eBay Raw Card Purchases - What's reasonable for a return?

[hypostatic]

I purchased a $500+ raw rookie card recently and just received the package. I don't want to get into the details of the player or card in case the seller is a member here.

The seller had listed two photos of the front of the card in a sleeve and another two of the back of the card in a sleeve. There were no apparent surface issues on the card and I assumed any visible dots and lines were lint and smudges. Fortunately, after gently wiping the card down, all of the dots and lines disappeared and the card looks pristine other than a single "pit" near the center front of the card that wasn't in the pictures and wasn't disclosed.

Based on my inspection, but for that pit, this card might have graded a PSA 9 or 10, but now I'm not sure if it would even get an 8.

Is this something the seller should have disclosed? If so, is this a legitimate reason to return the card? I don't have buyer's remorse. I love the card and I'm happy to keep it for my PC, but I can't help but feel that the issue should have been identified in the description given how prominent it is.

[JLR0747]

Originally Posted by hypostatic

I purchased a $500+ raw rookie card recently and just received the package. I don't want to get into the details of the player or card in case the seller is a member here.

The seller had listed two photos of the front of the card in a sleeve and another two of the back of the card in a sleeve. There were no apparent surface issues on the card and I assumed any visible dots and lines were lint and smudges. Fortunately, after gently wiping the card down, all of the dots and lines disappeared and the card looks pristine other than a single "pit" near the center front of the card that wasn't in the pictures and wasn't disclosed.

Based on my inspection, but for that pit, this card might have graded a PSA 9 or 10, but now I'm not sure if it would even get an 8.

Is this something the seller should have disclosed? If so, is this a legitimate reason to return the card? I don't have buyer's remorse. I love the card and I'm happy to keep it for my PC, but I can't help but feel that the issue should have been identified in the description given how prominent it is.

What is your ebay user id?

[asujbl]

Impossible to answer without seeing the auction and how it was described

Also what questions did you ask before spending $500+ on a raw rookie? Any?

[the36chamber]

you bought the card raw, take what you got.

if you wanted a PSA 9 or 10 you should of bought one.

[chelseafc11]

Do you enjoy the card and want to keep it in your PC or do you want a high grade and/or maximize profit to resell. Be transparent with us and yourself, please.

[sethc1020]

If you love the card and are happy to keep it for your PC then why are you asking about returning it?

there is a bit of negligence on both sides here. The seller probably should have mentioned it but you should have asked questions before buying it. When buying raw always ask questions before buying and never assume a raw card is a PSA 9 or 10.

[SGC300ier]

Originally Posted by JLR0747

What is your ebay user id?

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[pyrexswerve]

Seller should have disclosed issue but at the same time if you are spending this much on a raw rookie, I hope you asked a lot of questions to the seller too.

Also, dependent on the issue, there could be a chance maybe the seller didnt notice it?

Obviously you don't just care about it to have for your personal collection & you wanted it graded, otherwise you wouldn't have made a post.

Nonetheless, hard to really give much detailed feedback with no pics or seeing the auction to see how the seller described it.

[hockeyguyrich]

Originally Posted by JLR0747

What is your ebay user id?

This right here

[tmar214]

A lot matters when the card is from. I'd say a 6-7 would be acceptable for a card from the 90s or early 2000s. For a card from this year I think if the card has a legitimate shot of grading an 8 that is reasonable.

[BonVoyage]

Did they switch cards on you? Did they somehow obfuscate the issue when taking pictures? Did they inaccurately describe it?
If the answer is No, then I don’t see how it’s right to return it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[glen87]

Originally Posted by hypostatic

I purchased a $500+ raw rookie card recently and just received the package. I don't want to get into the details of the player or card in case the seller is a member here.

The seller had listed two photos of the front of the card in a sleeve and another two of the back of the card in a sleeve. There were no apparent surface issues on the card and I assumed any visible dots and lines were lint and smudges. Fortunately, after gently wiping the card down, all of the dots and lines disappeared and the card looks pristine other than a single "pit" near the center front of the card that wasn't in the pictures and wasn't disclosed.

Based on my inspection, but for that pit, this card might have graded a PSA 9 or 10, but now I'm not sure if it would even get an 8.

Is this something the seller should have disclosed? If so, is this a legitimate reason to return the card? I don't have buyer's remorse. I love the card and I'm happy to keep it for my PC, but I can't help but feel that the issue should have been identified in the description given how prominent it is.

if you really want help, give us ALL the info so we can see what you were seeing when you bought the card. otherwise we are just making speculations.

[JustRachel]

OP, you've done nothing wrong...yet.

There will be people coming into this thread to imply you are a horrible person, a picky buyer, and who knows what else. Some may demand your eBay ID so they can block you. Ignore them.

What you've done is purchase a card and ask a question about it. If someone doesn't think that's okay, then I don't think that person's opinion matters much.

Now, as to your question:

Whether or not a return would be "acceptable" by industry standards is dependent on factors you haven't disclosed. How bad is the flaw? What is the seller's return policy? Is it truly not described properly, including via the pictures? We just don't know, so answering your specific questions is problematic.

If what you're looking for is an accepted standard, you may not find it here. I doubt there will be a consensus as to what is acceptable. A general rule of thumb might be to ask yourself a couple of questions and let your own answers guide you.
Are you maybe being too picky?
Do you feel deceived or cheated?
How would you feel if you were the seller? Would you feel upset? Or would you feel like somebody called you on your bullshyt?
Do you feel the seller was dishonest?
Do you still want the card or is the flaw unacceptable?
Would you have bought the card if you were aware of it's true condition?

The rest is up to you.

Do the right thing.

[goldkobe]

Originally Posted by hockeyguyrich

This right here

Please provide your user ID so we can block you. This is exactly the reason why people grade their cards
If you want psa9 or psa10, buy graded cards, period.

[jmeryllman]

I agree, what is your eBay id?

If you wanted a PSA 9 or 10, buy those. You are paying much less for raw, and there is that inherent risk to a raw purchase because we can assume that sellers are not professional graders. If you think they switch the cards on you, then you might have a case.

[Justin7]

Originally Posted by JLR0747

What is your ebay user id?

This right here. I mean wow. Card is definitely NMT-MT, so fair raw.

[KRAVEN4LIFE]

If you buy to slab then you should be meeting the person or you should have dealt with them before. Now if you buy raw thats it you don't buy expecting a 9 or 10 or just buy a 9 or 10. Now after you cleaned it the divit showed. Did you accidently cause this I don't know. But you did admit to cleaning the front of card nothing wrong with that just well accidents happen. And last without info or pics then its impossible to give any real advice.

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[KRAVEN4LIFE]

Also the hobby has changed a lot in the last 20 years since you got back in just recently id say be careful on what you spend online in person is the way to go for raw. Or just stick to stock x and tennis shoes.

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[KnicksLife]

Raw is Raw.. If you wanted a PSA 9 or 10, then pay the premium.

What people forget is that most raws are NM-MT. Per PSA , NM-MT are Grade 7-8 . 9 or 10 are Mint and above.

[ClipsandVols]

The answers you've gotten are because of the lack of information. I don't think you're going to get a response you want (or hear that it's okay to return) without giving some more information. Everything is a factor.

Was it intentional deception? Did you buy it on auction? Does the seller have a history of shadiness? Is this card an older card? Is it from a set that always has defects?

All of those questions would come in to play but can't be answered because of the lack of information.

[glen87]

Originally Posted by JustRachel

OP, you've done nothing wrong...yet.

There will be people coming into this thread to imply you are a horrible person, a picky buyer, and who knows what else. Some may demand your eBay ID so they can block you. Ignore them.

What you've done is purchase a card and ask a question about it. If someone doesn't think that's okay, then I don't think that person's opinion matters much.

Now, as to your question:

Whether or not a return would be "acceptable" by industry standards is dependent on factors you haven't disclosed. How bad is the flaw? What is the seller's return policy? Is it truly not described properly, including via the pictures? We just don't know, so answering your specific questions is problematic.

If what you're looking for is an accepted standard, you may not find it here. I doubt there will be a consensus as to what is acceptable. A general rule of thumb might be to ask yourself a couple of questions and let your own answers guide you.
Are you maybe being too picky?
Do you feel deceived or cheated?
How would you feel if you were the seller? Would you feel upset? Or would you feel like somebody called you on your bullshyt?
Do you feel the seller was dishonest?
Do you still want the card or is the flaw unacceptable?
Would you have bought the card if you were aware of it's true condition?

The rest is up to you.

Do the right thing.

you are correct in many ways in this, he has done nothing wrong in asking. but we cannot accurately or honestly answer his question without additional info.

"There were no apparent surface issues on the card and I assumed any visible dots and lines were lint and smudges."

without knowing exactly what he was looking at when he bought the card

- were those visible dots actually lint or damage - we have seen numerous times when presented the original photos that the damage can be seen. i am not saying this is the case here, because we do not have that info.

- did he ask for additional questions or for more photos prior to buying or did he just buy and hope "this card might have graded a PSA 9 or 10"

when only getting a partial story it is hard to give accurate advice

[Spacemanspif]

the immediate jumps to "what is your ebay user ID so I can label you as a scammer" are interesting. makes me wonder how many cards with undisclosed issues these guys sell.

I occasionally return raw cards, but usually it has to be a certain threshold (recently a couple 1/2" marks that were not visible in the picture). typically don't ask too many questions about raw cards, sometimes "are there any obvious issues that you know of" but don't really expect a lot of honesty over ebay messages.

as for the OP, more info would be nice but I don't think a common issue like a surface dimple is worthy of return. probably should have been voluntarily disclosed by seller but I don't really expect much out of ebay sellers

[glen87]

Originally Posted by Spacemanspif

the immediate jumps to "what is your ebay user ID so I can label you as a scammer" are interesting. makes me wonder how many cards with undisclosed issues these guys sell.

I occasionally return raw cards, but usually it has to be a certain threshold (recently a couple 1/2" marks that were not visible in the picture). typically don't ask too many questions about raw cards, sometimes "are there any obvious issues that you know of" but don't really expect a lot of honesty over ebay messages.

as for the OP, more info would be nice but I don't think a common issue like a surface dimple is worthy of return. probably should have been voluntarily disclosed by seller but I don't really expect much out of ebay sellers

i agree with this, but we do not know if it was visible or not. so while it may not have been disclosed in writing, it may have been disclosed in the pictures.

[hypostatic]

Thanks for this reasonable response. To answer your specific question, I do feel a little deceived because the card was in a dirty sleeve in the pictures. If I were the seller and someone asked for a return, I'd think someone called me on my BS listing.

Separately, I didn't realize this would evoke such strong feelings from so many people. I thought it was pretty clear that I wouldn't be returning the card. I literally stated that. I was simply asking if this would be a legitimate reason for a return. What I was ultimately getting at was how to handle a situation where the seller didn't disclose a noticeable flaw. Point taken that I didn't ask more detailed questions prior to purchasing. Hopefully my future buyers are as charitable as the commenters here.

The card is a SSP case hit and I plan on acquiring as many copies of it as I can find for grading purposes for my PC, for what it's worth. I would have probably purchased this specific card either way. I was just trying to understand how I should feel in this situation based on the experience of others, if that makes sense. I just started collecting basketball cards again after 20 years--thanks for the warm welcome back!

Originally Posted by JustRachel

OP, you've done nothing wrong...yet.

There will be people coming into this thread to imply you are a horrible person, a picky buyer, and who knows what else. Some may demand your eBay ID so they can block you. Ignore them.

What you've done is purchase a card and ask a question about it. If someone doesn't think that's okay, then I don't think that person's opinion matters much.

Now, as to your question:

Whether or not a return would be "acceptable" by industry standards is dependent on factors you haven't disclosed. How bad is the flaw? What is the seller's return policy? Is it truly not described properly, including via the pictures? We just don't know, so answering your specific questions is problematic.

If what you're looking for is an accepted standard, you may not find it here. I doubt there will be a consensus as to what is acceptable. A general rule of thumb might be to ask yourself a couple of questions and let your own answers guide you.
Are you maybe being too picky?
Do you feel deceived or cheated?
How would you feel if you were the seller? Would you feel upset? Or would you feel like somebody called you on your bullshyt?
Do you feel the seller was dishonest?
Do you still want the card or is the flaw unacceptable?
Would you have bought the card if you were aware of it's true condition?

The rest is up to you.

Do the right thing.

[mvp]

Guys - can't we give OP the benefit of the doubt? If you can appreciate there are a lot of buyers out there making things difficult for sellers, surely you can appreciate that there are also a lot of sellers out there making things difficult for buyers too. We're all fatigued with cheats and scammers, so let's not make it harder for each other.

OP's post history shows that he's only just got back into basketball cards after 20 years away - I don't think it's unreasonable to have some questions. He also said he is happy to keep the card. A civil conversation about what is good raw card buying / selling practice and etiquette will be more helpful to OP and other new people reading on than jumping down his throat to block him.

To answer your question OP - My personal position is that I'm rolling the dice with raw cards. I generally won't ask any sellers questions on lower priced stuff (basically anything under $100), but above that I'll ask the seller for additional pictures before I make a purchase if I'm not happy with what I can see on the listing. That doesn't help you in this scenario, but as you said you are happy to keep the card as is, I'd take it as a teachable moment and move on.