I hear and see this all the time and find it irritating. If it's better, why don't you send it in for a regrade or at least to CAC? As a dealer, you can probably can get it regraded more cheaply and more quickly than I can. And yeah, I think you're a better grader than the grading services ... right. Such advertising statements fall in the realm of puffery and aren't illegal. But I think less of dealers who do it. Maybe they know what they're doing, and maybe it works to maximize their income. But hearing this when considering a coin, increases the chance I'll say, "I'll think about it" ... and unsaid, "but not for long." I'm not completely intolerant of puffery; it's a natural part of retail business. I don't mind dealers saying a coin is solid or high end for the grade unless it's blatantly false. But saying a slabbed coin they're selling is under-graded by the TPG ... even though it might be true ... makes me want to walk away. Cal
I used to mark certified coins that were solid or very nice for the grade “PQ.” This was before CAC existed. I cracked the coins I thought would upgrade. One game that got on my nerves was with an expert dealer. He had a gold dollar that was in a Mint State holder. It looked like Proof to me and he thought it was a Proof too. The trouble was he wanted the price of a Proof as if it was in a Proof holder. No thank you! I was supposed to pay the grading and shipping fees and assume all the risk that it would grade Proof. Now that’s what I would call a bad deal.
I have coins in my collection that I think are under graded and some that I think are over graded (with the others being acceptable for the grade). Whenever I list something for sale, I tend to avoid any puffery. I'll just mention the grade on the holder and let the viewer determine what they think. If it is truly under graded, hopefully the buyer will be happy with their purchase.
That has been the way of the less than ethical dealer world for longer than I have been a collector. Buy in one grade; sell at a higher one.
The smart dealers are in business to build a strong repeat customer base. You do that with honesty and demonstrating that you know a lot about what you are selling ... at least that’s how I did it.
There’s an extremely well-known dealer who has scads of eBay listings claiming one grade higher than the slab. He says “we often don’t agree with the posted grade” I’ve never seen it the other way around. I’ve also never bought a coin from him.
Because possibly the grade increase would not be enough to justify the cost of resubmitting. And there is always the chance that it WON'T come back at the higher grade he believes it is, in which case all he has done is cut his profit. Just because the slab says it is a certain grade, that doesn't guarantee it is right. If it did there would be no such thing as the crackout game.
