More on the subject of seller/auction house scans

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by nolemmings

Did they have an obligation to carefully examine these cards and change their settings to show the defects or at least point them out in the descriptions? What is a “good representative scan” as you call it, and did the sellers of my two Bakers fail to provide those here in your opinion?

The last thing I would ever do is take up for Probstein, but I think the answer to your first question is no, they don't have the obligation to carefully examine each card. There just simply isn't enough time for dealers to do that (especially large volume dealers). If the card is graded, you have to hope the TPG did their job. I think it all goes back to what James said in post #3. If you buy a card that is graded a 3, 4 or 5 and it looks more like a 5, 6 or 7, you have to assume it has some kind of flaw (that the scanner may or may not have picked up) and that is the reason for the low technical grade. That said, if they see a hidden flaw as they're scanning it, yes they should make mention of it, but I don't think they should have to scrutinize graded cards for hidden flaws as that's what the TPG is paid to do.

There are times when you just can't make a known wrinkle appear in a scan, no matter the scanner or who is scanning it...and sometimes can only see that wrinkle when you only hold it at a certain angle in the light. I just don't think dealers should have to do that with graded cards. What if they did scrutinize each card and still accidentally overlooked a wrinkle? Is it really their fault? In the cases with the Bakers, they are graded accurately (IMO).

I've sold cards (even here on the B/S/T) where the scanner did not pick up certain flaws (such as wrinkles). In such cases, I've tried adjusting the settings and re-scanning the cards (sometimes even multiple times) to make the flaws more visible, but sometimes it just can't be done with a scanner...and I'm certainly not going to waste 15 minutes or more to scan one card. In that case, I try to make mention of those flaws, but could I have missed a few at times? Certainly.

The answer to your second question is a “good representative scan” shows the card's true colors (whether you have to adjust the scanner settings to do this or not, but not enhanced to make it brighter or to mislead the buyer). If the two Bakers were scanned with no adjustments to the settings, then they provided good quality scans (IMO).

Are your scans better than their scans? Certainly. But you may have a better scan than they do. But just because you have better scans doesn't mean that it's anything they did wrong.