It's a tough spot to be in. On one hand, the auction house is paying you to "pass" as much as possible so they can have your stamp of approval along with the item. On the other, if you reject too many bad things, you're out of a gig with them. I know for a fact that authenticators have to plow through tons of stuff in a short amount of time and mistakes are made. Things are passed that shouldn't be. It all comes down to the almighty $dollar$. Unless you really know your stuff and know what you're getting, be extremely careful. Having a LOA is good for resale, but it doesn't always mean you're getting what you think you're getting.

Your thoughts Chris?

Ned
Milwaukee, WI

Thanks for bringing up some issues that I am sure are on many people's minds. I do not have many game used jerseys so I would have to admit that I would be heavily relying on the authenticator if I was doing any purchasing in this field.

Humans are involved in the authentication, there are going to be mistakes. I imagine that the top line authenticators make very few mistakes. There would seem to be two categories of mistakes: honest mistakes and dishonest mistakes. High volume of business should not be a valid reason for honest(but sloppy) mistakes, that is a pet peeve of mine. Auction houses do not like honest mistakes but they cannot afford to knowlingly tolerate dishonest mistakes. Dishonesty is a game of Russian Roulette, odds are that the hammer is going to strike a bullet eventually inflicting a potentially fatal wound.

Whether it is authentication of game used jerseys or authentication of autographs, there are a small click of the best of the best authenticators in the business. What is the biggest credential these fellows have? Their reputation.

If any of these authenticators were willingly passing off bad items for fear of losing a few bucks worth of business, they are putting their whole reputation at stake. Once a reputation is damaged, that can be the kiss of death in the authentication field.

The hobby at times can be seen as "a small world", word gets around about bad apples.

It is also a very competitive and at times , ruthless field. As you mentioned, there is some serious money at stake. Authenticators sometimes get into battles of opinions, many of these arguements are in private while others happen in public. Sometimes, authenticators are sent items by other authenticators in an anonymous fashion, trying to get someone "caught" authenticating a bad piece. There are efforts to undermine some authenticators and damage reputations, I would also say that there is a bit of personal dischord between some authenticators, they are rivals in a sense. Being an authenticator seems like a nice gig if you are knowledgable in the field, it also seems like it would be a very big headache at times.

If you or I as a buyer get burned by a bad item, the likelyhood of us going back and buying another piece associated with that authenticator is reduced(atleast for me). Once burned, you sharpen your skills and like Chris said, start to do as much homework on your own as possible before a purchase.

It is a great resource to have Chris and his literal hands on experience in this field available for us to tap in to. I am sure that he has many stories, not all of which are appropriate for the public blog forum!

Do you have a story of a bad jersey? It would probably be wise to leave the authenticator or company name out of the post, but sharing a general summary could help out collectors who are considering venturing into this market.