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Scammed on Etsy

I’m still learning how to use this platform and have made this same comment elsewhere on this site, but I can’t locate that thread. Hopefully, I’ll the get same responses here. Ok, so here’s the deal. I’m 60-years-old and have been collecting sports cards all of my life, primarily football and baseball HOF’ers. Keep in mind that I primarily collected cards during an era before “auto” and “patch” card inserts became popular. Back then, the best you could hope for was a players rookie card that was cut properly and otherwise in great condition. Currently, my collection has a healthy mix of older rookie cards, as well as some of the newer “auto” and “patch” card inserts. Due to health concerns, I’ve decided to weed out my collection so that my heirs are given a collection that contains only authenticated “auto” cards, “patch” cards, and “graded” rookie cards. It is my hope that my heirs will hang on to these cards for 20 to 30 years before they even think of putting them up for sale…

Basically, I decided to purchase unauthenticated auto cards with no COA off the internet (first and second mistakes). I then purchased from a seller on Etsy (third mistake) cards from Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Jerry Rice, Terry Bradshaw, Rodger Staubach, and Derek Jeter, all of which were supposedly hand signed autos. I paid roughly $100 for the lot (fourth mistake - too good to be true, it usually is). I then paid $125 for my wife and I to attend an event here in Phoenix where authenticators from JSA were present (fifth mistake). I then paid JSA $150 to authenticate the autographs (sixth mistake). You guess it, not a single auto was authenticated. After that, I did the “Signature Review” feature on Beckett ($60 and my seventh mistake), where it was confirmed that non of the autos were legitimate. Fortunately, the seller allowed me to chose from several “Panini Authenticated” auto cards that he also sold, so I wound up in the end with a Nolan Ryan, Eli Manning and Joe Burrows auto cards. My question is, what’s the story with Beckett, PSA, and JSA? It seems half the people on this platform say to stay away from them, while the half claim they’re the best. What’s a novice collector to do? All comments and advice welcome. My wife and I are here to learn.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on June 22, 2022 at 5:16am

Beckett, PSA and JSA are reputable companies. They are not perfect and often get bashed by some, but generally speaking, they have a credible accuracy rate and it's highly likely they are correct about the cards you purchased on Etsy.

It seems you have identified a number of the missteps you have made. I recommend this video to help reinforce the basics. (This is me.)

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Permalink Reply by Matthew Creamer on June 22, 2022 at 9:09am

Hey, thanks! My wife and I are going to watch your video in just a few minutes. Thank you so much for the information. I also have a Derek Jeter auto from another seller that I’d like someone to authenticate, or at least give me an opinion on. Is that something you do?

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Permalink Reply by BC on June 22, 2022 at 8:10pm

Post it, I'll look at it.

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Permalink Reply by Matthew Creamer on June 23, 2022 at 4:40am

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Ok, I’m a very low-tech person who’s still trying to learn how to use this platform, but I believe I’ve attached a photo of the Jeter auto I’d like you to look at. I’m meeting with reps from JSA tomorrow morning and was hoping to find out whether this auto is legit or not. All opinions welcome. And, thanks, everyone.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on June 23, 2022 at 4:49am

This Jeter signed card is not authentic. A poor fake in my opinion. Sorry.

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Permalink Reply by Matthew Creamer on June 23, 2022 at 5:49am

Thanks. I had my doubts, too. I’m getting so tired of sellers who swear up and down their stuff is legit and then get an attitude when you show them proof that the item is a poor fake. They make claims like, “Hey, I never said the auto would pass 3rd party authentication.” You either stand by what you sell or you don’t. Thanks for the honest review. I have some others if you wouldn’t mind taking a look. I was born and raised in Washington, D.C., and attended every single “Redskin” home game from 1967 to 1979. I have autos of Deion Sanders, Champ Bailey, and Dexter Manley. Are you familiar with these? I also have a Larry Fitzgerald that I’d really like to have authenticated. I’m a little gun/shy, however. I got this auto myself, watched him signed the card, but didn’t get a photo of him signing. I just know I’ll come unglued if I submit it to JSA and they say it is not authentic. Should I post?

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on June 23, 2022 at 6:08am

That’s what scammers and criminals do. They lie. Actually, the real successful scammers typically take items back no questions asked and don’t give you a hard time. They don’t want the negative reviews and they’ll just sell it to the next person. However the real bottom feeders will give you a song and a dance about how it’s real and third-party authentication are all incompetent etc. etc. We’ve all heard the story 1 million times. It’s straight from the scammer playbook. Sorry I’m not familiar with those other autographs.