eBay authenticates trading cards valued at over $250, and now it’s offering to grade raw (ungraded) cards during the authentication process.
While cllct reported the new offering on Sunday, neither eBay nor its partner, third-party authentication and grading provider PSA, appears to have made a public announcement on their respective websites.
According to cllct, eBay will add the option at checkout for buyers to choose to have cards priced above $250 graded as an add-on to the eBay Authenticity Guarantee requirement, which requires sellers to submit cards for inspection by PSA. “The new feature will offer the option at checkout to have PSA grade the card immediately after it passes inspection before shipping to the buyer,” according to cllt. “Collectors won’t need to register for a PSA account to request grading.”
cllct reporter Ben Burrows tweeted a link to Sunday’s story, where it was met with mixed reviews. One collector wrote, “Might have to make use of this one! Nice feature.” Another wrote, “Easily the DUMBEST idea ever in this hobby .. can’t wait to hear all the complaints from people doing and their cards coming back grading like shit.”
eBay had entered into a partnership with PSA owner this time last year, entering into a series of transactions including eBay’s acquisition of Collector’s Goldin auction house.
cllt said it expected eBay to announce additional details on pricing and grading service tiers this week, and said the companies also announced a free shipping promotion for graded cards from PSA to buyers until June 30th. See cllt’s article “eBay adds new feature to send raw cards to PSA for grading” for additional information.
