Should Seller Reimburse Buyer For Grading Fees?

[Ladder7]

Grading is subjective. I submitted a pack-fresh card from a sealed box and unquestionable dealer five years ago. The skittish grader returned it 'Trimmed". I later resub'd and received a 9. It's all a crap shoot.

As far as refunding., This buyer rolled the dice hoping you'd cave. If he truly felt you wronged him, you would've been Neg'd.

IMO, To best protect excellent feedback, sellers should only sell holdered cards.

[barrysloate]

Because the card came back trimmed it wouldn't be a bad idea to reimburse the buyer. Nobody likes to purchase a card and then discover later it was trimmed. Even if you are not technically obligated to pay his grading fees, I feel in this case you are buying some good will by doing so.

[JamesGallo]

I once bought a card that turned out to be trimmed and was in the same position. The seller refused to pay me back the grading fees if I returned the card. That being said I kept the card for several reasons.

Anyway to answer your question I would need more information.

If I understand this correctly, you gave him all his money back and let him keep the card? If that is the case I would assume that it was not a very expensive card. In this case I think you should not be held responsible for the grading fees as the buyer pretty much got a free card.

If the card was being returned to you and it was coming backed slabbed then I think you should have paid the grading fees. As far as shipping to the grading company as well I think that in on the buyer as it is unlikely he sent in 1 single card and therefore adding the shipping for 1 card really wouldn't matter.

I would also agree that unless you stated the card was trimmed I would assume a rare card by a known dealer would be unaltered.

Anyway just my thoughts based on the info I have now.

James G

[steve B]

Here's how the stamp auction places handle it. Expertising is a notch down from grading in most cases, but recently they have begun including grades for an extra fee. This policy is from Apfelbaum, but most of the auction places use a similar policy.

The short of it is - They refund purchase price only, and have to be informed in writing before the auction that it will be sent of for expertising.

EACH LOT IS SOLD AS GENUINE BUT WHEN IN THE OPINION OF ANY COMPETENT AUTHORITY MUTUALLY ACCEPTABLE TO US AND THE PURCHASER (A "MUTUALLY ACCEPTED AUTHORITY”) THE LOT IS DECLARED OTHERWISE, THE PURCHASE PRICE WILL BE REFUNDED IN FULL; PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT ADVANCE WRITTEN NOTICE OF INTENTION TO SEND FOR EXPERTIZATION MUST BE SUBMITTED BY BUYER BEFORE THE SALE AND EITHER (i) THE LOT IS RECEIVED BY US WITHIN A PERIOD OF FOUR WEEKS AFTER THE DATE OF THE AUCTION, OR (ii) WHERE AN OPINION IS NOT EXPECTED WITHIN FOUR WEEKS, WRITTEN NOTIFICATION THAT THE LOT HAS BEEN SUBMITTED FOR AN OPINION IS RECEIVED BY US WITHIN THIS PERIOD. ALL EXPENSES INCURRED SHALL BE BORNE BY THE PURCHASER WHETHER OR NOT THE ITEM IS DECLARED GENUINE OR NOT GENUINE OR NOT AS DESCRIBED.

Steve

[drdduet]

Did the buyer alter the card and then send it in to get graded. I'm afraid this is happening more than we notice.

Make good scans and detailed measurements prior to sending card to a buyer who intends to get a card graded. It sucks when you sell a card to a buyer who power erases a pencil mark or trims the card and then the card only gets an authentic grade and the buyer wants a refund.

[kmac32]

Depends on how you listed the card. If you guaranteed that it would get a grade other than authentic the yes on the grading fees, otherwise no.

[GoldenAge50s]

I think the Seller did all he was obligated to do. As long as nothing in the auction implied the card would Third Party grade, why should a Seller be held responsible for what a Buyer does w/ a card after the tranny is completed?

What if Buyer got a 6 & was expecting a 7?---is that grounds for wanting his fee back? How far can one expect to take a sale?

I say he did as much, or more, than required.

[egbeachley]

I disagree with Steve. Buyer got a discount because it was raw. He would not have sent you extra cash if it graded well.

Plus what if it was a $2 card and he expected $15 in grading fees back. Or a $100 card and he spent $100+ for express service? Or maybe it did grade, but lower than expected and put it in those non-slabbed authentic holders.

[teetwoohsix]

I've seen sellers make a statement to the effect of"I am not a grader,have not sent these cards to be graded,and don't know how or if they will grade",or something to that effect.I can see how this could make the buyer hesitant,but it also clears the seller in a situation like this-JMO

I feel the grading fees are a hit that the buyer takes upon himself in any situation where he/she sends ANY raw card to be graded-and this,my friends,is why I prefer to only buy slabbed cards(by a reputable slabber)....

[Jacklitsch]

J. Owen Wilson 1911 T205 Gold Border sold for less than $20 including shipping. Basically a beater.

Seller's description:

"See the scan for the condition of this card.

Please look at the scan carefully. Scan does not always pick up the flaws. If you have any additional questions regarding the condition of the card, please EMail me and I'll do my best to answer your questions."

In this particular instance, now that I've seen the card, I might be inclined to tell the buyer no. But, with that said, looking at the seller's 20,000+ 100% feedback; over 5,500 in the last year alone, it might have been worth it to eat the grading fee. Couldn't have been much more than $8 or so. That single gray feedback is a blemish to what is otherwise a perfect record.

Not worth it IMO.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Jacklitsch

J. Owen Wilson 1911 T205 Gold Border sold for less than $20 including shipping. Basically a beater.

Seller's description:

"See the scan for the condition of this card.

Please look at the scan carefully. Scan does not always pick up the flaws. If you have any additional questions regarding the condition of the card, please EMail me and I'll do my best to answer your questions."

In this particular instance, now that I've seen the card, I might be inclined to tell the buyer no. But, with that said, looking at the seller's 20,000+ 100% feedback; over 5,500 in the last year alone, it might have been worth it to eat the grading fee. Couldn't have been much more than $8 or so. That single gray feedback is a blemish to what is otherwise a perfect record.

Not worth it IMO.

Ebay's feedback system is totally flawed. I was speaking with a good friend very recently. He is someone we all know and I have never, ever heard anyone in the whole hobby say one bad word about him. He has at least 15000 perfect feedback. NO neutrals, no negs....perfect. Recently someone stiffed him on 5 ebay auctions. Knowing he couldn't give a negative, not that he would have, he asked his ebay account manager if he could let other people know, in the remarks section of the feedback place, about this guy renegging. The account manager said yes he could but the guy that didn't pay could give him 5 negatives if he does AND HE DIDN'T even pay for the lots he won. On this point I have to agree with Steve, even though I disagree with the whole extortion (that's what ebay makes it be, in reality) situation. I would give back $10 to not worry about a neg.....but I absolutely see folks not wanting to do that. I just have so many other issues it's not worth $10 for me to dwell on it......

[Buythatcard]

Just a few facts about this transaction.

Cost of card was $30.00 plus $2.50 S/H fees.

Buyer wanted the above costs refunded plus $2.50 for shipping it back even though he paid $1.22 plus he wanted $11.00 for the grading fees.

I refunded $33.72 which included the cost of the card plus S/H fees that I charged him plus $1.22 for the shipping costs he paid for. He wanted $46.00. He returned the card to me.

I was considering paying back the grading fees until he tried to make an extra buck off me on the return shipping costs. I know its a small amount but its just a matter of principle.

To top things off, the neutral feedback that he left was for another card that he won. It wasn't even the one he sent to have graded.

I send off all this info to eBay. Lets see what they have to say about. I'll probably get a computer generated email.

Thanks for all of your opinions.

[sportscardtheory]

No WAY should you have to pay the grading fees. Just like anything you buy in life, you bought what you bought and that's it. He didn't buy a card with a graded guarantee, he bought a raw card. I would have eBay take down the feedback as he was trying to extort you for more money.

[jbbama]

Grading was his choice, as dissapointed as he may be, that isn't your fault. You did right by him in my book. (unless you gauranteed it to grade)