Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on February 6, 2014 at 3:20pm

I think you're right. They only take photos of the ones they issue LOAs for.

Everything they certify is tagged with a dab of their unique synthetic DNA, which is supposedly incredibly hard to duplicate, if it can be at all. I don't know the science. That identifies if an autoraph is certified by them, but you either need access to one of the taggant readers, or you need to send it into them to make sure.

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Permalink Reply by Randy on February 6, 2014 at 7:50pm

I agree completely. No way to image every item without going up on the fees to handle the additional work. I don't think additional advertising would cover it.

I really doubt if they care if an item occasionally gets questioned. They certainly shrugged off the Rivera that Ryan questioned them on a few weeks ago by saying, "We stand behind our opinion. We have recent exemplars of this version of his sloppy signature. Opinions vary. If you don't like the signature, don't buy it."

I'm sure they authenticated this Puig whether right or wrong. I seriously doubt if the label has been switched.

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Permalink Reply by Erich Jerozal on February 7, 2014 at 4:52am

Also at shows.  They just sticker and cert and describe the item.  you pay 10 bucks to get a psa ticket.   Then you go and get an autograph and go into a line for psa to sticker your item.  No one is taking pictures there. 

Hundreds of items get stickered in one  day at one show.  Imagine how long it would take to take photos of all those items. 

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Permalink Reply by Erich Jerozal on February 6, 2014 at 2:25pm

it all comes down to $$$$$$$.  If they took a picture and downloaded that picture to their website, it would cost $$$$ to do that.  Maybe not much for just one item.  But factor in all of the items they authenticate in one day.  Then a week then a year.  I think that's what its all about.  They charge 20 bucks for an LOA with a picture in their database. 

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Permalink Reply by Randy on February 6, 2014 at 2:31pm

Absolutely correct about the cost.

They only show a picture in their database for items with higher fees. If a pictured LOA is paid for, then the picture on the LOA is eventually downloaded to their database but on basic $20 certificates they don't load a picture.

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Permalink Reply by James Stone on February 6, 2014 at 2:58pm

But that's a typical company being cheap at the expense of the customers. PSA/DNA make money hand over fist. Doesn't John Reznikoff own like $20 million worth of autographs or something ridiculous?

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on February 6, 2014 at 3:10pm

$20,000,000?? Really???

Well if he does he's buying dinner tonight. He's in L.A. for the Antiquarian Book Fair.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on February 6, 2014 at 3:50pm

BTW, Reznikoff isn't an owner of PSA/DNA.

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Permalink Reply by James Stone on February 6, 2014 at 6:00pm

I read an article like that. I know he has a Gwinnett signature, Honus baseballcard, upside down stamp, all total $7 mil. Can't imagine what else, $20 mil may be conservative.. Even though he isn't the owner, I think once you develop a reputation like PSA has (similar to Reznikoff) you can make money with ease. Whats the overhead? Very little. People are dropping $50-$350 a pop and all they have to do is research. I guess they have a few tools. But how much does that cost?

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on February 7, 2014 at 12:12am

John bought dinner.

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Permalink Reply by Null on February 6, 2014 at 2:33pm

And with photos they'll need more servers/server space/backups being made... 

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on February 6, 2014 at 3:59pm

Here's what I think you should do:

Email PSA and tell them how important you think it is for collectors--and for them--to have an online image database of every autograph they authenticate. Be sure to sell them all the reasons why. Ask for it to be forwarded to Joe Orlando. Hopefully over time they'll see the light.

They could make more than enough money selling advertising on the lookup page to cover the cost of hosting the images.

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