REA catalog intro

[travrosty]

a lot of these auction houses trust abc or xyz for financial reasons. they believe they can get a higher bid because they believe the public will pay more for abc and xyz certs. what they don't understand is that they are perpetuating it by this belief if only abc and xyz certs can make it into any auction house listings.

but as long as they think they are getting the higher bids then they don't care.

personally a lot of these autographs would be more accurate if specialists had their own coa attached to it. but accuracy doesnt compute to $$$$$$$$$ in a lot of these peoples minds so we get stuck with abc and xyz.

a story recently of a person who had an elvis signature looked at by abc, they flunked it, but the elvis specialist, who is on staff there, liked it off of the record. they asked abc why they didnt have the elvis specialist look at it, and abc supposedly replied that they dont show the elvis guy every elvis autograph.

they why have the guy on staff? i think if we knew the % of autographs that the "specialists" on staff of these outfits actually looked at in comparison to all the submission of their specialties, it would probably be an eye opener.

If I ran an auction house i wouldnt use any authentication company who wouldn't tell the public just who exactly looked at any one autograph and i would require them to at least have exemplars given to me at least in reserve to back up their findings to show to any bidder who asked. if they can't do that, they why 'trust' them?

i would like to ask REA why they trust JSA?

[markf31]

Originally Posted by travrosty

i would like to ask REA why they trust JSA?

I think they made that pretty obvious if you read the autograph intro.

Originally Posted by REA

We think very highly of their service. This doesn’t mean that all other autograph authentication services are not good. This is what we have chosen to do because we believe that JSA offers the best authentication service in the business for the type of items that we specialize in.

[travrosty]

Originally Posted by markf31

I think they made that pretty obvious if you read the autograph intro.

no they didn't, they didnt explain why they feel that way and why they believe jsa to be the best. how did they come to that conclusion?

i wish rea would come on here and explain.

[mschwade]

Slightly off topic, but why does REA post that letter from Barry Halper on the inside cover? I think with all the controversy surrounding his collection, this is certainly not a good business move for potential buyers. I know they'll most like be "just fine" with it in there, just don't feel confident seeing REA boast the Halper thank you letter.

[shelly]

Originally Posted by travrosty

no they didn't, they didnt explain why they feel that way and why they believe jsa to be the best. how did they come to that conclusion?

i wish rea would come on here and explain.

I know that when I buy something for 20,000 I will really sleep well at night

[travrosty]

they pawn off authentication to an outfit that doesnt tell you who looked at the item so they can wash their hands of the authentication? who the heck looks at these items?

[shelly]

I do have one question to the people that do buy from auction houses. Did they or do they still guarantee an item for life?

[Leon]

Originally Posted by shelly

I do have one question to the people that do buy from auction houses. Did they or do they still guarantee an item for life?

I think it depends. They have to be able to go back to a consignor for relief and after a lot of time that could be difficult. If I sell something privately I always give a lifetime warranty of authenticity. I don't, and would almost never, sell autographs. I have given a few refunds of items sold 1-2 yrs before.