Hi there,
I agree, you would think someone would get something graded if it meant they would get more money for it. So why wouldn't they get it graded? In answer to your question, I don't think many people outwith the community of collectors really know anything about grading. When someone just happens to come across a collection of expensive items from a house sale I don't think they would care for going through the process of getting a figure graded - even if they knew about the process. They probably just want to get the item sold as quickly as possible. In this instance I don't think the sellers knew anything about what they were really selling, not unless they were master scammers - possible. For starters they advertised the sale of the two items as "Original 12 back star wars figures." Now, bearing in mind this is a 12 back A Luke, don't you think if they really knew what they were selling they might have advertised it? I think, like they said, they simply picked up the items from a house sale, did a little bit of research and tried to quickly get as much money for them as they could. Again, I might be wrong.
Here is the link to the auction page:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161795292398?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
What do you think?
Gerry