very low grades to cards that would otherwise look really great if not for something like a small tape stain on the back. I think we're all tired of nearly everyone else overgrading such cards, but these guys don't!




j̜̬̺̆̓̓̾͝͡ơ̷̦̝̟̺̯̈͞_͇̜̳͙̭̏ͩ̓͗̐ͤ̀͌̌d̡̛̟̫̣͇̂ͮͧ̈́̇͝͡ ̴̡̹͕̪͍͚̻̾̀͋͛̿ͤi̷̷̠̦̯̞̜̪͕̭̖͛̀̐ͯͮͮ̾́͌̅̋̇͞ͅ ḃ̴̧̢͙̼̦͚̜͉̱̳̝͓͙́ͦ̑͗̀̓ͭ̉͐̽̅̕͢͡i̧͖̭̹̯̝̜̤̺̓̋̏̀̄ͪ͂ͪ̓̌ ̷̶͙̗̫̣̖̜̐ͥ̄̎ͧ̍̏́ͮ͜͜͝r̫̔̏͌k̹͙ͪͪ̎̍͢_̴̶̡̪̜͕͈͔͛ͤͩ̾̌ͯ̚͞ ̷̬̭̩͚̑̑̍́ͮ̉ͬͫ͠ḩ̴̛̭̲͓͓͚̱͓̣̳͕̺ͩ̌́ͣ̏̒͑̋̐̉͐͋̔͛̿́͘͘͞͡͞ ͎̦̈̑͒̓ͅo̵͇͕̳ͤ̄̋̈̔̔l̴͖̖͉̺ͩ̉̈́͡m̨̧̘͔̫̹͖̎͐ͫ̆̂͗̅̓̕ ̹_̚

Likely not so, since PA is charged sales tax on eBay and there's none when ordering through the site.

This is consistent with my experience. I’ve bought probably a couple dozen cards from them over the last 5 years and have never been disappointed with the cards or their service. Their grades have been fine by a “reasonable person” standard, if probably not exactly in line with PSA’s “tough guy” flexing.

Happy to be able to post pictures again! Here is a card I got from TBB a few years back. They graded it VG-EX.

As an aside, Willie May (Mae?) is the name of Deputy Chief Johnson's mama in The Closer.

Nice card, but there was no need to incorporate the letters "EX" into the equation with that corner crease. Very, very mildly VG tops. You clearly saw the card and could assess the grade yourself before buying, so no harm done. Unless this was 1985, I don't think any potential buyer would have thought it graded VG/EX. Perhaps a PSA 2 these days? Maybe some grader might be more generous given the centering? (Not that I care about slabbed cards, but just a guess on where they would be by this particular nanosecond's grading standards).

Actually didn't think of that. I ended up paying about 25 cents over what it would've been on the site. However, I checked out in a single click and didn't have to fill in any info or log into any payment providers like paypal. So I'd say those 25 cents even back out in my case.

I have dealt with them many times over many years and have had nothing but great experiences with them, consistently honest graders, my go to for building sets.

I've bought many cards from them, and I've always been satisfied. Their service is top-notch.

I have bought lots of cards from them both vintage football and baseball and have always found their grading to be accurate and consistent. I also like the prompt service and getting the cards in the mail quickly. If you are building sets look on their website for the discount on commons. 10% off purchases of $100 or more on commons.

Agreed. TBB graders can be optomistic.

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk

I agree with all of this. BattersBox is a great source for raw cards in particular. They might not grade quite to PSA’s newly created standards, but are way more consistent than PSA, with none of the drama or shenanigans (polite word for BS).