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Originally Posted by hawaiian bam bam
I don't buy tpa for my own confidence in an item. I buy so 40 or 50 years from now when my kids sell my items they won't be taken advantage of done scummy loser buyer that is looking to take advantage of people that don't know the hobby like we do. To prevent someone from telling my kids oh this mickey mantle autograph is not authenticated so I'll give u $10 for it or hey that Ted Williams autograph isn't authenticated so I'll give u $20 for it! I feel if items are authenticated it's a lot harder for people to take advantage of a situation when my kids do sell my items one day .
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There is a big problem with you plan stated above. The problem is that you have no idea if PSA, JSA, SGC, or any of the other TPAs are going to be considered reputable 5, 10, 20, or more years ago. This is not TPA bashing. This an objective fact.
The TPAs provide an OPINION as to the authenticity of autographs. The objective value of their opinion is only as good as their reputation. As we have seen in the past, in many industries, the reputation of a company may change on the fickle whim of public perception. This makes the money you spend on their services now a gamble on whether they will continue to be considered reputable when your family decides to sell those items.
How will your children be served if all the money you spent getting things certed by PSA now be wasted because of a scandal or even just a poor business decision with them going out of business.
There is even a possible negative impact if you consider the case of GAI. At one point they were considered the number 2 firm behind PSA. One or 2 scandals later and now all items with a GAI cert/sticker are assumed to be fake. Suppose all of your real IP graphs are now, by default, considered fake because the company you chose to cert them had something happen. In this example your kids could be bilked into selling real autos cheap, because "they are probably fake being certed by XXX company."
My opinion is that if you are only using the TPAs for resale value, then cert them just before you sell them. That way, you guarantee that whomever is selling them uses the company that is considered the best at that time. This also allows you to have more money right now to buy more autographs.
Again, none of this is TPA bashing. Whether or not I think their service is good or not has nothing to do with the above. The quality of their service only comes into play if you rely on their opinion to decide to buy or not buy an auto. That is a totally different discussion as you stated above that you don't use TPA for your confidence level.