Frustrated with 3rd party authen. But not an autograph expert. Your thoughts

[RichardSimon]

Some will just keep drinking it.

[packs]

But what do you propose as a solution? How would you solve the issue of authentication accuracy and still meet demand of thousands of submissions in any one day?

[RichardSimon]

Many, but certainly not all, have a blind adherence to authenticators.
That is wrong. These authenticators are hardly infallible.
Just one very small example fyi, I could list others. I had an autograph album page with a very early example of well known signatures. To confirm my belief in the authenticity of the item I sent a copy of it to the best dealer that I know in the hobby and also to one of the very top collectors here on Net54. Both confirmed my thoughts, that the item was authentic.
One of the leading authentication companies turned it down. My customer kept it after I told him what had happened because he trusted my judgment and my other two sources.
I don't really know what could be done now but I know a system that is beyond corruption and one that is much more transparent would be at the top of my list for improving the current system.

[Klrdds]

When authenticating autographs for profit came into the hobby as a SOLE business model not as an adjunct to collecting or buying / selling autographs corruption also entered with at the same time. Also at the time their God - like infallible attitudes closely followed .
Trust dealers using 1 set of trained eyes NOT companies using multiple sets of untrained eyes .

[Lordstan]

MegaLimey is an employee of PSA I think. He said so in a thread about authenticating a 32WS Called Shot ticket last year.
He is obviously biased as his livelihood depends on them.

Richard and Kevin have said it the best. I can recall many really embarrassing moments for them that can be explained by either incompetence, laziness, or corruption. FOr example how about a 30K Ed Delahanty auto that was certed by both PSA and JSA where the name was misspelled. That is right a 30 thousand dollar auto that was misspelled but passed. Or an 1860 boxer that was certed by both without either having an exemplar(BTW, It was shown he was illiterate as he signed an official document the year after with an "X"). All true.

[megalimey]

LORDSTAN :so wise and so knowledgeable, so humble

[Klrdds]

Originally Posted by megalimey

PSA is now closing their doors and going into selling HOT DOGS

We can only wish this were true.......

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by megalimey

LORDSTAN : based on your incredible ground breaking revelations and your overwhelming influence & impact on the Hobby PSA is now closing their doors and going into selling HOT DOGS

Please let this be a joke. Hot dogs are bad enough now we don't need them to be much worse.

[Lordstan]

Originally Posted by megalimey

LORDSTAN :so wise and so knowledgeable, no one would ever use PSA again after your amazing revaluations you are my hero!!!

Wow David,
You seem to change your mind a lot about what you want to say. It figures, considering how the TPAs change their mind about autos, that their employee would as well.

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by Klrdds

When authenticating autographs for profit came into the hobby as a SOLE business model not as an adjunct to collecting or buying / selling autographs corruption also entered with at the same time. Also at the time their God - like infallible attitudes closely followed .
Trust dealers using 1 set of trained eyes NOT companies using multiple sets of untrained eyes .

+1 Well said, Kevin...

[Coralfarmer84]

My frustration wasn't over if they are competent to authenticate, I think that its clear that they get it right most of the time which is important as there will always be human error and some forgeries are excellent.

My issue was that I don't think either company handled this properly. If you can't render an opinion you shouldn't charge someone, I was paying for their opinion. Its like hiring someone to paint your house, they charge you upfront, and then they say well we don't have a ladder tall enough to get the ceilings so here's a store credit for your next house to be painted. I have no problem paying if its not authentic.

I also take even greater issue with someone spending 30 seconds on something and then issuing an opinion. I am realistic I understand "quick pinion" is just that a quick opinion. In my case thou it was 8 min from my submission time. Not 8 min of looking at it. I don't think for 1 second they opened my message the moment I sent it. I would assume someone opened it minutes later and maybe spent a total of 1 minute looking at the signature. Again that may be all it takes for a crap signature and maybe the one I posted differs from the one I posted with authentication but if you look at Lebrons signatures on known examples of UDA from the UDA database you can see his signature varies quiet a bit from example to example.

I sent the jersey back and got a full refund. Its maddening because sure you can just spend more and get JSA or PSA pieces only but those pieces had to originate somewhere beforehand so surely someone "took the chance". I only was frustrated because in both cases I don't think i got what I paid for.