I do understand that establishing a relationship with a dealer is important and using a site like ebay can supplement a collector, but is most of the grading that is advertised on coin auctions accurate, or do most sellers tend to over grade a coin. Of course all feedback must be read before bidding on anything, thanks for any input.
It's hard to say that most overgrade or that most are accurate. There are plenty of both. There are some that I wouldn't hesitate to buy coins from, just on their word that it was what they said it was. I wouldn't even need a picture. Then there are others that I wouldn't believe no matter what they said. Buying coins, bidding on online auctions, avoiding scams etc., is just like anything else in life. It's all a learning process. You have to learn to walk before you can run.
I've found that a lot of ones that grade over do it.The better ones have a very good picture and tell you to grade it yourself.Always make sure they have a return if not happy policy.If the picture is fuzzy or far away beware!
Just as any of the big grading companies will grade a coin differently, so do all the ameteurs on ebay. If they is a good picture, and there must be before I'll bid, I hold my photograde book up to the computer monitor and judge that way. Then I bid accordingly. One more point, I always consider the shipping fee into the price to determine my max bid.
Also when I win I keep a copy of the picture on my computer to compare when the coin comes in.Sometimes the photo's disappear from the auctions after they close.
Yes, this is a very good idea. I always store coin pictures locally after I've bought the item; I feel it's important to make sure that the item received is the same as what was pictured and described.
While pictures can be a plus when deciding to buy a coin - they should not be the primary reason. The sellers reputation and their return policy are the most important things. The reason for this is quite simple - I can take a picture of any coin and make it look either far better or far worse than it really is. So can they. It's not hard at all to hide marks or wear on a coin with a picture. All that is required is to change the angle of the light slightly and presto - the marks and signs of wear are gone. It is also easy to hide or alter toning on a coin with a picture. In fact - accurately capturing toning is one of the most difficult things to do. And if the person who produces the pic decides to use photo editing software - anything is possible. So don't always trust pictures - trust instead the person who took them
Ebay-raw-coin-for-sale-grading-rule-of-thumb...DEDUCT! BU means AU AU means EF EF means VF VF means VG VG means G G means Fair MS66 means MS64...maybe 65 if you are lucky MS65 means MS64 and so fort... As GDJMSP stated, Pics can be enhanced and manipulated. Trust comes from the person TAKING the pic over the how the pics look! Now, NOT every seller falls in line with ebay grading as I described, but these are the rules I use!
