Comments - How to buy celebrity autographs and music memorabilia at auctions without getting ripped off. - Autograph Live2024-03-29T14:44:37Zhttps://live.autographmagazine.com/profiles/comment/feed?attachedTo=3524372%3ABlogPost%3A63184&xn_auth=no@Blair:
I agree with Michael,…tag:live.autographmagazine.com,2011-03-28:3524372:Comment:754632011-03-28T17:17:32.071ZSteve Cyrkin, Adminhttps://live.autographmagazine.com/profile/SteveCyrkin
<p>@Blair:</p>
<p>I agree with Michael, I feel that Julien's is a reputable auction house. But everyone makes mistakes, and most auction houses have either a very limited guarantee of authenticity or no guarantee at all. Many authentication companies will give you an opinion on auction lots before you bid, as will many dealers you have a relationship with. Or you can post a link to the items here and ask for opinions.</p>
<p>I know...a bit late.</p>
<p>Regarding MJ's: Jackson hasn't been gone…</p>
<p>@Blair:</p>
<p>I agree with Michael, I feel that Julien's is a reputable auction house. But everyone makes mistakes, and most auction houses have either a very limited guarantee of authenticity or no guarantee at all. Many authentication companies will give you an opinion on auction lots before you bid, as will many dealers you have a relationship with. Or you can post a link to the items here and ask for opinions.</p>
<p>I know...a bit late.</p>
<p>Regarding MJ's: Jackson hasn't been gone two years, and his autograph went from being worth $50 to hundreds or thousands. It's not unusual for good forgeries to pass even knowledgeable experts at first. They may only realize they're likely forgeries after they see a number of them and identify consistent inconsistencies between them and known genuine examples.</p>
<p>I don't know what the experts think, but I've been seeing more and more big MJ autographs with the rays coming off the N and dated 1998. They're often found on albums, hats and the like. They may be just fine, but they concern me. If experts would like to pipe in on those, that would be great.</p>
<p> </p> My suggestion is to keep all…tag:live.autographmagazine.com,2011-03-28:3524372:Comment:753622011-03-28T15:57:22.322ZMichael Kasmar-AutographPros.comhttps://live.autographmagazine.com/profile/AutographPros
<p>My suggestion is to keep all the documentation and get a copy of the auction catalog for each of the items that you purchased. This was a pretty heavily publicized event and as such, having a catalog for each item will be a nice addition to the description and sales lot. My other suggestion for your future investments is to never buy items that are immediately following the passing of a celebrity if you are looking to ensure a profit. Items at that point are often at their peak as far as…</p>
<p>My suggestion is to keep all the documentation and get a copy of the auction catalog for each of the items that you purchased. This was a pretty heavily publicized event and as such, having a catalog for each item will be a nice addition to the description and sales lot. My other suggestion for your future investments is to never buy items that are immediately following the passing of a celebrity if you are looking to ensure a profit. Items at that point are often at their peak as far as pricing and leave little room for profits. Instead you should focus on the who's who of current musicians such as The Rolling Stones, B.B. King, Paul McCartney, Madonna, Bob Dylan, etc. Signatures that aren't plentiful and will be highly sought after for the next several years. <br/>When dealing with any type of authenticity guarantee, the #1 most important piece of information you as a consumer must find out is, what type of documentation is required to determine if an item is deemed not authentic. There needs to be some level of accountability by the auction house and each auction's requirements will be significantly different. In other words, will the auction house accept a letter of authenticity from one of the UACC Registered Dealer list of authenticators? Will they accept a determination from PSA/DNA, JSA, or specialists in fields such as music experts Autograph Pros, Roger Epperson, or Frank Ciazzo?<br/>Again, my initial comments still stand strong in that if you are buying from an auction, any auction, stick to buying items that already have these credentials in addition to the certification from the auction house. There's no such thing as an auction house that doesn't make mistakes in regards to authenticity. By having these extra authenticity credentials you are purchasing an item that will be much more sought after and much easier to sell.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Michael Kasmar</p>
<p><a href="http://www.AutographPros.com" target="_blank">http://www.AutographPros.com</a></p>
<p>UACC Registered Dealer #237</p>
<p>Accredited Better Business Bureau Member with Lifetime A+ Rating</p> @ Michael Kasmar-AutographPro…tag:live.autographmagazine.com,2011-03-28:3524372:Comment:751632011-03-28T15:17:02.975ZBlair Consulting & Managementhttps://live.autographmagazine.com/profile/BlairConsultingManagement
<p>@ Michael Kasmar-AutographPros.com. I had been watching Juliens live auctions for about a year and their statement seemed to imply "authenticity responsibility. It says: "Julien's Auctions guarantees the authenticity of Attribution of property listed in the catalogue or online as stated in the Terms of Guarantee. Except for the Limited Warranty contained in the terms of guarantee all property is sold “As Is”."</p>
<p>Now I'm confused, does this statement "not" assure me of…</p>
<p>@ Michael Kasmar-AutographPros.com. I had been watching Juliens live auctions for about a year and their statement seemed to imply "authenticity responsibility. It says: "Julien's Auctions guarantees the authenticity of Attribution of property listed in the catalogue or online as stated in the Terms of Guarantee. Except for the Limited Warranty contained in the terms of guarantee all property is sold “As Is”."</p>
<p>Now I'm confused, does this statement "not" assure me of authenticity?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The other error I made was not understanding that they assessed an addtional 25% fee on the sale for purchases over a certain amount. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Embarrassingly, I am certain that I overpaid for these MJ items, even if authentic, as I was caught up in the frenzy. My purchases were 2 Albums (Triumph and We Are the World), a double-autographed "Moonwalker" auto-bio book and him on the cover of Life Magazine with one his newborns - all autographed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I only hope I can recover what I paid for them in 10 years, which was my plan.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>So, what I've learned, is... that, I have alot to learn! </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Thank you all for your feedback and keep it coming, please!</p> @Blair Consulting & Manag…tag:live.autographmagazine.com,2011-03-28:3524372:Comment:751622011-03-28T14:53:22.511ZMichael Kasmar-AutographPros.comhttps://live.autographmagazine.com/profile/AutographPros
<p>@<a class="fn url" href="http://live.autographmagazine.com/profile/BlairConsultingManagement">Blair Consulting & Management</a> I'm curious. What led you to purchase what you did from where you did?? How do you determine what is a reputable auction house? The reason I ask is because if you are a new collector I fear you along with many others will likely be duped by large advertisements and regular large auctions from certain companies that are known by many experts in the industry…</p>
<p>@<a href="http://live.autographmagazine.com/profile/BlairConsultingManagement" class="fn url">Blair Consulting & Management</a> I'm curious. What led you to purchase what you did from where you did?? How do you determine what is a reputable auction house? The reason I ask is because if you are a new collector I fear you along with many others will likely be duped by large advertisements and regular large auctions from certain companies that are known by many experts in the industry as peddling likely forgeries. I will say however I think you were very lucky in your choice. Julien's is not one of such auction houses. I will admit, I haven't studied their listings but from every item I've browsed they all looked authentic and I think you made some safe purchases there. </p>
<p>In regards to my statements above, not too long ago many were faced with the realization that large feedback #s on ebay.com mean't nothing in regards to authenticity. There were countless sellers with huge feedback #s who were removed from ebay due to selling forgeries. They had 100% positive feedback and #s in the 1000s. The same can be said now with auction houses outside of ebay who have large #s of auctions, post full page advertisements, and are still auctioning off what many people in the industry are calling blatant forgeries. It's up to you the consumer to educate yourself if you are going to participate in any auction or any autograph purchase for that matter. Especially if you are going to buy as a future investment when doing so that means you'll be sitting on autographs for possibly years and within years my opinion is that there will be countless arrests, at least one major forgery sting within the music autograph industry, and countless 'investors' will be left with 100% forgeries that will be worthless. There are easy steps as outlined above to do your best to avoid being one such victim.</p> Juliens Live (julienslive.com…tag:live.autographmagazine.com,2011-03-28:3524372:Comment:748742011-03-28T10:43:32.327ZBlair Consulting & Managementhttps://live.autographmagazine.com/profile/BlairConsultingManagement
Juliens Live (julienslive.com).
Juliens Live (julienslive.com). What auction house was it .
tag:live.autographmagazine.com,2011-03-28:3524372:Comment:748702011-03-28T08:13:58.050ZAnthony Bautistahttps://live.autographmagazine.com/profile/ANTHONYBAUTISTA
<p>What auction house was it .</p>
<p> </p>
<p>What auction house was it .</p>
<p> </p> So, is it safe to buy from "w…tag:live.autographmagazine.com,2011-03-28:3524372:Comment:750662011-03-28T07:44:35.771ZBlair Consulting & Managementhttps://live.autographmagazine.com/profile/BlairConsultingManagement
<p>So, is it safe to buy from "well known" houses? And if you buy something from what is supposed to be a reputable auction house, and find out it's a fake, how do you recover? </p>
<p> </p>
<p>I just paid thousands for some MJ stuff and am afraid after reading this article at autographmagazine.com that I may have been taken. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>I'm a beginner but my first buy was pretty good. It was $100 for an autographed Tiger Woods Titleist Goff ball that sold for $1700 10 yrs later, but now…</p>
<p>So, is it safe to buy from "well known" houses? And if you buy something from what is supposed to be a reputable auction house, and find out it's a fake, how do you recover? </p>
<p> </p>
<p>I just paid thousands for some MJ stuff and am afraid after reading this article at autographmagazine.com that I may have been taken. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>I'm a beginner but my first buy was pretty good. It was $100 for an autographed Tiger Woods Titleist Goff ball that sold for $1700 10 yrs later, but now after investing bigger $12k spend this past weekend, I'm wonder if I acted foolishly just because it was an auction house.</p> I wish i had read this 30 day…tag:live.autographmagazine.com,2011-03-28:3524372:Comment:747732011-03-28T07:31:57.316ZBlair Consulting & Managementhttps://live.autographmagazine.com/profile/BlairConsultingManagement
<p>I wish i had read this 30 days ago!</p>
<p>I wish i had read this 30 days ago!</p> Nice complete overview for th…tag:live.autographmagazine.com,2011-03-18:3524372:Comment:683692011-03-18T14:32:20.330Zroger eppersonhttps://live.autographmagazine.com/profile/rogerepperson
<p>Nice complete overview for the novice buyer! Thanks for the props! Keep up the good work.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Nice complete overview for the novice buyer! Thanks for the props! Keep up the good work.</p>
<p> </p> Mr. Bill -you don't mean Park…tag:live.autographmagazine.com,2011-03-05:3524372:Comment:640922011-03-05T14:31:14.376ZDBhttps://live.autographmagazine.com/profile/DB
<p>Mr. Bill -you don't mean Park West do you?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A very interesting presentation and helpful however it is also somewhat of a broadbrush. Their are Alist places and DList Places (and I don't mean the Kathy Griffin types). The rest fall inbetween and depending on who/what they are they head toward the direction they deserve.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I was surprised about "charities" and wrote about first hand experiences. The problems don't just stop there nor seldomly do you find out it…</p>
<p>Mr. Bill -you don't mean Park West do you?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A very interesting presentation and helpful however it is also somewhat of a broadbrush. Their are Alist places and DList Places (and I don't mean the Kathy Griffin types). The rest fall inbetween and depending on who/what they are they head toward the direction they deserve.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I was surprised about "charities" and wrote about first hand experiences. The problems don't just stop there nor seldomly do you find out it was a pre-print or reprint until way too late. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>I do, regardless of what Mr. Bill thinks share your opinion on the AList 3rd party authenticators. While there is still some risk there is not as much risk as some, even here, would have you believe and I wonder aloud (and have written so) about thru the mail receipts. I know of one place that sent me some 5x7 for screwing up an order... All "reprints"but did they tell me that without me asking - nope!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Overall problem being the "mom & pop" collector who have a limited budget and with places like CC, EBAY and a whole host of fly by nighters the easy money perpetuates itself.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As far as card collections go - you be right that they don't appreciate as fast but there isn't as "much" forgery as there is in other genres.... Now if I can just find a T Honus Wagner. But if you collect sports cards you do it as much for the hobby as the "investment"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Nonetheles, I feel this article is a keeper.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Now a question on the auto-pen analysis - how does one know?</p>