JSA Auction Letter Upgrade

[margoaepi]

I recently won a lot of autographs which came with a JSA auction letter. The fine print on the letter is not entirely clear if it will cost me $50 to upgrade each item to a real LOA or $50 to upgrade the entire lot. Has anyone had experience with this? Thanks.

[D. Bergin]

It's each item.

[drc]

I've won large autograph group lots like this, and, if I were to resell individually with photocopy of the LOA, I kept my invoice to prove I was the winner of the lot if push came to shove. If someone questioned, I could say "See. That's my name. I was the winner."

[David Atkatz]

Christ Almighty! Can't you people see what a ripoff this is? ''The lot you won was authentic enough to auction off, but if you, the winner, are thinking of reselling, it's gonna cost you."

Either JSA thinks it's authentic or it doesn't. Why the hell would you need a CoA "upgrade"? (Except to make them more money, of course.)

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by David Atkatz

Christ Almighty! Can't you people see what a ripoff this is? ''The lot you won was authentic enough to auction off, but if you, the winner, are thinking of reselling, it's gonna cost you."

Either JSA thinks it's authentic or it doesn't. Why the hell would you need a CoA "upgrade"? (Except to make them more money, of course.)

David,
Thanks for presenting the voice of sanity here.
I completely agree with you on this scam. IMHO JSA is trying to get people into the business of collecting JSA letters instead of the collectibles themselves.....

[calvindog]

I'm lost here. The lot had a JSA auction letter -- doesn't that mean that JSA blessed the lot? Why would you need a real LOA? Isn't that an LOA?

[RichardSimon]

Jeff,
PSA was the originator of the "auction letter." I don't know if it is still part of their repertoire.
The auction letter meant that the authenticator was in the vicinity of the autograph lot. It might mean that the authenticator did look at the lot, possibly.
After that, you are on your own.

[calvindog]

LOL this is too funny. When does Sal Bando get his cut?

[HRBAKER]

the auction lot letter is to help the house move the lot essentially but is worth less in the after auction market as far as selling individual pieces?

[Exhibitman]

Perhaps it is a double-secret LOA?

[prewarsports]

Not only that but they only honor the Auction LOA's for a year. I tried to get something that was sold in a major auction as part of a lot (photo of it was right in the catalog) upgraded to a full letter for the price they mentioned and they told me it was over 1 year so I would have to go through the entire authentication process over again. Cost? $250 even though there was a picture of the item I won staring right at them in the auction catalog from 2007 and they had authenticated it then.

[Kawika]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Perhaps it is a double-secret LOA?

Won't know until we run it past Forensics.

[HRBAKER]

The shearing will not stop until the sheep stop lining up.

[keithsky]

We are all like little pawns against the authenicators. They make all the rules and we all just go along with it. I remember years ago when they all stated in there certs it said "Guarenteed authentic". Then it was "Our Opinion". Now it's almost getting to "Flip a Coin heads it real tails it's not" They don't take ANY responsiblity so they don't have to be right. That is why I don't use them. Anybody can give an opinion. It's really out of control.

[David Atkatz]

Amen, brothers.

[RichardSimon]

Originally Posted by prewarsports

Not only that but they only honor the Auction LOA's for a year. I tried to get something that was sold in a major auction as part of a lot (photo of it was right in the catalog) upgraded to a full letter for the price they mentioned and they told me it was over 1 year so I would have to go through the entire authentication process over again. Cost? $250 even though there was a picture of the item I won staring right at them in the auction catalog from 2007 and they had authenticated it then.

Which authenticator was that?

[prewarsports]

JSA. It was at the National this year I tried to get a letter from something in an auction in 2007. I did not have the Auction LOA but the item was pictured in the catalog I had and I showed it to them along with the item in my hand. The older guy there (not Jimmy) got really short with me and just handed me a submission form and told me that they only did one year on auction LOA's to full LOA's.

FYI, I do think JSA is the best authenticator, they do their homework. I just think the policy of Auction LOA's v. Full LOA's are a joke from ALL the authenticators.

[Bilko G]

Originally Posted by HRBAKER

the auction lot letter is to help the house move the lot essentially but is worth less in the after auction market as far as selling individual pieces?

Basically yes. The "auction letter" basically just states that we believe that the items might be authentic but we would have to examine them further to be sure.

[HRBAKER]

Originally Posted by Bilko G

Basically yes. The "auction letter" basically just states that we believe that the items might be authentic but we would have to examine them further to be sure.

OK, so my next question is this hypothetically. Is it true then to say that each piece in a multi-piece lot has been "certified" as genuine by a third party authenticator? Or do most places say that in their descriptions?

[Bilko G]

Originally Posted by HRBAKER

OK, so my next question is this hypothetically. Is it true then to say that each piece in a multi-piece lot has been "certified" as genuine by a third party authenticator? Or do most places say that in their descriptions?

If a multi-lot auction has individual LOAs for each piece, they will definitely put that in their description. It would definitely benefit the auction houses final hammer price to list each LOA separate, if that is what they have.

[David Atkatz]

Originally Posted by Bilko G

Basically yes. The "auction letter" basically just states that we believe that the items might be authentic but we would have to examine them further to be sure.

Is that so? Do you know of a single instance where one of these "might be authentic" items was, upon certificate upgrade, found to be inauthentic?

[Ladder7]

It's a niche plan and not for all of us... Those with six months to live,


will benefit most.

[TATSR]

I bought a group of autographed cards a few years ago with a JSA lot letter. Three of the cards were particularly valuable and mentioned prominently in the auction description. I sent the three cards to PSA for authentication/slabbing and they came back questionable. Then I sent them to Beckett/JSA for authentication/slabbing and they also came back questionable. Terms of the settlement with the auction company are sealed.

TATSR

[vintagechris]

Originally Posted by TATSR

I bought a group of autographed cards a few years ago with a JSA lot letter. Three of the cards were particularly valuable and mentioned prominently in the auction description. I sent the three cards to PSA for authentication/slabbing and they came back questionable. Then I sent them to Beckett/JSA for authentication/slabbing and they also came back questionable. Terms of the settlement with the auction company are sealed.

TATSR

I had a similar experience with a PSA/DNA group letter. Except I didn't send the cards in to get authenticated. I knew by looking at them. Obvious fakes. It was somewhere around 20 questionable autos in a lot of about 400.