To the OP,
I am one who has been very critical of the TPAs in the autograph world. While I agree that they get the majority of stuff right, many of the mistakes they have made are really big ones that defy logic, IMHO. When taken in the correct way, I think they do serve a purpose for giving an opinion. My problem has always been that people take them as the end all be all on auto because they sell themselves as experts. Plus they charge based on the autograph value and not the difficulty of the authentication. IMO, If it was about quality of work, the time it takes to do an authentication would the price varying factor. Many of the big name autos can be given a "yes" or "no" in seconds, once you know what you are looking for, but I would be willing to bet only a couple people on the totality of this board know what a Clancy Smyres auto looks like. I don't
The best way to ensure the highest likelihood of buying real autos comes in 6 easy steps.
1) Educate yourself on the autos you wish to buy.
2) Educate yourself on the autos you wish to buy.
3) Educate yourself on the autos you wish to buy.
4) Find a select group of well established/reliable dealers. Besides knowledge, perhaps the most important thing to look for is do they stand behind their items. The reality is that every auto collector has, at one time, perhaps more than once, purchased or sold an auto that was not real. Of course, for most of us, it's just a mistake. IMHO, The real test of a good dealer is will they take something back if it is later shown to be fake. Many out there will get something certed by PSA and then issue the no refund deal. I think that someone who is confident in their skills will rely on their own expertise, not a TPA.
5) Find a group of friends/colleague collectors who you trust.. These people should be able to tell you their truthful opinion without you getting pissed at them. Sometimes we all need that slap across the back of the head to reality orient us. Additionally these will be the people who will share their knowledge with you openly. As you can see, many people are tight lipped about specific things they look for in each auto. A lot do this, because scammers read Net54 as well, and no one wants to give them any help
6) Become a skeptic. One of the biggest issues I see is that people want the items to be real so much to feed their obsession that they lose objectivity. If it's too good to be true, it probably isn't.
Autos can be a lot of fun, but they are also a lot of work. Please don't "invest" your hard earned money expecting a big return before you have an idea what you are looking at.
Regarding factory certed autos... I guess you guys haven't heard about the scandals where one of the companies send a player a few hundred cards and he gave some to different family members to sign. LOL
Best,
M@rk V3l@rd3
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