First of all a bit of background. I am an experienced Ebay seller with nothing but positive feedback, and always settle any issues in customer’s favor, so not questioning the buyer’s right to request a refund, rather looking to get some healthy discussion on how the popularity of PSA grading affects me as a seller.
I am from the UK, so the PSA fever has maybe arrived here a bit later than in the US, but nowadays, everyone and their mom is submitting cards to PSA after those 10s, and everyone seems to be a professional grader. I sell mostly ungraded cards on ebay, and take great care to ensure the condition description is as accurate as possible.
In the last 6 months however, I have received 3 return requests from buyers who purchased cards described as near mint and contacted me back for a discount or a refund, saying they intend to grade it with PSA and it would not get the grade they expect. Again, nothing wrong with asking for a refund, my issue is more with the pattern of people buying something that is described as near mint and expecting it to be PSA 10 worthy. I also frequent numerous UK facebook groups (I don’t sell singles in those), and notice an emerging trend of people disputing condition based on their expectations of what a submission to PSA would return.
In the end I see it as a positive thing because more graded product benefits collectors and lowers prices. Also it opened my eyes to what future consumer expectations will be, and is pushing me to up my game by moving into the graded market instead to avoid the hassle of spending time and money over the nearly invisible 1mm factory scratch on the holo of an otherwise Mint $5 card.
Do you guys notice the same pattern in the US or is this a consequence of the UK waking up to PSA grading only recently?
Most our members aren’t in the US but the one takeaway I get from your message is PSA grading has helped non graded card sellers like yourself. It’s too bad about your returns though. Maybe better pictures and/or an accurate description of all damage? Those things could help.
I havent sold much on Ebay, I have bought pletny of items in the past. I did buy a load of cards from a guy…i never do this but they were auctioned singles wotc era and e series. I usually prefer to buy what i want or a collection rather than many singles as its alot cheaper.
Alot of the cards were advestised as mint…when they arrived most werent mint/nm eas described…they stunk of smoke aswell.Which I even spoke to the guy about a previous purchase stinking of it and how much effort it was to air them out…>.< I messaged him and said most the cards arent as you said…they stink of smoke blah blah. He had a go saying you cant send some back, and not all of them! nitpicking through them to send to grade and refunding the ones you dont want back…blah blah…
I am yet to send in card to psa(im in the UK aswell) as i havent got the money together to send in to make it worth while.
This is just a random storry that kind of ties in with what you said…but i wasnt looking through them to pick the best. They stunk of smoke and werent as described
However I can see it happening, buying loads of cards from a seller…goign through them…sending/keepign the best and refunding the rest…rinse and repeat
It sucks for sellers if this starts to happen more…or alot. I guess its the new way of scamming/unethical behaviour on Ebay
I just think there’s certain buyers that are impossible to please. If a card is advertised as NM and it looks like it would get a minimum grade of 7-8, it’s an honest description.
You can only do so much. If you have good pictures/scans and describe your cards as honest as possible, that’s all you can do. You will come across these kind of buyers now and then. I say just refund them or offer a partial refund if they will take one. I don’t know what kind of volume you do, but if you sell hundreds of cards and get 3 refund requests in 6 months, it’s just the cost of doing business and I wouldn’t worry too much about it.
You seem to be doing quite well, I wouldn’t advise to grade every card. You mentioned a $5 Mint Card. If you grade that, then it’s a $15-20 card and it will be probably be a tougher sale then just moving it for and easy $5.
There are buyers who you cannot please and are always looking for a return/discount/some kind of bonus. I kept the smokey poorly described cards…though i should ahve sent them all back as i spent a fair bit on the bastards…
For me I’ve been on and off active on eBay for the past decade or so. There has definitely been a change in the UK towards condition and PSA grading. I was one of the first customers of Ludkinscollectables when they started their grading send off service and from what I have heard, the amount of submissions has increased substantially over the past few years. As for eBay I too have had buyers ask for returns because of condition not being what they expected recently. Even some who straight up ask whether I have any ‘Mint’ cards, not even about any specific card. Considering I place definitions for each category of condition on my listings I still have had messages of “this wasn’t as mint as I thought it would be.”
I definitely have had to up my game though especially considering cards that are either close to mint or near mint condition in terms of description. All in all I only see it as positive with more PSA cards available without the added import cost.
Yeah, I always make sure the description is accurate and even tend to grade my cards one notch lower to make sure I meet customer expectations, but I can’t take a magnifying glass to every piece of cardboard I handle especially on low value product. Not too worried about the returns themselves, it’s more the apparent notion that NM equals PSA 10 that seems to be a new trend among consumers.
And I too am of the opinion that this is good for sellers and collectors alike as sellers get a premium and collectors get increased customer confidence.
Yeah the amount of returns is quite acceptable and to be honest a negligible cost of doing business, I’ve always had the occasional ‘my son placed the order for me’ or, ‘I found it cheaper somewhere else’ kind of excuse, and it’s not a problem as it happens maybe 1 time out of 50, it’s just the ‘PSA won’t give me the grade I expect’ even though the card is in the advertised condition that seems to be more common these days.
I know what you’re saying about smelly cards. Don’t get it much with Pokemon, but used too happen quite often when I bought MTG cards and I hate it.
You raised a good point there whith the selective ordering thing. What’s to prevent me from ordering 10 different copies of the same card from ebay, inspecting them thoroughly and return the ones that I am sure won’t get a PSA 10 at no cost to me? I hope it doesn’t get out of hand, but either way that’s why I am chosing to shift towards purchasing and grading the cards next year and avoid the hassle.
Ok, glad to see it’s not just me who noticed this. Another trend I forgot to mention and that is relevant is the numerous requests for close up photos of front and back, which have also increased significantly.
My only concern is whether the signals we are getting are coming from speculators or collectors themselves. Would be quite sad to shift to graded cards only to find out that the collector market doesn’t have an apetite for them and it was just the ‘investment’ side of the secondary market that was fuelling the perceived notion of demand for graded cards.
I’ve seen people looking for ungraded yet highly gradeable cards more often than I’ve seen people with graded collections, so fingers crossed I won’t be shooting myself on the foot with this one.
Yes that was a trend as well regarding the extra photos. I’m not sure many collectors are still aware of the grading services provided in the UK such as Ludkins or Gradedgroudon. But hopefully its not just the ‘investment side’, I know I am currently sitting on hundreds of gradeable cards but will be planning on grading them in the new year once my financial status is more stable. I’m not that active or familiar on the facebook groups but has there been a shift towards older cards/product?
Facebook groups seem to be frequented mostly by casual collectors and people with limited disposable income (students, single moms, etc.), so they often go for newer and cheaper stuff. There is still constant rambling and flamming in most facebook groups regarding card condition, some people go for the traditional HP, LP, NM scale, whereas others go for the ‘I think that NM card is a weak 9, hence warrants a discount’. I just read those and identify the trends and opinions of the general public, not too interested in joining discussions on facebook as they are pretty much the online equivalent of a room full of people shouting at each other.
Seems to me that when the major focus of owning pokemon cards was playing instead of collecting, people were quite happy with the traditional condition guides. No one would care about a microscopic, unseen to the naked eye flaw, even on a $50 card, because what you wanted was a decent looking card to play with. As more and more collectors pour into the Pokemon TCG hobby, even $5 cards are subject to the most minutious scrutiny, because even those students who can’t yet afford to grade their cards, plan on doing so in the future, so want to make sure they are 100% perfect.
As I stated in another thread the other day, I no longer give my opinion on what condition I think the card I’m trying to sell is, I provide good photos and an accurate description of any damage or issues that can not be seen in the photos, and my returns have literally dropped to 0
UK eBay seller here (with all positive feedback). In the past I have listed my cards as near mint/mint in the title. Might have to alter that now so cheers for the heads-up.
I tend to turn off the returns option myself whether that might help?
As do I typically but that seems to be a frowned upon practice here by many. In my past experiences when I used to reply with more photos those would be the transactions tending to have a higher defect rate (negative/neutral feedback or a requested return/INAD) and also a low actual sell through rate. Just wasn’t worth the time or the hassle.
I will generally ask for back pictures if they are not provided for $200+ cards just to be sure. If its a 10 I’d like it to be as clean as possible, I’ve passed by a few cards that I felt may have not deserved the grade.
$700+ and I will generally want a good angle of the edges to see how silvered the card is.
It sucks for sellers if this starts to happen more…or alot. I guess its the new way of scamming/unethical behaviour on Ebay
