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Bad Experience

I am writing to say that I bought an autograph off a reputable dealer however the autograph in question was sought out to be bogus in question as it turned out to be a secretarial.

This was not the fault of the company I was led to understand but the authenticating third party. This to me is extremely concerning because to those who are not experienced in collecting, I am relying on those on the RACC trusted sellers list to provide genuine autographs wherever possible but the problem is if sone of these autographs being passed off as genuine are not (through no fault of the dealer) then this makes the hobby very difficult now because you can’t rely 100% on picking up a real item.
Given the amount of times where it could be possible I have been stung through my own negligent behaviour due to inexperience, is there enough protection for those who want to enjoy the hobby but cannot because they can’t always be sure they are receiving a real item. Again there could be many reasons for this but in this case, I have faith in the company I bought the autograph from but I think the third party authenticator is to blame.
Furthermore this was supposed to be a Christmas present, so this has caused a lot of distress and embarrassment because when you show off your new acquisition to your friends and fellow collectors, only to find out it’s a forgery, it’s disheartening. Therefore, as far as I am concerned, I am going to seriously consider the hobby and how I approach it going forward from now on. I am very disappointed and I am sure instances like this are going to only hurt the hobby even more.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on December 14, 2023 at 10:41am

I'm sorry to hear this. Relying solely on external opinion is, to me, a recipe for disaster. This dealer took the item back, yes?

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Permalink Reply by Robin McKay on December 14, 2023 at 10:48am

Thankfully my parents got their money back as it was a Christmas present but this has dampened my enthusiasm as I assumed what I was buying was the real thing from a dealer on the RACC trusted sellers list but I must emphasise this point - it was not the fault of the dealer, it was the fault of the authenticating company. They say they are so called experts but the problem is, if you are an inexperienced collector, you are reliant on things being right and that is not unreasonable and you can accept mistakes be made but in this hobby, mistakes can’t really be an option. It just makes buying for the inexperienced even tougher and I feel I’ve been made to look like an idiot and the whole situation leaves a really bitter taste in the mouth given the amount of times I might have been stung in the past, based for the most part on the same principles, whatever the reason for the potential receivership of the possible forgery was.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on December 14, 2023 at 11:05am

I'm glad you did :-) Pardon - the RACC dealer and the authentication company are two separate things here?

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Permalink Reply by Robin McKay on December 14, 2023 at 11:16am

Yes it wasn’t the company I am told who were at fault but the authentication company such was the surprise of the item being initially passed so I have faith in the dealer it’s just a shame this was allowed to occur but mistakes happen and it seems I’ve fallen victim to it.