Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on February 28, 2014 at 9:07am

I am AGAINST eBay requiring JSA or PSA/DNA authentication for autographs listed. =)

Has this ever been seriously suggested by anyone at eBay?

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Permalink Reply by Rich on February 28, 2014 at 9:09am

Considering the volume of forgeries they cash in on, I doubt anyone at Ebay would really be serious about it.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on February 28, 2014 at 9:12am

My thoughts exactly. That proposal wouldn't get past the first bean counter in the finance department when they realized how much it would cost the bottom line.

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Permalink Reply by Null on February 28, 2014 at 9:11am

Joe Orlando told me on the phone that it has been suggested and seriously considered before...and is sort of an ongoing discussion... 

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Permalink Reply by Rick Meyer on February 28, 2014 at 9:15am

Until they get much better outside the sports area I think that would be a bad call.

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Permalink Reply by Rich on February 28, 2014 at 9:17am

While they would wipe out a good number of forgeries, there'd be an enormous amount of authentic material blocked from Ebay as well.  PSA and JSA would then be the authority, despite their laundry list of flaws.  No thanks.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on February 28, 2014 at 9:16am

I'm sure PSA would like to float the idea and continue the discussion. Not so sure the eBay stockholders would be as interested.

Considering the trends over the past year, eBay is heading in the exact opposite direction and taking a more laissez-faire approach toward autograph authenticity.

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Permalink Reply by Null on February 28, 2014 at 9:20am

Yup it's certainly a "give or take" situation...

On one hand, undoubtedly far less forgeries would get dumped to unknowing buyers on eBay. BUT, this could lead to even more corruption IMHO. And would ruin all of our "great finds" that are unauthenticated...

So it's:

1. Free for All: tons of forgeries sold, great deals for people with great eyes

or

2. eBay approved authenticated items only: Less forgeries sold, prices increased probably, no more "diamond in the rough" finds... 

I vote for "Free for All" with better monitoring. 

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on February 28, 2014 at 9:26am

Agreed.

Bear in mind that a huge portion of autographs are not even worth the cost to get them authenticated -- authentication fees + postage. Unless you are dealing with a bulk or in-person submission, it has to be a $100+ autograph to be worth getting something authenticated and still being able to turn any sort of a profit on it.

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Permalink Reply by Rich on February 28, 2014 at 9:26am

There are WAY more autographs that PSA and JSA don't know than ones they do.  That's a common sense call.  If they get the entire market share of Ebay autograph sales, how many more authentication misfires are we going to see?  What will this do to the legit in-person collectors who sell on Ebay?  Items with a Favre, Brees, Marino, Radtke, MM, Steiner hologram are now blocked?  Sellers of authentic material will call foul and/or will jump ship.  Scoring a deal will be much more difficult.

Ebay needs to do a MUCH better job of policing with the money they rake in, not just resort to the easy call.

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Permalink Reply by Null on February 28, 2014 at 9:33am

Yeah he never implied that it would be PSA/DNA and JSA ONLY, others could be "approved", but definitely that any item on eBay would have to have some sort of authentication that is 100% approved by eBay. I would assume Steiner and some others would be on that list.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on February 28, 2014 at 9:54am

You think things are messy now? I can't begin to imagine the chaos of companies scrambling to get their COAs added to the approved list. Plus all the skullduggery of dishonest people trying to torpedo competitors.

I'd be shocked if it ever came to be.

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