Conditioning- Maybe I'm the One Who's Off
 

I'm in the last affordable stages of upgrading my 53 Bowman Color set. I recently purchased a #127 Kryhoski that was described to be in near-mint condition. I received it last night and IMHO there is no way that the card meets the description. The first photo is the card itself; the second photo is a closeup of the left top corner which is dinged; the third photo is the top edge of the card which showed some minor wear ( and I haven't mentioned the minor wear on the other three corners). The last photo is the card that I just purchased next to the one that I'm trying to upgrade in my set (it's to the right), which I would describe as being in VG-EX to VG-EX+ on a bright, sunny springtime day.

For reference, I checked the recent eBay sales and well as those currently ongoing. Either I'm unrealistically too strict or the everyone else is visually lax, but with the exception of a Greg Morris card that sold as ex-mint on 9/23, there is no way that any of these cards are in excellent to near-mint condition. Even the recent PSA 4 offering is a weak very good -excellent.

To cite the famous quotation, "I am not a professional grader;" I have never worked for any TPG, but I worked in card shops and at shows from 1975-1995 so I have some experience in grading cards. The frustration has been receiving and having to return cards because of inaccurate grading. Yes, today here in southern California it is bright and sunny, but not in terms of collecting.

I apologize for the rant.

Phil aka Tere1071

Phil, you should post the image from the ebay listing for this card. IMO, the ebay image in no way represents the actual image of the card that you have provided. The spot stains on the left edge of the card in your image are not present on the ebay image. Obviously neither is the corner or top edge wear. Perhaps the seller's auto image enhancements were working too well on this card's scan.

While honest mistakes can occur both on a seller's part (over-grading, sending the wrong card) as well as on a buyer's part, it would be a concern if an ebay listing's image is intentionally altered to remove flaws.

Could be worth checking with the seller to see if he sent the wrong copy of this card by mistake (likely not as the centering appears to match).

The problem
 

is there is no real objective standard by which everyone adheres. When I grade cards, I try really hard to go by TPG standards. But even that is sometimes a moving target as most know how inconsistent (usually within a 3 grade range) the TPG's can be.
That said, I would be bothered having received the card you did described as Near Mint. Based on what you have highlighted, I would likely call it somewhere between EX and EXMT.
Enhancing scans is plain wrong, but too many do it.

2 soft corners make it ex at best

With high resolution scanners and cameras, people really should leave the grading to the buyer in my opinion. I recall seeing a grading chart in Beckett or one of the earlier guides and it filled an entire page and must have had 8-10 different designations along the scale. Grading is a lot of work if you do it accurately. Then it comes down to personal subjectivity. Of course, when you are paying a premium for condition, you should get what you expect.

The again, this is the opinion of someone that never really sought out or worried about high condition cards. I wanted something affordable with nice eye appeal and would be fine with soft or rounding corner, light surface wear, very light surface creasing or bends. I could not accept broken paper creasing, major off centering, dark stains, holes or any of those major eye sores.

I look back at most of my better older cards and figure I am not going to win any grading lotteries with my stuff.

This seller tends to be optimistic in his grading, but he's one of many. I would say he's somewhere deep in the reserved seating in a ballpark rather than behind home plate. Back in the good old days there were also issues related to grading, but it's frustrating when I hope to receive a better card than what I already have only to receive something worse. Last year I had plenty of headaches purchasing cards from 1970 and 1972 that were creased, miscut, or just worn described as ex or better. One seller even told me to send them back because he'd get more money for the group on a resale due to the climate of the hobby. Amazing!

If it's the ebay ad I found the seller offers free 60 day returns. Certainly not NM and you can return it. It's definitely not as described.

With all due respect, why do you want to upgrade? Your card looks just fine IMHO. Not perfect but by keeping what you have you eliminate all the ebay hassle.

Yes, I know and you're probably right. I should put it to bed and live with what I've collected. My 71 set has probably cost me triple what it should have with all of the constant upgrades that I'll never see in return as I sell/trade my extras. I will take this as a sign. Besides, I have a 70 set to complete and am missing the 73 and 74 sets.

As for the seller, yes, you know who I'm writing about. His cards are over graded, but not to the point of absurdity. Beauty and card conditioning are in the eye of the beholder, but it's just that I've seen too many sellers tout their wares as being excellent-mint to near-mint and proceed accordingly only to find them to be no more than very good to excellent at best. It's an annoyance when I'm looking for cards, but forgotten otherwise when I'm doing other things.

Thank you for the feedback.

Phil aka Tere1071

Most ebay sellers overgrade their cards. It makes it hard to sell a card that is EX if you describe it as EX, because everyone else says their EX cards are NM.

It is hard to tell even from a good pic what a card's condition really is. Surface issues especially can be really hard to see. I bought a card described as EXMT that looked really clean in the scans, only to find out in hand that it had spider wrinkles.

I tend to be a repeat buyer on ebay. When I spot a new seller with several cards that I need, I try to buy one card first and wait for delivery to see if the grade is fair.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Al, I have experienced eBay deals similar to yours. It's not just there, either; across the collecting boards there is are discrepancies in grading at times. Some have attributed that to older collectors and dealers who have been in the hobby well before TPG companies. While many collectors were fine with cards in excellent-mint condition, there was a clear recognition of cards in near mint and mint condition. The baseball card store/mail order place I worked for would have cards clearly that had worn corners and in no way they were mint, but we had very few returns. Dealers then, as well as today, have always sought higher prices for the cards they sell. I am sure the descriptions and pricing are heavily influenced by the valuation of TPG cards and making a buck.