Quote:
Originally Posted by Jenx34
I get what you're saying, but buying from random sellers on Ebay is a little like playing Russian Roulette, especially with condition.
I recently have bought lots from 4 or 5 different sellers (new to me) and the results have been quite mixed. A High Grade NMMT - MINT 1975 lot was terrible. It was EX-EXMT at best with all kinds of damaged corners, among other things. Another group of 1975s, described as NMMT, Clean and Sharp as well as being assured they were centered and high quality cards. They were anything but. I kept 3 out of 41 cards and returned the rest. Very disappointed. A couple of groups of 1980s and a larger lot of 1980 Topps checked out pretty well. Lastly, a big bulk lot of 1970s was so far from the description it was ridiculous.
Despite Greg Morris imperfections, the good outweighs the bad and that's why so many buy from him and he gets the prices he does.
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I have no issue finding other sellers with decent scans to evaluate condition just as I do with a Morris listing. Morris doesn't sell many large lots, when he does you get a picture of 9 of the cards and little to no description at all. He won't even list what card #'s you are getting. He primarily sells commonly found single cards with many copies up on eBay at any given time. I can frequently find BIN's on cards in the same grade or even higher sitting there for less than Morris manages to sell the same card for.
I find a decent scan and my eyeballs do a much better job than trusting any seller. Morris misgrades or overlooks plenty of alterations, though I usually find his scale reasonable. Here's a recent example (
https://www.ebay.com/itm/38547926068...Bk9SR4D5p7XsYQ), a Ted Williams listed as "EX-EXMT (stain)" which seems.... one hell of a stretch. Over 50% of the card is a large coffee stain. EX-EXMT? I doubt if I won it and subbed to SGC I would get even half of that grade. If I described it as EX-EXMT (Stain) and sold it to someone here there is no way they would be happy. He got $610.75 for it. 1 day before a PSA 4 was bought for $600.
Many like his business (see the Tip Top Spahn trimming thread for the proof) and will clearly him much more money for the same grade than they will pay someone else. I just don't see the reason to do that. There are tons of non-professional sellers who post good scans, it will cost less, they will ship it to me faster (I will often receive the card from them before Morris even actually ships). He's clearly doing something right (good for him!), but I just don't see what the benefit to me as a buyer is to use his operation instead of others at this point.