authentication blues

[packs]

If you're in the business of selling, you've got to maximize your profits. I wouldn't say I get the blues having things authenticated. In the end I make more money and for people who aren't huge names, the fees aren't bad if you submit in person at a show.

[Forgebuster]

PSA or JSA does not push me over the top when I am buying. I trust my instincts and do my due diligence on the autograph I am seeking and go with my gut. I have seen some balls both of these companies have authenticated in the past that raises eyebrows and we have all heard the horror stories on Haulofshame! I do not resell however so I see your point. I have two high end cut signatures that are slabbed by one of these companies but who knows? It is an opinion based business as they all say and truth be known we probably all have had an Operation Bullpen forgery in our collections for all we know at one time or another. They claimed to have faked a million items! Follow your gut and if you like it run with it!

[theshleps]

I had the chance to purchase a rare signed T206. It was questionable and I paid to have the seller send it in as he promised to sell it at an agreed upon price if the certified it. They turned it down. It got sold to another friend of mine who does much business with the company and they OKed it and slabbed it for him. That pretty much sums up what I think of those companies
It is hard to know what something will bring on ebay as so many people have unreasonable buy it now prices on items they let sit for a year or two. I put my minimum bids at what I thought was below what the item was worth and sold maybe half. many were bought at the minimum bid by companies that will slab and double or triple the prices. That is OK.
One thing I found was if it didn't sell and then I relisted with a very low minimum bid- it often got bid up above the price I had previously listed it at when I got no takers.
It will be interesting when I list 20 nice multisigned cards in a week or so.
The high priced items that didn't sell I will probably hold for trade. Slight chance I will have a friend get them slabbed and relist then just as an experiment

[Forgebuster]

I have often believed the very thing you said is true in regards to business volume with those two companies....small fries like myself who does not sell only collects is probably burning good money after bad money with them!

[Runscott]

As a matter of principal, and to not support businesses that are a travesty to our hobby, I absolutely will not send autographs to either of them. There is more to life than making money - if there wasn't, then I'm sure some of us have the skills to make a very good living through dishonesty. Supporting those who do is hypocritical.

I would love to see 2-3 (or more) honest grading services that are not in the pockets of auction houses, do not let the almighty $ influence a go/no-go decision on an autograph, and who actually have an eye for autographs. There are so many 'big 2' authenticated laughing-stock forgeries in circulation, that I'm really not sure how good of an eye these guys have. Perhaps they are more honest than I think, but should be instead, working at Burger King.

No, it's not worth it.

[theshleps]

amen, Scott

[Runscott]

Perhaps this might sound like a violation of my own personal hypocrisy rules, but I do not throw away LOA's from the 'big 2' that arrive with autographs I purchase. I used to not even mention them when selling more expensive autographs, and only provide them if asked. As far as I could tell, it didn't affect my business and few non-tire-kickers ever asked for a LOA. I probably should go back to that policy, mentioning that I personally guarantee authenticity of the autograph, despite errors that TPA's will sometimes make.

This is one of the reasons that I really liked buying my higher-end autographs from Leland's, with only Josh's word on them - I paid non-LOA prices and could sell them as such with my guarantee and the auction house's. Same for RR. If I don't like the autograph, I don't buy it, and I shouldn't be buying expensive autographs that I'm not personally able to identify as real.

For lower-value autographs, I think TPA-certification makes sense - they can affordably take a look at a lot of autographs that forgers won't normally bother with, and give a general level of confidence to the purchaser that they aren't being scammed by an ebay seller. But on the large cert'd lots, you'll almost always find a few secretarials, and some will be fairly expensive ones, so at most you are getting protection from actual forgers.

I look at them like the McDonalds of autographs - you wouldn't buy a filet mignon dinner at McDonald's and a Babe Ruth certified at one of these places isn't going to taste any better than a Bob Feller.