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" DOES IT HAVE AUTHENTICATION? " - How would you answer?

Like many of us, I do some selling on eBay (mostly to help finance my own collecting). This was the question I was asked by a member this morning who says they are interested in one of my offerings:

"Does It Have Authentication?"

This particular piece has no third party authentication but I have no doubt whatsoever that it's real after study and comparison to exemplars as well as running it past a dealer friend.

How do you (or would you) answer this question about authenticity for a potential buyer if you don't have a TPA letter?

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Comment by Rich on January 13, 2022 at 1:05pm: If a buyer has questions, I guess that's fine. But something as short as "does it have authentication" or "does it have COA" - I guess if someone has no idea what they're doing, it's kind of understandable. But maybe better verbalizing the questions or concerns is a better start.

Comment by Eddy on January 13, 2022 at 1:15pm: Just for the record, in my response I :

Thanked them for the inquiry. Told them I guarantee it and will stand behind it being authenticated by a TPA. Detailed what I knew of it's provenance (I'm lucky with this one to actually know). Encouraged them to possibly study known authentic exemplars for comparison.

Anything else I could have added?

Comment by Eric Keith Longo on January 13, 2022 at 1:32pm: +1 Steve, Rich and Etienne.

Comment by Eric Keith Longo on January 13, 2022 at 1:32pm: +1 Steve, Rich and Etienne.

Comment by Eric Keith Longo on January 13, 2022 at 1:35pm: +1 Michael Lee!

Comment by Eddy on January 13, 2022 at 6:00pm: JUST AN UPDATE:

I heard back from the party on eBay who inquired about the item with the question: "Does it have authentication?" and that I had responded to.

quote: "I will say that if you are serious about selling it for anywhere near the amount of money that you are asking, you're going to have to get it third party authenticated. My feedback is flawless as well and so is my collecting and researching but I still trust high dollar purchases to trained professionals which will also add to the resale value in case because if I decide to one day sell it in the future. I can't say "trust me, it's real" and expect someone to give me (money) based on that."

Comment by Eddy on January 13, 2022 at 6:06pm: p.s. I'm not quoting the individual to make light of their response. There are a couple of points in there that certainly make sense in today's collecting environment. Maybe the old days of study, forging collecting relationships and seeking mastery level knowledge in a hobby are gone for the most part. A piece of paper from "trained professionals" just might be the most important thing after all today (sigh).

Comment by Eric Keith Longo on January 13, 2022 at 6:10pm: Some quite true, some idiotic and as for the last bit that's too bad for them. But customers should never accept such a statement as "trust me". And it should not be "trust me" - you need to be able to see it and trust it yourself. I have never had someone say "trust me" in autographs. Other areas OH YEAH.

"Trust me" is now an old joke. Now its "provenance" available onlne.

Comment by Eddy on January 13, 2022 at 6:16pm: Yeah....I didn't say "trust me" once in my first response to them. In fact, hoped that they might empower themselves by saying: "If you are seriously interested, I would also encourage that you do some research comparing this to known authentic exemplars."