I was going to write this in the comment field, but I wanted to make sure everyone sees this as it is covering what I will be writing about in the near future. Ned's question:
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

My response:

Ned,
You're right. It is a tough place to be in... Anyone who thinks authenticators are not ever wrong, or shouldn't ever be wrong, are kidding themselves.

I will go more into this topic next week (I was going to write about it today, but that has changed), but what I will say is it can take up to a week or even more to authenticate some items efficiently.

Auction houses are under a tight deadline to get a catalog produced and this usually means they have an authenticator come in for a few days to look at every item in a particular auction.

The authenticator uses the time he has and gives his best opinion. That is what the auction houses pay for.

What people tend to forget is the amount of jerseys and autographs that authenticators kick out of an auction. I worked at American Memorabilia for two years and worked very closely with Lou Lampson. Believe me, Lou isn't there flipping a coin. He is checking each jersey out as good as he possibly can in the time that he has. I have seen Lou kick out 50-100 bad jerseys in one auction. That is thousands of dollars that the auction house won't make, because they are not allowed in the auction.

If the auction owners were paying the authenticators to slip in bad items, that would be one thing, but that is not how it is.

In my entire time at AMI, I never saw a backdoor deal to get a bad item in an auction. Not once. That sort of thing wouldn't ever be tolerated. The owner, Victor Moreno, was very concerned about only allowing good jerseys with good use in his auction.

Thanks for the question Ned. Next time please enter your email address in the proper field.

chris

I am one of those people who would rather be safe than sorry. I know that just because an item is authenticated it doesn’t necessarily mean it is real, however, a COA does two things.
– It helps maximize an item’s selling potential.
–    Even if I don’t sell the item, I can feel that I took the necessary steps in order to ensure my item is authentic and that it is more than likely legitimate.

Heck, nobody wants a fake signature hanging on his or her wall.

There are some problems with getting an item authenticated.
–    Sometimes it can be pricey. Potentially hundreds of dollars just for someone’s opinion can be a lot to handle for some people.

–    Like I said above, a COA doesn’t necessarily guarantee ANYTHING. It basically gives an educated opinion, but in no way is it a 100 percent claim. Paying possibly hundreds of dollars for an opinion that isn’t always going to be correct can also be a lot for some people to handle.
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The reason I am even bringing all this up is because I would like to give you MY “opinion” on PSA/DNA’s Quick Opinion service.

PSA’s Quick Opinion is just that… A quick and affordable opinion. To my knowledge it only works with an eBay auction. It enables you to ask the autograph experts at PSA what their opinions are about an item that you are thinking about potentially purchasing from eBay.

The service costs a mere $7.49 and I have had nothing but successes when using it.

They don’t say, “Yes, the signature is authentic,” or “no, looks bad.” They use more vague terms like “Likely genuine” or “Likely not genuine.”

I once used the Quick Opinion to buy an Al Davis signed mini helmet. PSA said it was likely genuine, so I pulled the trigger and got it for under $200.

I printed the email, which said “Likely genuine” and I will send it with my helmet when I attempt to get a full letter of authentication. I assume they will pass it and I will have a heck of a nice item.

Has anyone else used his service? If so, please share your experiences.

From time to time our buddies at eBay like to give back to the online community with a little promotion called 20-cent listing day (Vintage Baseball Card Forum Chat about this). You might ask yourself “Isn’t it called 10-cent listing day?” well it was until they recently doubled the price.

Still a good deal, however, and it usually brings some pretty interesting items out of the woodwork.
Let’s check out a few:

-    You can buy an original slide, with rights, of Arod… Pretty cool, hey?! Even cooler at the $1-million price tag? Arod himself couldn’t even afford that… actually, yes he could.

That was an example of a seller who is just out of touch with reality. This next seller knows what he is doing, but he is taking advantage of 20-cent listing day to squeeze a little more than normal out of his item.

I don’t fault a guy like this at all. I have done it myself. He is selling a 1961 NFL Championship Game full ticket for about $500 more than I have ever seen one sell for. Can’t blame him for trying. This seller and many others like him love 20-cent listing day for this reason.

-    Check out this auction: click here
I believe that this guy is taking advantage of 20-cent listing day in a crooked manner. Put a generic title listing up there and later on modify the listing to get the sale price of 20 cents at a future. Kinda sneaky!

-    I love this one… This guy has been trying to sell this football for about a year now. What’s commendable about this guy is he isn’t even listing it during a 20-cent listing day. Every time he tries to sell this he is dishing out at least six or seven bucks out of his pocket to sell, of all things, a “Reverse Dimple Leather Football.” Do I hear $14,000??!!!


Have a great Memorial Day weekend!!  

How many times have you opened up a pack of cards and said to yourself “I wish I had some input on what is put in these packs”?

Well, with the help of Upper Deck CEO Richard McWilliam, now you can.
At a discussion at the 2007 Hawaii Trade Conference McWilliam said he would answer any email (or appoint an Upper Deck representative to answer) that offered constructive criticism about his products.
Well, he has kept his promise and created an email address for this: ceo@upperdeck.com.

In Sportsfest news, Minnesota Vikings new first-round draftpick Adrian Peterson has just been added to the show’s autograph lineup. Peterson will be signing on Sunday June 10 and will be part of an already impressive panel of guests.

Ok… As you all know, Sportsfest is one of the biggest card/autograph shows of the year. Anyone on the fence about going should check out my Top 10 Reasons You Attend Sportsfest.

#10 There is a free coupon for one day of admission in the June 1 issue of SCD.
-    That’s a $10 savings right off the bat!

#9 The event is at the more modern Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel & Convention Center
-    Move over Rosemont and your eight-dollar week-old hotdogs, bring on the hip RSHC Center

#8 The new venue has FREE PARKING!
-    Nothing worse than spending almost as much money on parking as you do on your admission. You don’t have to worry about that anymore.

#7 Friday Fan Appreciation Day and Exclusive Upper Deck set
-    On Friday of the event all autographs are only $10
-    You will be able to obtain exclusive Upper Deck trading cards via its redemption program

#6 Joe Montana, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Reggie Bush and Greg Olsen
-    What more can I say about these legends and future legends?

#5 “What’s it Worth”
-    A very popular event at Sportsfest, collectors can bring in any piece of memorabilia or card to ask our panel of experts “What’s it Worth?”

#4 Schaumburg is much cooler than Rosemont, Illinois.
-    Unless you want about four choices for food choices and a couple of choices for drinks Schaumburg will impress you. One of Chicago’s nicest suburbs, with a lot going on.

#3 100s of the Nation’s biggest dealers will be in attendance
-    Card companies, authenticators, dealers, autograph guests… what more can you ask for?!

#2 Sunday is Wrestlefest and Sportsfest
-   A bunch of the best professional wrestlers in history will be in attendance signing autographs

#1 And the No. 1 reason you should attend Sportsfest is because I will be there!
- I can’t wait to meet all of you, so make sure you stop by the SCD booth.

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Now that Heritage Auctions has pulled its wallet out there with $1 million to the lucky person who catches Barry Bonds’ 756th home run ball, it poses an interesting question. What would you do if you caught the ball?

Many experts didn’t think the ball would sell for anywhere near the million, but his 700th homer ball did sell for $804,000 a couple years ago.

Surprisingly his 600th home run ball only sold for $40,000, a bargain even if it is from a guy surrounded by scandal.

So, now you know pretty much everything there is to know about Bonds’ milestone baseballs. What would you do?

I think the safe thing to do is sell the ball to Heritage. No hassle and one million smackers. Sounds good to me.

Could this ball possibly sell for two, three million?? I kinda doubt it, but then again, Mark McGwire’s 70th home run ball went for $3 million.

I really would like everybody’s input. If we get some good responses, I would like to include them in our magazine at some point.