Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on September 22, 2018 at 12:27pm

I think some don't realize that, as far as I know, the collector is responsible for ruling out preprints, autopens, facsimiles and the determination of age of materials/presence of live ink. Only so much can be gleaned from a scan. Sure, some cases it is very obvious. But largely it means "no obvious problems" at best. Quick Opinion & an in hand full COA - very different things. Working from scans - another discussion. Again, one can only say so much from a scan...

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Permalink Reply by goodcat on September 22, 2018 at 12:30pm

good added points Eric

and yet more reasons that a quick opinion is NOT a final opinion and should not be treated as such by the public

A quick opinion is a guide but I see too many people treating it as a final verdict, which is a big mistake

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Permalink Reply by Joe W. on September 22, 2018 at 2:17pm

Phil Sears was told me that following a quick opinion, "An autograph will not look better in person but it can look worse." His quick opinion is that it is close enough to warrant a full authentication or not worth the extra cost. Not whether it is authentic or not.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on September 22, 2018 at 2:25pm

+1 That is in line with my thinking and should be obvious to most collectors. But, it is not. :(

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Permalink Reply by BallroomDays67 on September 22, 2018 at 3:55pm

I think that’s true if the same authenticator handles both, but there are different scenarios under which you can obtain a quick opinion and COA.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on September 22, 2018 at 4:06pm

I offer an email opinion service to my clients. I agree that it is not as comprehensive as an in hand review, but it does provide value in weeding out obvious fakes, Autopens and secretarials.

Full letters of authenticity and email opinions are used in different scenarios. The majority of the email opinions I provide are for items that the client has not yet purchased. I always say that it’s better to not buy a bad item then to buy something and have to return it. 

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Permalink Reply by goodcat on September 22, 2018 at 10:40pm

Thanks for commenting Steve

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Permalink Reply by BallroomDays67 on September 23, 2018 at 9:51am

In those cases, you’re providing both the email opinion and LOA. However, when two different authenticators are involved, you can of course get differing opinions and either one could be correct. The quick opinion could be the correct one. I don’t know how often that happens, but I’ve seen it happen.

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Permalink Reply by James on September 22, 2018 at 8:21pm

I have commented before, imo, PSA/DNA’s QO is almost worthless.  That’s not a comment on their full service, just the QO.  PSA’s QO is known for erroring on the side of caution, but this approach can create chaos for both buyers and sellers.  People are often scared away from buying something that is in fact very authentic.  This almost happened to me on a large purchase, but after doing a lot of research on my own I was able to determine that the autograph was without question authentic.  PSA QO almost cost me the chance at a wonderful autograph and almost cost a seller a big sale.  Over time, I have learned that PSA QO often returns a quick opinion that, for $10, they probably barely gave the time of day.  Do not put much trust in PSA QO. 

I was at a sports memorabilia show in KC in 2008.  Bill Russell was signing at the show.  So I took my Wilt Chamberlain signed ball to have Russell sign it.  Afterwards, I took the ball across the way to get a PSA/DNA LOA.  There were two young people examining autographs for PSA at the show.  They looked to be 20-25 years old.  One appeared to be acting like he was very seriously examining the Russell autograph.  So I said to the PSA kid, “You do know that Bill Russell is signing autographs just about 20 feet away from here.  And that’s where we came from.”  Well, they ended up printing me up a full LOA for both autographs.  But these two kids that were certifying for PSA could not have been any of the men that are listed at the bottom of older PSA LOAs.  

And this leads me to the question, who actually gave that quick opinion that is returned to the customer?  It’s probably not someone from their regular lineup.  And how much knowledge came with that QO?  My guess is why they often return, “Likely Not Genuine,” is because they really are not competent enough to know.  So when they return a verdict of LNG on an item that is in fact Likely Genuine, that QO service makes a HUGE mistake for both the buyer and seller alike.  The buyer decides not to buy a genuine item, and the seller loses a big sale.  In my opinion, PSA’s QO service is bad for the hobby...unless it has improved over the last couple of years.

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Permalink Reply by Rich on September 22, 2018 at 9:02pm

No way I would ever give money to a TPA for an even more half assed effort than they typically make.

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Permalink Reply by Xwiesy on September 23, 2018 at 2:40am

If it isnt a final verdict, it shouldnt be offered as a service.

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Permalink Reply by Abcd on September 23, 2018 at 3:16am

To be fair, this service is aimed at casual buyers. That's the majority of buyers. It's not all about autograph authentication -if that makes sense. $10 is not a lot of money when it could save $100s. Were not talking about seasoned buyers here.  Most experienced collectors don't need this service. Casual buyers have no idea who to buy from and have little or no idea of whether an  item is authentic or not. They just need a hand-holding service like QO.

Steve hit the nail on the head. Probably 90% of QOs are a weeding service and not about the finer detail.

When members ask a question on this forum, the usually get a QO, so what's the difference? 

Experienced buyers are just a small minority of the autograph buying public. If you don't like the service, then don't buy it, but it is useful to a lot of people.

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