Posted By:
Nick G
The issue i had with this piece was how they went about authenticating it, not with Dave or REA.
(To Jeff)...I dont know if you know Dave, but he is one THE MOST stand up guys in the entire business. Im sure there was a ton of time that went into looking for more pictures, etc of the jersey.
However at the end of that day.. If you dont have any.. you have to say.. YES this is good, or no its not. It IS a big leap of faith for someone spending 5 figures on an item. I DO wonder... If someone else (say.. me) sent this jersey to MEARS would they have given it a cert based on just that 1 photo. Though i will say, the "buy back" guarantee does speak volumes into how much they believe in themselves.
Sadly, Robert is right. There are very few auction houses in which things are done on the 100% up and up. Its part of a much larger discussion as to why this hobby gets nothing but negative press it seems.
On the subject of authenticating and buying.. Dave very easily could have had a friend buy the jersey on ebay.... Mears does the cert.. and the friend consigns it.. So you have to give them credit (REA also)for being honest
The authentication business is simply no win. People expect you to be right 100% of the time. When you do made an error (no matter how rare) people grill you and never let you live it down. Like Dave said, its also not very lucrative.
Again my only reservation is that they could say w 100% certainty thats what that jersey is, based on the information they have. Besides that... I have the utmost respect for Robert Edwards and Dave Bushing. THe hobby could use more like both of them.