Ebay Authentication is a Comical JOKE.

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by Gorditadogg

John, the main point of Ebay's authentication program for graded cards, probably 99% of it, is just to make sure the card they get from the seller is the same as the listing.

There used to be a fair amount of scammers who would sell a PSA 5 Mantle and deliver instead a graded Greg Jeffries card, or an empty box. There were also a few buyers who would actually get a PSA 5 Mantle from a legitimate seller, but claim they got an empty box.

Ebay's resolution service was very busy trying to sort through these claims. It can be difficult in some cases to decide who is lying. Since Ebay began the authentication program, most of these issues have gone away. If a seller sends that Greg Jeffries card to PSA, it gets sent back and nobody hears about it. But I suspect that is a rare occurrence anymore.

Now, I suspect the PSA graders doing the authentication for Ebay have very little to do when they get a graded card, so maybe this one grader looked at Dan's case a little too closely.

There was also I think a big story a couple years ago about someone putting cards in fake PSA flips and selling them. Do you remember that one? I'm not sure if that was an Ebay issue or not, my recollection is they were being sold at a card show.

As for raw cards, I doubt your raw EX-MT cards would be rejected, as long as they weren't creased or heavily worn. I think on the raw side PSA is mostly checking to see if the card is authentic, is the same one as shown in the listing and is described fairly.

Thanks Al. I'm aware of what the point of the program is.

I have not tried out the authentication experience with raw cards as a seller, but had heard some horror stories of ostensibly inexperienced authenticators issuing rejections based on holding raw sellers to super critical standards. My point in discussing the raw was that I think it's not good if because of such experiences, raw sellers are more likely to disclose less (i.e. not list a condition range at all...) on such listings.

[Gorditadogg]

Originally Posted by jchcollins

Thanks Al. I'm aware of what the point of the program is.

I have not tried out the authentication experience with raw cards as a seller, but had heard some horror stories of ostensibly inexperienced authenticators issuing rejections based on holding raw sellers to super critical standards. My point in discussing the raw was that I think it's not good if because of such experiences, raw sellers are more likely to disclose less (i.e. not list a condition range at all...) on such listings.

When you put up a card for sale on Ebay, you need to list the condition as either:

Near mint or better: Comparable to a fresh pack
Excellent: Has clearly visible signs of wear
Very good: Has moderate-to-heavy damage all over
Poor: Is extremely worn and displays flaws all over

When you sell a card over $250, it goes to PSA for review. I imagine their review standards are comparable to their grading standards, but with a bit more tolerance. For instance, if you pop a PSA 4 out of its slab and sell it on Ebay as Excellent, I bet it would pass the review.

On the other hand, if you list a card as Near Mint and it has surface issues, be prepared for it to be rejected.

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by Gorditadogg

When you put up a card for sale on Ebay, you need to list the condition as either:

Near mint or better: Comparable to a fresh pack
Excellent: Has clearly visible signs of wear
Very good: Has moderate-to-heavy damage all over
Poor: Is extremely worn and displays flaws all over

This is not the same thing as listing a card condition like NM or EX or VG, however. There are radio buttons to do this on ebay and they more or less insinuate what you are saying. But as a card person, "Excellent" in their definition here doesn't have much to do with card condition. This is my problem with the system. It's not clear from eBay's perspective what is intended here really - as the same condition choices exist for electronics as they do sports cards.

[Gorditadogg]

Originally Posted by jchcollins

This is not the same thing as listing a card condition like NM or EX or VG, however. There are radio buttons to do this on ebay and they more or less insinuate what you are saying. But as a card person, "Excellent" in their definition here doesn't have much to do with card condition. This is my problem with the system. It's not clear from eBay's perspective what is intended here really - as the same condition choices exist for electronics as they do sports cards.

Yeah, the basic Poor/Good/Excellent/Mint grading scale can apply to a lot of things. I expect the PSA graders base their review on their standards for card grading and then give some leeway from there.