Posted By:
John J. GrilloIMO the analogy below is weak. Washing a car is an "accepted" practice. Just because someone washes a car (before they sell to me) I wouldn't expect to pay more for it. Vintage cards that have been altered/cleaned are done so for one purpose in mind...to "significantly" increase the value, to trick or deceive a buyer that a card has been kept in meticulous condition all these years when it has not.
A better analogy is buying a car that has been in an accident but has a new paint job/body work to cover up the damage. This is information I would want to know about before I buy.
"Nice dodge. Unlike you I will not dodge your question. Once again you are trying to lump "cleaning" in to all forms therein. My opinion, is the same as many others on the topic and unlike you I will not put words in anybody's mouth. But, I think it is not unethical to clean my car before I sell it without disclosing the cleaing. I also don't it is required to disclose that a piece of dirt was removed from a baseball card."