I don't know if anyone else has posted this, but eBay has some new listing policies going into effect this month for certified coins. Supposedly, sellers will only be able to list the top 4 grading services and NCS in certified coin auctions. Not quite sure how this is going to affect services like PCI and SEGS, but the goal is to get rid of a majority of the self slabbers.
Here is a letter PURPORTEDLY from eBay posted on eBay Coins & Paper Money forum. Notice that NCS is also included and that these are the only coins that may be listed as CERTIFIED. It does not say that the others may not be sold. I wonder how long it will be before the other companies sue eBay
I wouldnt worry too much about that since most of the other companies DON'T EXIST. Teletrade does it, I'm sure eBay won't have a problem.
that's odd, I own some PCI coins, along with NGC,PCGS, etc. I think the 2nd and 3rd tier tpgs, PCI,SEGS, ACG, will sue ebay, i mean ACG has shown they are willing to sue just about anyone in the past, and ebay is saying their slabs are akin to being raw uncerted coins. That'd boil my blood. PLus it will drive down the resale value of coins in other TPG slabs, regardless of how beautiful the coin is/isn't.
eBay might have yet another leg to stand on in regard to the other TPGs. Don't all of the TPGs currently within eBay guidelines ALL have some sort of guarantee? If they decide to disciminate between services, if founded upon some logical reason like PCGS and their Money Back Gaurantee, would this not be reason enough to be able to do so? and even if it's not... forgive me, it's early after a REALLY late night, don't kill me of this is just totally stupid... but, can't companies who offer products refuse to sell anyone's products that they want? Is that not their prerogative?? A lawsuit cannot put Mattel's Toys in a shop that wants to exclusively sell Hasbro, right???
It's definitely a step in the right direction, but I would be seriously mad if I was PCI/SEGS. It's absolutely ridiculous though that you now cannot even include a numeric grade opinion in the title for raw coins (btw, raw now stands for everything NOT graded by PCGS, NGC, ANACS, ICG, and NCS).
Poor old Centsless and Abon and Sully's, all 3 are self slabbers. Cardinal is close too, he buys alot of NNC. GEC and SGS are the biggest crooks out there tho, I have some NNC that are only overgraded by 2 grades, lol.
I think it is a step in the right direction. I don't think it will be a big deal not to put a grade with your raw coins. the way I see it if you grade a coin ms 65 it leaves the door open for dissapointment on the part of the buyer. lets say the coin arrives and the buyer thinks it is ms 63 or worse, the coin has very few bag marks but very light wear and he believs it is AU. The buyer could also send it for grading and the coins comes back a lower grade that dramatically decreases value. I would rather the buyer form his own oppinion on a grade. I think the new policy is aimed at self slabbers mainly, and in time some other legiamite tpg,s may be allowed to be sold. personally if I were to buy a slabbed coin other than the big three I would treat is raw anyway. Thats my 3 cents worth
I think your post is novel and well thought-out. However, I think it does hurt to not put the numerical grade. Some shop for a specific grade (i.e. search criteria in the browser) MS-63 MS63 etc. Similarly, the excluded 2nd tier TPGs are harmed in that anyone specifically looking for certified coins will not see theirs, as there is a dedicated field just for "certified / uncertified" in the description (though it's not a search criteria). It's a marketing / visibility issue.
I agree the searching for coins will take a little longer to find coin in the range you might be looking for. I just hopes the new policy has more pro,s than con,s.
Its about time. Anyone here personally know of someone new to the hobby who has been burned by a self-slabber? I do. She saw a few of my NGC/PCGS coins, mistook all slabs as being "safe" to buy, and purchased a few CC Morgans from a "grader" that had closely copied their name from a more reputable TPG. I knew nothing about it until the coins arrived. They were vastly overgraded and it was left to me to break the news to her. That is what the crooked "graders" are counting on: ignorance. It is bad for our hobby. We joke around about it (myself included) but we don't need it. eBay has finally done the right thing. Let's just hope it is permanent.
What happened to BUY THE COIN - NOT THE HOLDER ???????? When I see a coin I like and believe the grade is correct or not correct but the price is good for what I believe the grade is.
Should have mentioned that she bought the coins off of eBay. Some people, myself included, live in remote areas with no coin shops. We have to do business over the Internet. TPGs are a necessary part of the hobby for us since we can't physically hold/examine coins we hope to buy. There is an element of trust we have to place with the TPGs, like it or not.
I've looked all over ebay for this new policy. Can't find it! Aboncom listed this today http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=300152424973&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=020 would report it but here is the only place I read about new ebay rules?
ANA/EBay Rumor has it that the changing ebay policy is being helped along with the advice of the ANA.:secret: A group called the Coin Advisory Committe... ebay/ANA. :secret: