JSA or PSA?
 

If you are wanting to purchase an autographed item would you prefer to purchase a JSA or PSA authenticated item?

Personally I would prefer an authentic item.

+1

Perhaps a better way to ask it is if you were reselling an item from your collection and an LOA had to accompany it, would you prefer JSA or PSA?

i would prefer wbc authentication

I would prefer SGC though I have never submitted an autograph for authentication to any service.
I would trust them over the other two.

I would prefer. Rich.Jim. for old guys. Zip for astronauts me for Mantle and Williams. Chris for Jeter Mantle and Williams and the rest of the board for all the rest.

And None of the third parties no matter what they say:eek:

I want to thank everyone for their input. I was actually kicking myself for missing the chance to get a signed ball from several now deceased players like Duke Snider and Harmon Killebrew.

I thought well if I felt comfortable I would just watch for some auctions with some credibility and pick some up but now it may just be a ship that sailed without me?

Whats funny (or good) is that before I joined these boards i always thought that PSA was king and that JSA was a close second. Now it seems like SGC is rounding third. But after joining this site and reading (and learning) from the knowledge here. im starting to see that TPA are no longer the absolute final authority on whether an autograph is authentic or not. Im starting to myself, get rid of all TPA (i mostly have PSA) from my collection. its a slippery slope, because for resale no matter what people think, PSA is going to make you more money than unauthenticated cards. when i sold two exact cards, the one psa got way more than the unauthenticated one. the un authenticated one barely got the .99 cent starting bid. what i noticed in my last few auctions is now even psa is barely getting sold for what i paid to get it authenticated. then a member here talked some sense into me and told me that what happens if psa goes belly up? then i lose all the hundreds and hundreds of dollars i spent in authentication fees because they will all be worthless if psa goes belly up (very good point by the way) to be honest i trust the opinions of members here more than i trust psa, jsa or sgc. i think to answer your question, for players like snider and killebrew, their autos are so common and all over ebay that i personally wouldnt worry about if they are authenticated as long as you can tell they look authentic to you. i think for common guys i wont buy tpas any more, as there is no need to get a tpa to tell you that bobby doer or bob feller is authentic or that nolan ryan or jim palmer is authentic. i would however still use psa if i was buying a high end auto such as babe ruth, lou gehrig, ty cobb, jackie robinson, etc. are there any members here that would not use a tpa for high end autos liek ruth or clemente? hope this helps some.

Returning to the OP from the TPA bash session, it really depends on the item and how you want to use/display it. From a market perspective, it appears that PSA, JSA and SGC are all treated about the same. For a signed ball, assuming a display is planned, I think a PSA encapsulated example in a cube holder just looks nicer and neater to me. That said, if you are looking for a common signature, like the two you mentioned, there is really no need for a TPA cert at all. There are many, many examples and their signatures are well known and readily identified. You might try Jim Stinson. He's a member here and always has a lot of good stuff.

Along with Jim Stinson, I would offer up Kevin Keating and Bill Corcoran.

I used to think autographed items I purchased had to be in a TPA slab. However, I have more confidence in people like Kevin Keating, Jim Stinson, Bill Corcoran, etc. than I do in SGC, PSA, JSA, etc. I appreciate the various members of this board who helped open my eyes. There is also no substitute for studying the signature of the person you are looking to buy.

Thanks guys, this has been a real eye opener and it is nice to hear about the good guys out there.

It's amazing how many so-called experts have proven that their opinions can't be trusted, yet I keep seeing their names show up here with glowing reviews. Just because someone sells more autographs than anyone else, or has written a book, doesn't mean that their opinions can be trusted. With many of them I haven't yet figured out if they are lazy, greedy or simply don't have an eye for autographs, but the end result is the same.

I agree that you have to develop your own eye. If you are unable to, then you will have to either develop relationships with one or more true experts, or stay away from expensive autographs. Leaving it up to PSA, JSA or some of the others listed, is just going to leave you crying at some point.

Shots fired! I would love to hear more of your opinion on this.

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at the very least you have to know who looked at the autograph, if the 'service' doesnt tell you who authenticated it, then what good is it? they could have an 18 year old intern make the call on your autograph. i dont think that is what collectors want.

Both PSA/DNA and JSA make tons of mistakes. It should ALWAYS be about the autograph, not about the damn sticker that comes on it.