"The Best and the Worst 3rd Party Authenticators?"

My ranking (best to worst): JSA, PSA, Beckett, Global.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Pete Bendu on June 7, 2017 at 8:35pm

I guess this is a pretty subjective discussion. If you are talking about a specific field of authenticating your ranking falls apart. In the modern celebrity category JSA and Global would be tied for worst.

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Permalink Reply by Rick Meyer on June 7, 2017 at 9:05pm

JSA? Guessing you have more of those in your collection then any of the others. JSA is on the same level as GA. They are a joke.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on June 7, 2017 at 9:53pm

According to his profile, Ed collects:

Sports, History/Politics, Classic Hollywood and Stage, Music.

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Permalink Reply by Rich on June 14, 2017 at 4:12pm

Global is a complete wasteland as far as authentication. JSA and PSA seem to have been in significant decline for some time, while the glowing early reviews of Beckett seem to have been pretty quickly countered by significant concerns cited on this forum. I don't like any of them.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Strecker on June 14, 2017 at 6:37pm

Google "JSA PSA Hauls of Shame" for a number of their "best" mistakes. My favorites are the Andre the Giant facsimile signature on a magazine that was authenticated or the Clem Labine signed baseball authenticated as "Ernie Davis" or perhaps James Earl Ray signed index authenticated as James Earl Jones. There are so many of them yet they still seem to be held in such high esteem. I'd rather take the word of you guys on this forum!

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Permalink Reply by Greig on June 20, 2017 at 2:28am

The sad thing is, eBay believes these guys.

An affiliate of mine listed some products which eBay then deleted because they never came with COA's from their approved authenticators. Only thing is, all their approve authenticators are sports authenticators and don't know much about music.

One item came with a COA from JSA which they also removed, so one minute they trust their approved and then next minute they delete an item authenticated by them.

They really need someone who knows music to authenticate for them.

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Permalink Reply by Adam Horvath on July 8, 2021 at 3:55pm

It's so sickening how skeptical people are about everything. And now ramp skepticism is trickling its way into the autograph authenticity business. Here's my rule that everyone should follow for a more seamless & peaceful way of collecting. If you have an item that is certified by JSA, PSA, TriStar, Steiner, Upper Deck, Beckett, Fanatics, Mounted Memories or Panini you should just be happy with it & take it as legitimate. However, if you have an item that is certified from any other authenticator whether it be Global Authentics or PAAS, assume it's fake & look to replace it with one of those listed above. Obviously if you received the item in person then you should look to one of the 9 authenticators listed above to to get an authentication from. Although some of them above are only companies that authenticate to sell. Not all of them above our 3rd-party authenticators. So pretty much if you have an item you want to get authenticated just go to JSA, PSA or Beckett. I see so many people questioning Beckett, JSA & PSA & all these people have is added stress to their life. Just assume that they're real & move on with your life & you'll be a lot happier bc chances are if they're from one of those companies it is real.

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Permalink Reply by Rick Meyer on July 8, 2021 at 4:04pm

Dumbest post I've seen in a long time.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on July 8, 2021 at 4:44pm

"...Here's my rule that everyone should follow for a more seamless & peaceful way of collecting. If you have an item that is certified by JSA, PSA, TriStar, Steiner, Upper Deck, Beckett, Fanatics, Mounted Memories or Panini you should just be happy with it & take it as legitimate...." - Adam

Half the exemplars PSA have up of Jackie Gleason are very poor forgeries from eBay or Spear 70's secretarials from eBay both of which I have proven down to source and even the name of the signer. What you said sounds like a frontal lobe lobotomy to me. Never sent anything to these places and never will.

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Permalink Reply by BallroomDays67 on July 8, 2021 at 4:51pm

The Liz Shaw Datebook is going to be particularly difficult for me. How do I accept it as being legitimate? Is there something that I have to drink or smoke?