Where Did These Ebay Sellers Learn To Grade?

Two things jump to the front of my mind:

1) Unfortunately alot of people who sell coins on ebay are not avid coin collectors and instead are looking to make a quick buck. So they are either ignorant on proper grading or they are purposely overstating the grade to make a few more dollars. I know of one seller who sells mainly silver dollars and he goes as far as putting prices on the 2x2's that are grossly overstated.

2) Grading is subjective even among experts.

Hope things work out for you.

This is why it is so important to know how to grade as well as spot genuine versus non-genuine coins. Unfortunately, these coins will be sold to an ignorant buyer who may be new to collecting. ebay has unfortunately attracted unethical folks who want a quick buck as opposed to those of us who act in ethical practices. I will wager to guess this seller has several listings and no return policy.

It is not just ebay guys. I go to a lot of local antique auctions and they always have a few coins. The auctioneers love to call VF and XF coins UNC when the are put up on the block. One guy always looks at me when they come up cause he knows that the coins are the only reason I am there. When guys in the crowd run the bid up on me I'll just hold up my red and blue books and shake my head no when points to me and asks if I'll go X amount.

I agree with weerdsteev that conservative grading (and bidding) is a key to buying on ebay. Overgrading is the norm. Gem BU or MS-? often means dipped AU. Or worse. Sometimes you see the dipped VF coins being passed off as AU/MS. If in doubt, let it pass.

I watch a lot of coins in the category I am trying to buy and try to grade each one and set a price I think it is worth. Then I watch the bids roll in. Many go over my price and that's that. Eventually, I will see a coin that I think is a nice coin at a nice price and pull the trigger - usually as a snipe in the last few seconds.

I do have some luck buying coins from "normal" folks with 100% feedback of 100-300 with a mix of buys and sells. Often they have a few coins they are selling along with other stuff. It doesn't happen as often as I'd like, but I have gotten some really nice coins this way.

Ken

I think this is a good synopsis of a large part of the rare coin business, of all business in used items. The buyer knocks the seller's goods to get it cheaper and then overpromotes their own stuff to buyers to get more than they're worth. Even on coins already in slabs, with the grade printed right on it, I've seen ebay promoters trying to say how much better the grade really is and that it's worth far more. Try not to worry about it.

Your question says it all "...learn to grade?" Who says they even learned proper grading in the first place? Many probably learned the "trade" of buying/selling coins to make money, not as a numismatic hobby, so they may be unaccustomed to correct grading (albeit even that is subjective).

I agree completely that many of these so-called ebay experts grade their coins, on average, about one-to-two grades higher than should be. Not true of all sellers, but true of many sadly. Of course, there are many honest sellers who do honest grading and err on the conservative side, but for every 100 sellers, 90 seem to be overzealous graders.

What I think is really sad is that it seems like grade inflation pays off on ebay. People do seem to get sucked in by a seller's description instead of grading the coin themselves.

If I see a coin where the seller claims it's AU when it is really a VF in my opinion, I don't even bother because I know it's going to be bid way over the price I would pay.

Ken

I just purchased a 1879 Morgan off of ebay. The coin photos were beautiful, I graded AU - MS. When the coin came it wasn't the coin pictured & graded F -VF. The seller said that he might have sent the wrong coin. I spoke with the seller Tues. & he was supposed to let me know last night. No word yet .I don't let seller grades influence my grade opinion. I know I'm new at this. But, I try to be consevative on my grades. ebay used to have a rule about the seller listing a grade taht wasn't a TGP grade. If you did, they would remove the listing. They should reinforce it.