Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by goodcat on December 16, 2018 at 11:34am

There are some great smaller TPA's and IMO, far better than the big names.

Unfortunately the big names is what the common buyer wants as I'm sure you know Joe. 

PSA/DNA is the right choice for your purposes IMO

I've started making small purchases again and all of them come uncerted, BUT come from a VERY reliable source. And I know you know who I'm talking about Joe hahaa
I've posted most of them on here for further opinions and gives me added confidence in my collection. We can never ever be too careful or ask enough questions. 

AML is my most trusted source in so many ways (the invisible sticker TPA haha)

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Permalink Reply by Danny Francis on December 16, 2018 at 11:27am

John, I did not know you were a big sports guy. SGC is my personal favorite for cards and items. If you have an item that they are unfamiliar with they will tell you where to send the item. 

Their holders are top notch.

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Permalink Reply by John Spillane on December 16, 2018 at 1:30pm

Danny, Baseball and hockey, primarily!!

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on December 16, 2018 at 12:31pm

It's recently been discovered on Net54 that SGC, JSA, and to a much smaller degree PSA/DNA authenticated a number of autographs on T206 baseball cards where an autograph was added to cards already graded by one of the major services.

The forgery group would buy an unsigned card, usually in a major grading service's holder, forge the autograph on it and send it to the TPA. About a dozen or so have been found so far last I heard, and it's gone beyond T206s of course.

When REA found out they had auctioned a number of them, they immediately contacted the buyers and refunded their money. Most of the buyer's hadn't even heard there was a problem. That speaks volumes about REA. Probably cost them $50,000+ so far.

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Permalink Reply by Joe W. on December 30, 2018 at 12:15pm

I have started the process of submitting all my autographs to PSA for authentication. The lower value items I will be using their quick opinion services. Higher value items will be submitted to them for a full authentication with a LOA upgrade if not already included in their fee.

No stickers will be placed directly on any autograph item!

I understand this is not a perfect solution but one that gives some additional credibility to the signatures. It will be interesting to see how this affects the bottom line. I will post data how this experiment works out occasionally throughout 2019.

I appreciate all of you who have offered me thoughtful advice in this discussion and in the many other discussions in the past and in the future.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on December 30, 2018 at 12:23pm

Joe,

I agree with you about wanting to pub the stickers on the back, but I did that in 2007-8 for a couple hundred pieces and a lot of collectors were extremely wary. It dramatically hurt sales on pieces that should have sold immediately. 

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Permalink Reply by Joe W. on December 30, 2018 at 12:40pm

I'm going to leave the stickers on the LOA. If the buyer wants to sticker it somewhere they can place it where they please. 

I'll take this one step at a time and see what happens. My intent is simply to cover a larger portion of the current market and include those who want a TPA authentication with the autograph at point of sale.

This is all new to me. I just see a demand that needs to be addressed.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on December 30, 2018 at 12:31pm

"...No stickers will be placed directly on any autograph item!..."

+1!!! I understand recognizing the "game" - but don't play it. :)

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Permalink Reply by Joe W. on December 30, 2018 at 12:44pm

I agree with you on many respects. These TPA services should not have the type of influence over the market as they do. Each one of us has to evaluate what is best of our particular goals and needs.

I have fun playing the game. I'm retired and simply enjoy doing this. It's not about getting rich. With that said, this past year the market has become increasing demanding and I want every advantage as I can get.

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