Posted By:
Jodi BirkholmDavid A. is right here. I was going to stay out of this discussion to remain impartial, but just wanted to add a couple of thoughts before returning to lurkdom, as it were:
Yes, it IS strictly an opinion that any authenticator offers. And, as such, the customer is forced to place their trust in the knowledge of someone else. Do your homework before deciding on an authentication service that meets your needs. YOUR opinion counts first and foremost, so find someone you can trust.
I for one have spent the majority of my life immersed in the study of vintage baseball autographs and feel perfectly comfortable in my knowledge of said. I do not claim to know everything on the subject, as this is an impossibility. The opportunity to expand on that knowledge is one of the main reasons I get up every day! Kevin Keating once put it best when he said something to the effect of "I would not feel comfortable authenticating a Michael Jordan ball--it's not my area of expertise." (excuse the paraphrasing). Each respectable authenticator has his own strong suits and weak areas. There are areas in which I would feel uncomfortable rendering an opinion.
Back to the issue at hand, however. To re-stress the point in my initial response to this thread, "BUYER BEWARE!". All those in-demand names for less than the price of one Ruth or Gehrig cut? The whole deal, as described, sounds terribly fishy. I think anyone here would agree.