PSA quick opinion

[JoeyFarino]

Anybody else do a psa quick opinion and it come back likely not genuine only to see it later certified by them? Wanted to buy a autographed photo and the auction had pretty detailed pics so whoever saw it at psa wouldn't of had a problem seeing everything. Came back likely not genuine and now i see it has a psa loa a month later. Love that service.

[RichardSimon]

The problem with quick opinion is you do not know which mail room clerk is manning the quick opinion desk at the time of your submission.
It could be Joey the high school dropout who flips a coin.
It could be Peter who once asked Miley Cyrus for an autograph.
Or it could be someone who really does not know autographs very well.

[JoeyFarino]

Originally Posted by RichardSimon

The problem with quick opinion is you do not know which mail room clerk is manning the quick opinion desk at the time of your submission.
It could be Joey the high school dropout who flips a coin.
It could be Peter who once asked Miley Cyrus for an autograph.
Or it could be someone who really does not know autographs very well.

Very true...and its not like theyre explaining why its no good. It sucks because i passed on the item and now someone else has it and marked it up by about $600

[YankeeFan]

Great reply Richard! LOL

Joey - Maybe the guy who said it's no good was the winner!

[Republicaninmass]

Yup, I did a QO and it failed, someone submitted it in MY group submission, and it passed! Talk about a nut kicker

[Duluth Eskimo]

If you didn't win it, why not link the auction? It's hard it give an opinion on something without seeing it.

[JoeyFarino]

Originally Posted by Duluth Eskimo

If you didn't win it, why not link the auction? It's hard it give an opinion on something without seeing it.

Its a chuck jones, friz freleng and mel blanc signed photo. I guess i could post it but doesnt really matter at this point

[Bpm0014]

I had a Michael Jordan basketball and jersey signed in front of me at the same time. Basketball came back good, jersey came back bad. I can't fathom why people use third party companies to tell you whether something is good. The jersey was signed in front of me, but some bum 900 miles away is going to tell me it's fake. Crazy.

[Duluth Eskimo]

Originally Posted by JoeyFarino

Its a chuck jones, friz freleng and mel blanc signed photo. I guess i could post it but doesnt really matter at this point

I can't give an opinion on a non sport item as I don't collect much of it, but the item may in fact be good and you got a bad "opinion" to begin with. There will always be disagreements even between knowledgeable people and the only way to know something is truely authentic is to see it signed for yourself. When you rely on someone else's opinion to tell you if it's good or bad, then you sometimes get the short end of the stick.

[JoeyFarino]

Originally Posted by Duluth Eskimo

I can't give an opinion on a non sport item as I don't collect much of it, but the item may in fact be good and you got a bad "opinion" to begin with. There will always be disagreements even between knowledgeable people and the only way to know something is truely authentic is to see it signed for yourself. When you rely on someone else's opinion to tell you if it's good or bad, then you sometimes get the short end of the stick.

Ya im starting to realize that. I know theres "experts" who specialize in autographs but the person signing may have been rushed that day or tired and forgot to cross a T or whatever else it may be...and because of things like this theyre deemed no good.

[Lordstan]

I have had it happen the opposite way. In 2004ish, I sold a Jackie Robinson signed item on ebay. The person paid and then just before I shipped wrote me back that the quick opinion came back "likely not genuine." I refunded his money and cancelled the sale without issue. A couple months later, I took it to a show in Ft Washington. The dealer who ended up buying it, walked it, along with a few other things, over to PSA's booth and within 5min came back with their seal of approval. That opinion cost me around $100.

To Richard's point, unfortunately it isn't just the quick opinion that is shrouded in mystery. When you send an item in, you have no idea who examined it a gave the final opinion. All those PSA letters have 6-8 signatures at the bottom. Which one of them was responsible for your item? Nothing. All of JSA's letters have Spence's name at the bottom, but in my mind, there is no way he reviewed each item and gave the final opinion. If a specific specialist reviewed your item, why not have their name on the bottom of the letter?

[RichardSimon]

Originally Posted by Lordstan

To Richard's point, unfortunately it isn't just the quick opinion that is shrouded in mystery. When you send an item in, you have no idea who examined it a gave the final opinion. All those PSA letters have 6-8 signatures at the bottom. Which one of them was responsible for your item? Nothing. All of JSA's letters have Spence's name at the bottom, but in my mind, there is no way he reviewed each item and gave the final opinion. If a specific specialist reviewed your item, why not have their name on the bottom of the letter?

How sadly and totally true.
It is absurd that the COA does not include the name of the person who actually EXAMINED the item. Having Joe Orlando's facsimile signature on a COA does not exactly inspire confidence. (if in fact he still has his facsimile on their COA's).

[RichardSimon]

Originally Posted by YankeeFan

Great reply Richard! LOL

Joey - Maybe the guy who said it's no good was the winner!

Thank you,, always good to see an appreciation of a comment I make here .

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Lordstan

If a specific specialist reviewed your item, why not have their name on the bottom of the letter?

Jimmy's name is worth more.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Bpm0014

I had a Michael Jordan basketball and jersey signed in front of me at the same time. Basketball came back good, jersey came back bad. I can't fathom why people use third party companies to tell you whether something is good. The jersey was signed in front of me, but some bum 900 miles away is going to tell me it's fake. Crazy.

Dude, you were dreaming when you got it signed. Yes, this is the kind of issue that would make me only collect legal documents if I were to venture into autographs. They are usually good. It seems there are almost as many of these stories as there are tales of accurate grading. It is a crapshoot to a layperson.

[scmavl]

I've sent a '75 Topps Jim Rice RC in twice for grading and gotten it back both times as "trimmed". I have video of me opening the rack pack and pulling it out. Those guys are crazy, both the auto and the grading side.

[Bpm0014]

Dude, you were dreaming when you got it signed. Yes, this is the kind of issue that would make me only collect legal documents if I were to venture into autographs. They are usually good. It seems there are almost as many of these stories as there are tales of accurate grading. It is a crapshoot to a layperson.

Hahaha. I don't even collect autographs because of this. However, I have access to Jordan once a year because my uncle does bodyguard work for him and his driver George every year at a local celebrity Mario Lemieux golf tourmament. I usually get 4-5 items signed every year. In a matter of a day, I had a jersey, basketball, picture, and rookie card signed. 3 came back fine, the jersey was deemed a forgery. It's a COMPLETE CRAPSHOOT!

[RichardSimon]

Originally Posted by Bpm0014

Dude, you were dreaming when you got it signed. Yes, this is the kind of issue that would make me only collect legal documents if I were to venture into autographs. They are usually good. It seems there are almost as many of these stories as there are tales of accurate grading. It is a crapshoot to a layperson.

Hahaha. I don't even collect autographs because of this. However, I have access to Jordan once a year because my uncle does bodyguard work for him and his driver George every year at a local celebrity Mario Lemieux golf tourmament. I usually get 4-5 items signed every year. In a matter of a day, I had a jersey, basketball, picture, and rookie card signed. 3 came back fine, the jersey was deemed a forgery. It's a COMPLETE CRAPSHOOT!

Now just convince a huge amount of collectors of that fact.

[Republicaninmass]

Wouldn't you rather them err on the side of caution?

[shelly]

Originally Posted by Republicaninmass

Wouldn't you rather them err on the side of caution?

Not when it cost you an arm and leg.

[RichardSimon]

Originally Posted by Republicaninmass

Wouldn't you rather them err on the side of caution?

If you knew the person who was "erring" that would be a good thing.
But who the heck is "erring?"
Joe, Peter, Miley, Mickey, Donald, ?????
And they are getting $7 ?? for a QO. Do you really think it is not a mail room kid looking at the graphs?

[Klrdds]

We all tend to forget that JSA and PSA and any other 3 letter initial company you use for grading whether for cards or autographs are rendering ONLY an opinion . They are not infallible nor are they the gods that they and some people make them out to be...they are human and make mistakes too whether on a quick opinion, mail in or on site evaluation. The problem is there is little or no recourse against them and they do not tell you who evaluated the item or tell you why it was graded as it was. They hide behind their veil of power and secrecy. As long as collectors, both the uneducated and experienced , require their blessing on a purchase or prior to a purchase this will continue and probably get worse. As long as the volume of material continues to flow in at the record pace it does for these companies there is no motivation for them to change their way of doing business on any front.