eBay to require that coins be graded by approved grading companies

[mycomicshop]

Full article: eBay Drops Coin-Grading Firms to Dealers' Dismay

 

eBay spokesperson Johnna Hoff said new policies for coin listings go into effect May 30:

 

Listings for coins will be allowed to include a numeric grade in their listing title or item description only if the coin grading company providing the grade meets certain objective standards. Coins that havent been graded by such companies will be considered raw or ungraded.

 

For U.S. coins only, grading by companies meeting these standards will now be required for all coins listed with a Buy It Now, reserve, or start price of $2,500 and above.

 

The alert said eBay had worked with numismatic authority John Albanese to develop standards that must be met for grading coins on eBay. Albanese is founder of CAC and NumismaticConsumer Alliance, and eBay said he was considered one of America's leading professional numismatists and noted as one of the world's authorities on coin grading and the rare coin market.

 

eBay said currently only Numismatic Guaranty Corporation and the Professional Coin Grading Service meet the new standards, and encouraged other grading companies that met the standards to contact it.

 

I'm surprised to see eBay getting this deeply involved in the way coins can be listed. Saying that all coins not graded by one of the approved companies can only be listed as raw or ungraded seems like a pretty drastic move. I don't know the coin market. Anybody more familiar with it have any thoughts on this? eBay must be having a lot of problems with graded coins if they're willing to go this far to police the market.

 

Would be interesting if this ever spilled over into comics.

[Davenport]

eBay must be having a lot of problems with graded coins if they're willing to go this far to police the market.

Not knowing coins, but eBay could've been lobbied by a special interest group looking for advantage in the marketplace. "Marketing partnership" under the guise of problem-solving.

[VintageComics]

Can you imagine how much of their resources they spend in grading disputes?

 

 

[Forbush-Man]

Perhaps it will lead to the end of "CGC IT" and "Like CGC" listings.

 

Sure hope it doesn't become the end of raw comic selling though.

[Aces]

Perhaps it will lead to the end of "CGC IT" and "Like CGC" listings.

 

Sure hope it doesn't become the end of raw comic selling though.

Only on books with a bin or starting price $2500 +

 

I wouldn't mind at all. If you want to sell your raw AF 15 in VG then start it at 99 cents and let the market decide.

[ComicConnoisseur]

Can you imagine how much of their resources they spend in grading disputes?

+1

Also there has been a lot of counterfeiting of coin slabs.

[ComicConnoisseur]

Perhaps it will lead to the end of "CGC IT" and "Like CGC" listings.

 

Sure hope it doesn't become the end of raw comic selling though.

I doubt for the common stuff, but maybe comic book stuff with a value of over $1000?

A positive would be certain sellers who crack out CGC stuff, and then list raw as a grade higher would probally have to stop.

[comicparadox]

Soon to be the death knell for PGX???

[comicdonna]

 

I'm surprised to see eBay getting this deeply involved in the way coins can be listed. Saying that all coins not graded by one of the approved companies can only be listed as raw or ungraded seems like a pretty drastic move. I don't know the coin market. Anybody more familiar with it have any thoughts on this? eBay must be having a lot of problems with graded coins if they're willing to go this far to police the market.

 

Would be interesting if this ever spilled over into comics.

Here's a thread about this in the coin forum.

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=5608233&fpart=1

[mycomicshop]

Thanks for the link, Mike.

 

Interesting video mentioned in that thread, of eBay rep announcing those coin changes:

 

 

And from this page, these are the standards that eBay is applying for coin grading services to be acceptable:

 

The standards companies must meet under the updated coins policy are as follows:

- At least 50,000 coins graded (pre-1956)

 

- Live, online population report

 

- At least 3 graders on staff who are considered numismatic experts (an individual who has been a full-time numismatist for at least five years). At least one of the graders should be a member of PNG, and all three should be members of the American Numismatic Association (ANA)

 

- Stated buyback guaranty in writing for coins later determined to be counterfeit, damaged, over- or mis-graded, or misattributed

 

- Coins being slabbed must be kept in a unique, state-of-the-art, tamper-resistant holder with anti-counterfeiting measures (e.g.; holograms). Archival materials should be used wherever possible

 

- Enable online verification of unique serial numbers

 

[thehumantorch]

Interesting. Have to believe other collectible hobbies will follow.

[comicdonna]

No problem, Conan. I feel it's better for buyers like myself. Not so much for the sellers, though. Telling a dealer that's been in the business for 50 years he can't grade coins anymore might not set well.

[Speedy-D]

Well, they are still allowing raw coins, right? Are they saying that

 

1. if you sell a coin raw, you can't give it a numeric grade?

 

2. or are that a coin graded by a non-approved grader must be treated as raw? (not sure what that would really mean...)

 

3. or going even further, that selling a coin graded by a non-approved grader is against ebay rules?

[comicdonna]

Well, they are still allowing raw coins, right? Are they saying that

 

1. if you sell a coin raw, you can't give it a numeric grade?

 

2. or are that a coin graded by a non-approved grader must be treated as raw? (not sure what that would really mean...)

 

3. or going even further, that selling a coin graded by a non-approved grader is against ebay rules?

I am guessing they may reconsider some of these new rules. Especially when the other grading companies contact them. Also, when they see a huge drop in sales.

[Speedy-D]

And from this page, these are the standards that eBay is applying for coin grading services to be acceptable:

 

The standards companies must meet under the updated coins policy are as follows:

- Stated buyback guaranty in writing for coins later determined to be counterfeit, damaged, over- or mis-graded, or misattributed

Huh, do coin graders guarantee the grade? That's pretty crazy. CGC just guarantees the resto check, and states that the grade is their opinion.

[Mr 9.8]

Soon to be the death knell for PGX???

We can only hope.

[Speedy-D]

Soon to be the death knell for PGX???

We can only hope.

PGX can go away, but it'd be great to see some real competition in the comic grading market. I still get a bit of a queasy feeling when I think about how much power CGC and the numbers they put on their cases have in the comic collecting world.

[USArmyParatrooper]

News???

 

They started doing that a LONG time ago. There are hundreds of BS boiler room graders out there for coins who's "certification" don't mean . When you list a coin for sale you have more than just the option to put the name of the company in the title. You mark it as "certified" or "uncertified." If you call it certified you then have to click on which company did it and include a serial number.

 

A while back the made it against the rules to call a coin certified if it wasn't from an approved grader. This wasn't a collusion conspiracy theory. It was to keep the coin n00bs from being scammed.

 

In the coin world the top tier graders are PCGS, NGC, and ANACS in that order. 2nd their would be ICG and SEGS, who many don't even recognize. After that it's pure .

[gyro-1]

This is the single bigest desision I have seen in 40 years of colecting Ebay has just changed everything in every colectable catagory were subjective grading is important !

IF and I say its not IF its WHEN this hits comics CGC comic prices will go nuts ! as (dealers scramble for stock to sell) ?

We should watch if this causes a graded price bubble in coins ? If it dose watch out !!!!! .

Any bet CGC is hiring !

 

[matter-migration]

Listings for coins will be allowed to include a numeric grade in their listing title or item description only if the coin grading company providing the grade meets certain objective standards. Coins that havent been graded by such companies will be considered raw or ungraded.

 

This wouldn't be as bad for comics, because we'd just bring the Alpha grades back