let's not get too self-righteous here

[Archive]

Posted By: runscott

You have to use your common sense and deal with the auction houses you trust. We know, for instance, that Leland's does not have the expertise to judge if cards are trimmed - well, if you buy from them I wouldn't want to hear any crying afterward. And if you buy an "ex" lot from a major auction house and it ends up getting an average grade of "vg", well, we all know that grading is somewhat objective, so tuff luck. If you buy from Festberg I feel that you deserve whatever you get. If you buy from Verkman, you already know there is a good chance that "EX" really means that the bottom 1/8" of the card will be missing.

But if you buy a card from Lipset or Mastro and it has damage that you could not have seen in the scan and that is inconsistent with the grade they gave it (affects it my more than one grade), I'm sure they would work with you. If not, though, you could certainly mark them off your list and chalk it up to experience. I've personally been burned by two auction houses, had a slightly unpleasant experience from a third, and had nothing but acceptable experiences with all the rest. If you don't play the game, you will never get burned, but you will also miss out on a lot of fun.