Published by Charleston Voice, 5.3.12
Images courtesy of HeritageAuctions.com.
Internet auction company eBay announced April 17 that it will implement
changes to its coin listing policy that will restrict the use of
numeric grades in listings and what coins can be sold without being
graded by one of the grading services that meet eBay’s standards, and
the policy will introduce new criteria for grading services recognized
by the firm.
In a press release and in an email sent to eBay account holders, the firm stated that the modifications to its policy are “to provide shoppers and sellers with greater confidence in their coins transactions.”
This change in eBay’s policy follows on the heels of other recent eBay initiatives, including a ban on sales of replica coins on the website, a move that became effective Feb. 20.
Beginning May 30, all new listings and relistings for coins being sold on the company’s website at eBay must meet the following requirements:
➤ “Listings for coins will be allowed to include a numeric grade in their listing title or item description only if the coin grading company providing the grade meets certain objective standards. Coins that haven’t been graded by such companies will be considered raw or ungraded.”
➤ “For U.S. coins only, grading by companies meeting these standards will now be required for all coins listed with a Buy It Now, reserve, or start price of $2,500 and above.”
In the press release, Brooke Segaran, eBay’s senior manager of collectibles, is quoted as saying, “The coin industry is extremely dynamic and exciting, and eBay’s goal is to continue to offer new ways for collectors to connect with dealers in the most trusted experience possible.”
The auction company worked with John Albanese, founder of Certified Acceptance Corp. and Numismatic Consumer Alliance, to develop the standards for third-party grading services that must be met for listing coins as “certified” on eBay.
Under the new rules, grading services must meet the following criteria:
➤ The company must have graded at least 50,000 pre-1956 coins.
➤ The grading service must possess a live, online population report.
➤ The company must employ at least three graders on its staff who are considered “numismatic experts” (according to the eBay policy, “an individual who has been a full-time numismatist for at least five years”). At least one of the three graders should be a member of Professional Numismatists Guild and all three should be members of the American Numismatic Association.
➤ The firm must have a stated buyback guarantee in writing for coins later determined to be counterfeit, damaged, over- or mis-graded, or misattributed.
➤ Coins being encapsulated must be kept in “unique, state-of-the-art, tamper-resistant holders with anti-counterfeiting measures” (for example, holograms). Archival materials should be used wherever possible.
➤ The company must enable online verification of unique serial numbers on its holders.
Currently, eBay states that only Numismatic Guaranty Corp. and Professional Coin Grading Service have met the new standards. However, eBay stated that other third-party grading services that meet these standards are encouraged to contact the company for future eligibility.
Coin World requested from eBay clarification on certain aspects of the new policy, namely: Why did eBay select “pre-1956 coins” as a cut-off date, as opposed to other dates? Will eBay exempt from the $2,500 rule expensive modern coins or sets of coins that aren’t generally certified and are most commonly sold in original U.S. Mint packaging? Were there concerns with coins from other grading services (as opposed to PCGS and NGC encapsulations) that precipitated the change? Was the American Numismatic Association or other coin-related organizations/businesses consulted or did they have any input in this decision?
As of the time this issue of Coin World went to press April 27, eBay officials had not answered these inquiries.
ANACS speeds registry plan
The new policy elicited responses from several third-party services that the policy would exclude if in place now — ANACS, Independent Coin Graders and Sovereign Entities Grading Service.
Paul DeFelice, vice president of client relations and marketing for third-party grading service ANACS (www.anacs.com), sent an email to ANACS customers stating:
“Many of you have contacted us about the email sent out by eBay regarding changes in their coin listing policies that specifically impact sellers of ANACS graded coins. We want to assure that you that we are absolutely confident that this issue will be addressed by the May 30 deadline that eBay has established. We would also like to take this opportunity to address some of the specific questions that have been raised, and to share with you what we are working on, which we believe will ultimately be of benefit to you.
“In its email to sellers of coins, eBay mentions ‘certain objective standards’ that are required of coin grading companies. We were not made aware of these standards until April 17th — the very same day that eBay chose to notify its sellers of the change. Now that we have been able to review these standards, it is our contention that we exceed every standard that has been set, with the exception of what we consider to be a single technicality. Finish reading
Experienced coin buyers will recognize eBay is expanding its squeeze on the smaller coin dealers/individual sellers on its auction platter.Eliminating competition is the goal of these coin dealer insiders represented by something called the Numismatic Consumer Alliance.
As you'd expect the NCA is taxpayer-subsidized by cloaking its "consumer protection" deception as a "New Jersey Nonprofit Organization".
It's founder, John Albanese of Blanchard still has close ties to two of the three authorized eBay-approved "coin certifiers", PCGS and NGC. From our lifelong familiarity, Blanchard has always been a high premium dealer with their products usually plentifully available elsewhere at lower prices. Marketing is their strength, not quality with competitive pricing.
In effect this 'partnering' (conspiring?) of the larger dealers with eBay is just another step to dislodge consumer grading judgement by entrusting "experts". These corrupting coin cabalists will do much to discourage newbies from entering the coin collecting hobby.
We, and you too, should remove all the dealer contributing participants from your preferred list of trusted dealers.
Varied reactions in response to new eBay coin listing policy
ANACS, ICG implementing compliance plans; SEGS is undecided
Images courtesy of HeritageAuctions.com.
In a press release and in an email sent to eBay account holders, the firm stated that the modifications to its policy are “to provide shoppers and sellers with greater confidence in their coins transactions.”
This change in eBay’s policy follows on the heels of other recent eBay initiatives, including a ban on sales of replica coins on the website, a move that became effective Feb. 20.
Beginning May 30, all new listings and relistings for coins being sold on the company’s website at eBay must meet the following requirements:
➤ “Listings for coins will be allowed to include a numeric grade in their listing title or item description only if the coin grading company providing the grade meets certain objective standards. Coins that haven’t been graded by such companies will be considered raw or ungraded.”
➤ “For U.S. coins only, grading by companies meeting these standards will now be required for all coins listed with a Buy It Now, reserve, or start price of $2,500 and above.”
In the press release, Brooke Segaran, eBay’s senior manager of collectibles, is quoted as saying, “The coin industry is extremely dynamic and exciting, and eBay’s goal is to continue to offer new ways for collectors to connect with dealers in the most trusted experience possible.”
The auction company worked with John Albanese, founder of Certified Acceptance Corp. and Numismatic Consumer Alliance, to develop the standards for third-party grading services that must be met for listing coins as “certified” on eBay.
Under the new rules, grading services must meet the following criteria:
➤ The company must have graded at least 50,000 pre-1956 coins.
➤ The grading service must possess a live, online population report.
➤ The company must employ at least three graders on its staff who are considered “numismatic experts” (according to the eBay policy, “an individual who has been a full-time numismatist for at least five years”). At least one of the three graders should be a member of Professional Numismatists Guild and all three should be members of the American Numismatic Association.
➤ The firm must have a stated buyback guarantee in writing for coins later determined to be counterfeit, damaged, over- or mis-graded, or misattributed.
➤ Coins being encapsulated must be kept in “unique, state-of-the-art, tamper-resistant holders with anti-counterfeiting measures” (for example, holograms). Archival materials should be used wherever possible.
➤ The company must enable online verification of unique serial numbers on its holders.
Currently, eBay states that only Numismatic Guaranty Corp. and Professional Coin Grading Service have met the new standards. However, eBay stated that other third-party grading services that meet these standards are encouraged to contact the company for future eligibility.
Coin World requested from eBay clarification on certain aspects of the new policy, namely: Why did eBay select “pre-1956 coins” as a cut-off date, as opposed to other dates? Will eBay exempt from the $2,500 rule expensive modern coins or sets of coins that aren’t generally certified and are most commonly sold in original U.S. Mint packaging? Were there concerns with coins from other grading services (as opposed to PCGS and NGC encapsulations) that precipitated the change? Was the American Numismatic Association or other coin-related organizations/businesses consulted or did they have any input in this decision?
As of the time this issue of Coin World went to press April 27, eBay officials had not answered these inquiries.
ANACS speeds registry plan
The new policy elicited responses from several third-party services that the policy would exclude if in place now — ANACS, Independent Coin Graders and Sovereign Entities Grading Service.
Paul DeFelice, vice president of client relations and marketing for third-party grading service ANACS (www.anacs.com), sent an email to ANACS customers stating:
“Many of you have contacted us about the email sent out by eBay regarding changes in their coin listing policies that specifically impact sellers of ANACS graded coins. We want to assure that you that we are absolutely confident that this issue will be addressed by the May 30 deadline that eBay has established. We would also like to take this opportunity to address some of the specific questions that have been raised, and to share with you what we are working on, which we believe will ultimately be of benefit to you.
“In its email to sellers of coins, eBay mentions ‘certain objective standards’ that are required of coin grading companies. We were not made aware of these standards until April 17th — the very same day that eBay chose to notify its sellers of the change. Now that we have been able to review these standards, it is our contention that we exceed every standard that has been set, with the exception of what we consider to be a single technicality. Finish reading
