How Important is an Auction Lot's Description

[Exhibitman]

IMHO it matters and the buyer should have the option for a refund when the auctioneer is specific on a subject and there is no way for the buyer to know otherwise. In this case, the card is plainly labeled by SGC as an 1887. If I was looking at the lot and being told it is an 1890 by the auctioneer I'd want a guarantee it crosses to an 1890 holder, but the discrepancy is so obvious that I'd ask before I bid rather than bid on the assumption that SGC is wrong.

I suppose the converse question should be asked: is the auctioneer entitled to cancel a sale when the auction description is wrong and results in a rare card being sold as a common version? Isn't that the moral equivalent? And how often do people make posts here about great deals gotten on Ebay from ignorant sellers? Should those sellers be allowed to cancel those sales if they discover their mistakes?

[Joe_G.]

That auction description is poor and misleading on several levels, perhaps the worst I have ever seen. Kelly does have a batting pose that is considered tougher than the others but it isn't this pose. Kelly's toughest batting pose is his Script Series example in which he appears to be left handed (negative reversed).

The card for auction is without a doubt Kelly's most common pose by a significant margin. Most of Kelly's cards were only issued in 1886/87 but this pose was issued and re-issued numerous times through 1890.

254-5 Bat at ready at 45deg, R/handed
a. $10,000 Kelly (A6)
b. Kelly, C., Boston (Fc)
c. Kelly, C. Bostons (Fc)
d. Kelly, Boston (Fc script, G)
e. Kelly, Boston (PL) (Fc)
f. "Mike Kelly, C. Boston's" (G)

If the buyer was influenced by the description, I'd say he/she has every right to back out of the deal.