Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Rick Meyer on February 16, 2013 at 4:47pm

Why not post the pictures of what you bought to go with your post?

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Permalink Reply by Dan Gregory on February 16, 2013 at 4:56pm

On their website it says:

The Autograph Guys.com is in no way associated with, or stands behind, any third party authentication company or any of their opinions.  These so-called "expert" authenticating companies are not in the field of collecting autographs, so how are they experts on every single celebrity autograph?  All of the third party authenticators claim to hold the highest standard and are the "The Best", or "The #1 Leading Authenticator In The Business."  These claims could not be further from the truth!  Every single one of these companies has shown on many occasions where their opinion has been proven wrong.  Many of these companies have even had lawsuits filed against them because of their biased claims!

If you want to find out more about autograph authenticating companies before you pay for their opinion, go to the independently run website, AutographAlert.com.  Remember to make sure you have done your research before you hand over your hard earned money for someone else's opinion!

Says it all really, we know we sell fakes and they will fail a 3rd party!

Did you pay via Credit Card or Paypal? If so, can you still try to get your money back?

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Permalink Reply by Carl Ryan on February 17, 2013 at 5:41pm

Wow, Dan is dead on.

Autograph Alert, along with Autograph News Live are the 2 biggest smear sites on the net. They blatantly promote forgeries and try and slander all of the legitimate dealers so that they can peddle their forgeries with complete freedom. Anyone who recommends them in any way whatsoever should be looked at as part of the autograph problem we have today. From their response it is obvious that they know their items are forgeries and that they are crooks. The disclaimer that they use is textbook for sellers of forgeries. I dont even need to see one of their items. Their disclaimer, along with promoting one of the biggest slander sites out their, says volumes. They know they are selling forgeries, pure and simple.

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Permalink Reply by Rich on February 17, 2013 at 6:49pm

What a weird disclaimer.  I can understand a company being disgruntled with all TPA, but that statement just sounds kinda shady.  Especially the mention of Autograph Alert.

To be honest, I thought gateway looked okay in the past.  Maybe I'm mixing them up with someone else though.

Is anyone noticing any bonafide forgeries?  I'm looking through their inventory.  The stuff I have some familiarity with isn't eliciting any red flags thus far, but I'm not seeing an signatures I know especially well.

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Permalink Reply by Dr. Mark Medley on March 31, 2013 at 3:17am

Hey Thomas. I am Mark Medley and gatewayautos on eBay is MY eBay account. My eBay is associated with the Autograph Guys in the simple fact that they are my collecting partners. Zach & Derek of the Autograph Guys are completely legitimate. There is a separation between my eBay and their website, but we link to each other to add traffic to each other. I am not certain what your question or concern is, but I am happy to address it. My name, telephone number, email address, and mailing address are on eBay, my facebook, twitter, websites, etc. and I am easily reached. If you want to, or choose to contact me PLEASE do so, I'd be more than happy to answer your question(s) and/or concerns. Allow me to continue my stating, I am a FAN, first and foremost, a fan of the hobby and a fan of bringing happiness to others who cannot acquire signed memorabilia on their own, by providing it for sale. I have an EXCELLENT reputation, personally, professionally, online, with my celebrity clients, in the industry, with fans, and the MANY charitable organizations we work with, etc. My eBay account you have mentioned speaks for itself, with over 5,000 current listings, a 16+ year eBay veteran in EXCELLENT Standing with 100% Positive Feedback. I am a UACC Member in EXCELLENT STANDING as well. There are tricks to this trade and I certainly have been know to utilize the phrase 'loose lips, sink ships' so I prefer NOT to tell you how I/we go about finding information on celebs in any detail, HOWEVER, if you care to know WHERE or WHEN an item was signed, I'd be delighted to inform you. Under normal circumstances, I/we photograph and video EVER item being signed in person. There are of course times when such is not possible or it would be inappropriate. You can see MANY of our videos that we place on the Autograph Guys fan page on facebook. AS FAR AS Authentication goes, I will personally vouch for each and every and any item listed on my eBay pages! EVERY item listed was acquired by me IN PERSON, or I saw it signed in person with my own eyes, or was acquired by the individuals that I have been collecting with for decades! You CAN'T get better authentication than how we do this. With IN PERSON photos and videos, AND a COA if desired. What I WON'T do though is torture my clients with a stupid sticker that means NOTHING! Third party authentication means just that, a third party, meaning NOT the celeb signing, NOT me who got the autograph In Person, but a THIRD PERSON that wasn't even there, and has possibly NEVER acquired a signed item in person, and is now going to make a rash, snap decision on whether the signature is real or not. Give me a break! These  so called 'authenticaters' don't normally know what they are doing... AT ALL! With the MILLIONS of autographs they would have to know off of the top of their head, and the circumstances in which the items are signed all tell a tale. Some 20 year old kid at a sports card show or in a hotel room at the airport or through the mail has NO CLUE how to tell a real from a forged or unauthentic signature or autograph! HOW IN THE WORLD COULD THEY?! For instance, jsa has ONE boss, but sends kids out to satelite cities to authenticate graphs. IT'S A JOKE! These people are collectiong MONEY from you whether or not they say the item is real or not. YOU are the one getting screwed by them! How would you like it if YOU went and got a celeb, in person, and then took that item YOU got in person to a third party authenticator, paid them ALOT of money to tell you their 'opinion' on the item, and tell you it doesn't pass. WTF?! YOU got it in person, YOU know it's real, but some yahoo is going to tell you it isn't?! C'MON - it's a racket, a scam and these people are making MILLIONS off of the uninformed people like yourself, that think a little silver sticker is going to make a fake real or make any item more valuable. If I went and authenticated, from one of these 'better known' third party authenticaters, I'd have to pass the COST of that onto the buyer of the item. Do you know what it costs to have items 'certified' by these characters?! it is a small FORTUNE! - SO... by me taking photos and videos of ME getting the items signed IN PERSON, and providing a COA from ME -I eliminate you paying AT LEAST $100.00 or more extra onto of the item price itself. Collecting and Selling isn't free, It takes MASSIVE amounts of time to gather the information and product to be signed, then wait for countless hours in all kinds of weather and times of day all over the country to acquire these pieces. Like I said before, I am a FAN first and foremost, and chances are I am going to get these celebs myself and then for resale. I would NEVER sell anything that wasn't acquired by me personally or by my elite group of genuine collecting friends. I wouldn't want someone to sell me a fake and I will NEVER do it to anyone else! - If you buy something from me, and you submit it to a third party for authentication, and it fails - that is proof right there that they are full of s***! - These people Just Don't Know What They Are Doing! EVERY signature DOES NOT look like the one you saw before wherever... - try running down an L.A. street and having Arnold Schwarztenegger sign through the window of an SUV, at 10 mph in the rain, or fight a crowd of fans at a NYC talk show for Robert Dinero. These graphs will look different since they are acquired under differnt circumstances, but by God they were acquired IN PERSON! If you have a bunch of autographs looking IDENTICAL by some seller, especially of a very rare or difficult to acquire name, chances are THOSE are fake. Any idiot can buy a stack of posters, sit in their apartment and look at a picture of a signature and copy that. THAT is why we attempt to provide photographic proof of each and every item listed. Go ahead, check my eBay, you'll see that I have proof, usually EXACT proof and or links to video I took while the celebs signed those items for me/us.  - Now how does that compare to some guy, who doesn't know a Joe Diamaggio signature from a Joe the Plummer graph, and then charging you for a $100 shiny sticker. Hey, if you want to collect stickers, go ahead, feel free to get one - it's YOUR Money, but honestly, your money is better spent buying from me or another reputable collector/dealer on eBay that acquires the items in person. I know this explanation is lengthy, but I get a little frustrated at reading comments like yours here. I am not mad, and I welcome you to contact me. I just don't like, at all, people being VERY misinformed about this authentication thing. It's HORRIBLE! - Message me personally on facebook under dr mark medley - I look forward to hearing from you and anyone else that wishes to ask me a question. Thank You for your time.

Dr. Mark Medley :o)

https://www.facebook.com/mark.medley.90#!/mark.medley.90

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Permalink Reply by Rick Meyer on March 31, 2013 at 10:48am

I've bought from Gatewayautos before. I was satisfied with purchase I made. The stuff they sell that I am familiar with look good.

To be honest I am starting to be disgruntled with 3rd party opinions myself. Look around EBAY for the PSA ITP of COAs. Some of the hardest names in the business. Yeah right.

 

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Permalink Reply by Dr. Mark Medley on March 31, 2013 at 2:52pm

Thanks Rick. Like I mention above, if ANYONE ever has a question on where or when I have ascertained signatures,Ii am EASILY accessible and I welcome the questions! There IS alot of s*** on eBay, I am NOT one of the many bad sellers on there. There are also many GOOD reputable names, like myself, that do this for the personal satisfaction, and for the fans, the ones that can't take the time to go out and get the signed items in person. BEWARE of these THIRD PARTY Authenticaters, they are ONLY interested in taking your money! Looking forward to serving all of you in the near future!

Mark :o)

 

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Permalink Reply by Carl Ryan on April 9, 2013 at 1:12am

Here is the kicker, They urge the buyers to visit Autograph Alert and the like. As we all know, these sites are smear and slander sites, dedicated to getting rid of respectable authenticators so that the forging industry has free reign. They have some good members, but few and far between. The site deliberately tries to paint the picture that not only do the TPAs have no clue, but neither does anyone else who isnt on ship with them. According to them, this site is trash along with all its members, and that no one has any clue. According to them Roger Epperson, Steve Cyrkin, Chris Williams and countless others are part of the problem and are passing forgeries. Often they cant even find anything to say, so they just attack the members family members if that tells you anything. 

And their is no one out their who cant miss this!! Its in your face and blinking the minute you start exploring the site. It takes just a few clicks to realize that the site is devoted to one purpose, and that is to get rid of people causing them trouble. Sure their are a few good members, but again, its not the norm. So on to my point. I know of not one respectable autograph dealer/authenticator who endorses Autograph News Live or Autograph Alert and urges people to visit it. They just arent there. And this is not only b/c their are alot of shady people there and little truth, but also b/c if they send their members there, they risk making themselves look horrible. Once a customer learns what the site is truly about, then they are going to wonder why their seller told them to visit the site.

And again, i have never heard any respected autograph expert recommend viewers vist Autograph News Live or Autograph Alert. They may have no comment, but they sure as heck dont tell their buyers to go their, b/c they know what the site is about. So then why is the site being recommended here? Not saying this is what is going on in this companies case, but this honestly is behavior that we see from those who arent on the up and up all the time. Its unfortunate, but its the truth, and just by their recommendation, alot of flags are raised. This type of disclaimer is basically word for word what we all see time and time again from ebay sellers passing questionable items. And i cant imagine any company selling legit items telling their customers to go do their research and go to Autograph Alert. And thats disregarding the fact that if the customer did their research, they would find out that you cant trust that site at all.  So why is it being recommended here? You cant blame it on not knowing what the site is about, b/c anyone recommending the site, who does research, would have found that site to be what it really is.

If their is a legit reason to recommend its buyers visit Autograph Alert, i would love to here it, but i doubt their would be a reason good enough. As we all know that that site exists solely to discredit the TPAs and legitimate dealers, members, and authenticators. If you dont like the TPAs then no big deal. But recommending buyers visit a site devoted to mistruth? Why?

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Permalink Reply by Rock G III on April 9, 2013 at 5:04am

I love "proof" shots that have nothing to do with the item. Nothing says the item is legit than not seeing the item in the shot lol

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