Photo Authentication

[conor912]

Originally Posted by packs

Does anyone really need photo authentication? It seems like a service like that would only exist for people who have no idea what they've got. If you're in the hobby and collect photos it is usually no problem for you to tell restrike from original.

Does anyone really need card authentication? It seems like a service like that would only exist for people who have no idea what they've got. If you're in the hobby and collect cards it is usually no problem for you to tell reprint from original.

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by conor912

Does anyone really need card authentication? It seems like a service like that would only exist for people who have no idea what they've got. If you're in the hobby and collect cards it is usually no problem for you to tell reprint from original.

Very well played!

[Jersey City Giants]

+1

[Robbie]

As interest in the photo niche deepens and expands, and values continue to grow, the incentive for fakes and fraud increases dramatically... like it always does when anything collected starts attracting more serious investment.

I believe that there are many reasons to have an experienced third party expert examine and evaluate your photographs. However, many photo collectors seem to not yet see the value in this. Perhaps that will change as the market matures.

[steve B]

If those third parties can't or won't get it right for cards, what makes you believe they will get it right for photos?

[drcy]

Originally Posted by steve B

If those third parties can't or won't get it right for cards, what makes you believe they will get it right for photos?

They do a good job at authentication. It's the grading (which includes alterations identification) where they're unreliable.

[Robbie]

Originally Posted by steve B

If those third parties can't or won't get it right for cards, what makes you believe they will get it right for photos?

The best solution may or may not come from one of "those" third parties. The photography market is pretty vast, and other alternatives for photo collectors might become available.

[steve B]

I guess what bugs me about the whole thing is the idea that a third party is needed for even rather ordinary items. Items that aren't hard to authenticate.


Photos are pretty easy and only the semi-crazy type system really causes a need for any help. It's not like figuring out if a painting is Picasso or just some kid with no supervision.

I get why someone who makes enough to spend huge money on a photo won't take the time to learn the little bit it takes to tell if it's old or not. But I think they do themselves a disservice if they don't learn that stuff. And yes, that applies to pretty much ALL collectibles, I'll take my chances with inexpensive items but if I was going to spend upwards of $10,000 I'd be really sure I knew enough about whatever it is.

And I also wonder how well any TPA will do when they end up getting pushed for time.
The worst aspect to the whole TPA business when it comes to cards is how little time they spend on an item and how as "experts" they've backed off on providing an opinion on items they find difficult. If they can't manage to get the difficult stuff, or even mildly difficult stuff like 62 green tints, to the point where they won't do that anymore... why would I use them for the really easy stuff.