People using grades in their titles for raw coins still on Ebay.

I saw on the rules for selling coins on Ebay that you can't reference a grade for raw coins in the title or description but still see someone listing their coins as "a VERY FINE coin". Why is that so and do you think that Ebay will enforce the rule?

 

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People dont want to follow the rules, if they can get away with ut why not.
Only if they get reported.

 

To me "very fine" does not necessarily sound like a grade. VF, yes. VF combined with a number (as in the American grading system), yes. But the mere description "very fine" is on the edge, I think ...

Christian

 

Very Fine is used all the time as shorthand for VF20 in American grading, although I agree it is on the edge. What bothers me more is all the folks that write a headline like "XYZ Coin Not PCGS Not NGC" so it will show up in the searches for NGC or PCGS. Tacky!

Best Regards, :hail:

George

 

I'm almost certain it's the numeric grades that ebay takes issue with on raw coins. You can describe a coin as gem uncirculated but you can't say it's a MS65.

 

It doesn't bother me when the seller's attempts to grade the coin. I find it is nice reference, at least on the grading ability of the seller. I guess the ebay rule is for the folks that would actually trust the seller's grading without spending some time evaluating the coin pic. I'm not sure why anyone would buy a coin that they couldn't grade reasonably correctly on their own but I guess there are people who buy swamp land in Florida.

 

It's the context they put it in. "Very Fine" is indeed an actual grade for grading coins but unless they're saying, "It's grade is very fine..." they're not breaking the rules. The term "very fine" can be used on almost anything. I can sell an old bicycle on eBay and describe it as a "very fine bike..."

eBay is a place for people to sell stuff. Of course they want to use terms that attracts as many potential buyers searching to buy. Without key search words in their postings, it'd be like having a garage sale at your home but not posting any ads to notify people or have any signs telling people you're actually have a garage sale.

 

The rule only applies for numerical grades. You can say BU, fine, details, etc. Just don't use a number like Mint State 60.

 

Detecto has it right. the rule forbids NUMERIC grades in the title or description. Adjective grades are perfectly acceptable.

 

Actually I just re-read Ebay rules it states, "A numeric grade (such as MS-65, VF-25) isn't included in the title, description, or item specifics of the listing.".

Reference:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/currstamps.html

 

The Numeric Grade rule only applies to eBay.com.
I can put any grade I like in the title or description as can others not using dot com
Slabbing and TPG are not a big thing in the rest of the world.

 

On the other hand though, I know that grading can be subjective but I often see people exaggerating the grade of a coin or honestly believe that the grade is right.
I saw a Barber quarter go for much more than guide prices when it was marked XF when the coin was obviously F. I know one quarter I bought was marked XF when most agree here it is a VF coin. Doesn't matter much since I paid about the G price for it because it was harshly cleaned like a lot of them.

 

Sure, we are talking about Ebay here. People here use numeric grades all the time and have coins bought previously with numeric grades that most here would agree with the grade.

 

In my opinion, daveydempsey's point was that those rules about grades in titles apply to eBay's US site, not to other eBay sites.

Christian

 

Thats correct Christian, I can put MS99, VF,EF, Gem ,Proof, UNC, AUNC, and even make my own sticker up if I wish

 

Sure, I call V Nickels that are missing part of the "I" VG 11 since they are not quite F12 but better than VG-10.

 

Thanks chrisild, I didn't have a clue what he was talking about.

 

Did you report the listings like this?

Here's a better link, and you'll actually get a response from a live person, rather than an automated formatted email from a bot:

http://contact.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAP...3a46b6&rcode=c7d8e9c4b298eff616b2159d03a4ea35

 

No because I am not really looking to police Ebay and now I see that it doesn't violate rules to call a coin "extra fine" or "very good". It is to say it is a F-15 coin or VG-10 coin. I see there can be an issue with this if someone sent it to a TPG and got a different grade or details slab.

 

they should put warning labels on these like trade at your own risk or beware the marketing abilities of some of these sellers may exceed your ability to make a reasonable buy.i know this is not possible so i guess i will have to continue to be amazed by the prices some people pay.