[JeffreyQ]

I'm trying to complete a 1950 Bowman baseball set by buying a few cards from eBay.

I've been completely mystified by "conditional grading" standards.

Here's a Vintage Card "grading game" designed to present just how arbitrary conditionally grading cards can be.

Below are two cards taken from current eBay auctions.

They are popular players-- but I'll leave the player names and card numbers out of it for now.

Notice the sellers' "graded price" written right on the top loader.

Now guess:

a) What the eBay item headline said the grade was?

-and-

b) What the "buy it now" price was?

Ill post screen shots of the actual listings (I will delete the seller's name) after a couple of comments.

No fair peeking on eBay!

CARD #1




CARD #2

[chrisa19978]

Dosen't have a grade that I see as I am looking at the auction. There are alot more listed and there in better condition as well his will not sell.

---

That guy is crazy anyway as he wants no less that $1700.00 for his 2500 Derek Jeter card lot that he sold one from last year for $1400.00. What is funny to me is I offered him $1400.00 last year and he told me no less than $1500.00 then 2 months later he sold it for $1400.00. There was no feedback left either so I can 't see what he gave in the lot.

[JeffreyQ]

These cards clearly show the Holy-Triplet of card damage--
I mean every defect one can imagine:

1) Tape Marks/Glue
2) Large Creases
3) Rounded Corners

The only thing missing is:

4) Writing/Pinholes

These cards are clearly FAIR - POOR in my book.
I would'nt sell them for over $10-- even considering they are stars.

Now, Im not commenting on this specific seller--

But I'm beginning to learn that its simply impossible to conditionally grade a card by a picture.
And absolutely do not believe ANYTHING you read related to conditional grades on eBay.

Perhaps thats obvious, but hey, Im a newbie.

[djohn]

When you buy cards on eBay you have to realize that not everyone selling there knows about condition guides. I have seen cards that a seller says are in VERY GOOD condition, but they are really NM+ and the seller doesn't realize that VG is actually the name of a condition grade. I have seen it similarly with GOOD and EXCELLENT as well. The one thing to keep in mind, when buying cards online is that some people don't know that much about what they are selling, so always ask questions before you bid if you aren't sure about a card's condition or anything else for that matter.

[JeffreyQ]

Im surprised there wasn't more interest in this.

I guess most people are collecting post 1980 cards where conditional grading is rarely an issue.

Since there's little interest I wont post the eBay auction page pixs-- just the answers to the questions above:

Card #1
Warren Spahn
Buy it now price $89

Card #2
Enos Slaughter
Buy it now price $29

Id say, even at those prices, considering the conditions, the cards are overpriced 4-fold on the buy it now price AND 10-fold on the seller's conditionally graded price.

[Merovius]

When you buy cards on eBay you have to realize that not everyone selling there knows about condition guides. I have seen cards that a seller says are in VERY GOOD condition, but they are really NM+ and the seller doesn't realize that VG is actually the name of a condition grade. I have seen it similarly with GOOD and EXCELLENT as well. The one thing to keep in mind, when buying cards online is that some people don't know that much about what they are selling, so always ask questions before you bid if you aren't sure about a card's condition or anything else for that matter.

Saw one today that was "Super Nice Condition!", guess thats better than PG (pretty good condition) or even SS (so-so condition). Was definitely good for a chuckle.