[RichardSimon]

Originally Posted by Caseyatbat

Jeff I can tell you from my personal experience as a dealer, that if one of my autographs is not authenticated by the top 2 companies, the buyers email and ask "Why is this autograph not authenticated by *SA? And then they ask, "Do you guarantee it to pass *SA?" And the conversation usually ends with, "they will only buy the item if it comes with *SA authentication".

So if you are a dealer selling valuable autographs, it is much easier to just go ahead to satisfy the buyer and provide proper TPA. Most of the time the buyers are also willing to pay more for that particular item if it has this type of authentication. And not many people are asking for authentication from the reliable dealer names that were mentioned previously. Just about every buyer is asking for the top 2 companies and thats it. And they are the buyer, so that really forces dealers into using them.

I have probably been around longer than you Casey because the situation you describe happens to me only once or twice a year and it is usually from a new customer. I tell them I don't need TPA because I feel I know what I am doing.
In my ebay ads I state this:

If you see autographs on ebay with 3rd party authentication then you are paying for that authentication, whether you want it or not. The sellers are forcing you to pay for and accept the opinion of those companies. They will add the cost of authentication to the price of the item.
Established, reputable dealers who know their material don't need to use third party authenticators.