"Is it true "Grading is a subjective matter"? I had seen many people put it in their online sales. When I buy their item in a Very Fine condition coin, I received only a fine condition item. When I asked him about it, he said that he already mention in his post "Grading is a subjective matter". He don't want to refund me the money or exchange for other coins. He also said item sold are not refundable. The issue in here is that I received an item below my expectation. I don't simply asked for refund because I don't like that item or something."-a friend private message me in Facebook.
Before you read the rest of this post, please read this; Online dealer kill this hobby because that is related to these discussion.
I also had seen many Malaysian seller put it in their sales online either in eBay, Lelong, Facebook or Mudah.my. Some are genuine and well known online seller for many years but there are also new seller who I never heard before either online or offline. In my opinion, subjective matter in grading shouldn't be an excuse for seller not to refund his buyer. Buyer and seller must communicate either online or offline to discuss about the grading issue in their trading; before the buyer paid his item and after the buyer received his item. Buyer should not just give seller the responsibility to make sure the grading is correct, they should ask. Most Malaysia online sellers have other jobs beside selling online.
Grading for coins and banknotes is an important factor that determine the value of the item. I had seen some online seller upgrade their grading one standard up so they can sell it at a higher price. It is a wrong way to do business if you want to be in this business for a long time. In online trading, we can only see the pictures and description of the item, not the actual item in our hand. Buyer depend on seller correct description and sharp pictures to judge if they want to buy the item. As a seller, you should give a correct description about the item to make sure buyer can give their correct judgement. As a buyer, you should ask questions to make sure you're satisfy with the seller grading and description.
When we talk about grading, can you give your trust to seller 100% to make a correct grading for their sales item? This month, I had seen many grading issue had been brought up in Malaysia Numismatic Facebook community. A buyer had been paying a high price (still cheaper then the normal price for that grade) for an "Extremely Fine" banknote but he only received a "Fine" condition banknote. When he asked about it with the seller, the seller don't want to reply. Luckily, after one police report, the buyer get his refund. When I follow this case, I found out about the seller details and ID. "She" is one of Facebook seller that I had put in a list of untrusted Facebook sellers because she is new but manage to put rare item on sell. Most of the time her item pictures a bit blur and the price is a bit cheaper then market price. My untrusted Facebook sellers list is just a private list that I make for myself. I also had been putting some of the sellers on the list just because the way they're doing "jokes", displaying the notes they want to sell on their body. If you don't know how to cherish your collection, that mean you also don't know how to take care your collection too. Even if that notes are in plastic, they're possibility that your sweat may touch the notes. Trust is a vital factor to determine if buyer want to buy from any seller. Buyer should not give 100% trust to seller especially for online sales.
I also had seen some of my collector friends said that grading shouldn't be a subjective matter if you have knowledge in grading but they don't said that grading knowledge may take years to master, after looking or handling thousands of coins and banknotes. Something that not every collector can do and need some time to learn. That is the reason why we need a third party opinion in grading. You can read some article about coin grading that I think worth to mention in this article:
- Professional Coin Grading Service ( PCGS ); The Importance of Coin Grading.
- Numismaster; Coin Grading.
- Spink; How much is a coin worth?
Malaysia Numismatic Society or the New Kelab Warisan Numismatik should plan some coin and banknote grading classes for their members in the future. They can open it to non-members with a fee. One way to educate Malaysian collector, so one day, grading will not become a subjective matter anymore.
