Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by george enrique on June 15, 2018 at 4:33pm

I have seen some bad autographs authenticated by Beckett.

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Permalink Reply by James on June 15, 2018 at 5:00pm

This is a tough call.  First, as I have commented before, imo, PSA/DNA’s QO is almost worthless.  That’s not a comment on their full service, just the QO.  PSA’s QO is known for erroring on the side of caution, but this approach can create chaos for both buyers and sellers.  People are often scared away from buying something that is in fact very authentic.  This almost happened to me on a large purchase, but after doing a lot of research on my own I was able to determine that the autograph was without question authentic.  PSA QO almost cost me the chance at a wonderful autograph and almost cost a seller a big sale.  Over time, I have learned that PSA QO often returns a quick opinion that, for $10, they probably barely gave the time of day.  Do not put much trust in PSA QO. 

Now I know Beckett makes mistakes like all the TPAs do.  What concerns me is Steve Grad.  I don’t believe that he is the great authenticator that he builds himself up to be.  When he was at PSA, he created some cozy relationships with large-quantity customers such as Press Pass Collectibles.  That cozy relationship has since moved, with Grad, to Beckett.  There is also a big company on eBay called something like “autographsforsale” that also seems to have a cozy relationship with Beckett.  I was looking through their inventory of hundreds of autographs authenticated by Beckett, and many of them looked very questionable regarding younger celebrities.  Does Grad really know the autographs of these young celebrities very well, or is he just passing them for one of his big clients?  I truly have my doubts that Steve Grad can be an expert on so many young celebrity autographs.  But as long as he passes them, his big clients will keep sending them in.

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Permalink Reply by Brandon on June 15, 2018 at 5:15pm

Thank you so much! Do you have any opinions on the signature? I know Bieber is a really hard one these days 

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Permalink Reply by James on June 15, 2018 at 6:15pm

Sorry, I don’t know Bieber’s autograph.  If I look at them enough, and feel I give a decent opinion, I’ll let you know.

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Permalink Reply by Rich on June 15, 2018 at 9:39pm

Beckett and PSA are somewhat different kinds of suck.

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Permalink Reply by Musclebeech on June 17, 2018 at 6:35pm

If its not a witnessed certification from a credible source, you will always just be paying for an opinion. Opinions may differ from day to day and authenticator to authenticator.

I’m not sure how Beckett is operating, but JSA and PSA use multiple representatives with varying levels of expertise and experience to review autographs. Accordingly, all are going to have some variance is reliability.

The QA service should really be reserved, in my opinion, for higher valued autographs where the fee makes sense for a buyer. My concern with the QA always is that if I’ve found a great deal, obtaining a QA has now alerted another potential collector of the existence of a stellar deal.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on June 18, 2018 at 4:44am

obtaining a QA has now alerted another potential collector of the existence of a stellar deal.

Sorry, but I don’t buy this. I’ve seen this allegation made a number of times, but no evidence of it ever happening. 

There are THOUSANDS of trained eyeballs watching eBay 24/7 for underpriced steals. If there truly is a buy it now steal, someone will grab it quickly... the guy working the PSA quick opinion desk should be the least of your worries. 

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Permalink Reply by Joe W. on June 18, 2018 at 4:52am

I agree. Bargains don't last long on eBay. Especially on highly sought after autographs. If it's greatly under priced it won't last long enough to get your quick opinion back. 

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Permalink Reply by Musclebeech on June 18, 2018 at 7:48am

Please re-read my message... I did not say that an authenticator would be an ONLY concern. Rather, I was very deliberate in my phrasing that it could alert ANOTHER potential collector.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on June 18, 2018 at 7:51am

I assumed that meant that the authenticator was also a collector who would buy it out from under the requestor.

If not, how does obtaining a QO alert collectors outside of the process? Not trying to be difficult, just not sure what you are driving at. :-)

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Permalink Reply by marc e on June 18, 2018 at 8:55am

correct and that goes for any collectibke on ebay

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