What is your opinion on TPA's?

[bnorth]

They are the absolute greatest thing in the hobby. That is if you have raw items you can get "certified" by them to sell. They are absolutely amazing for making money that way. Other than that they are completely worthless.

[homerunhitter]

I appreciate your honest opinion. Thank you

any other thoughts?

[rand1com]

They are way better than just buying autographs blind especially if you like to collect autographs but know little about their authenticity.

Obviously, they make some mistakes that get highlighted but if they get 90% right that gives a collector a way better chance to get something authentic than just rolling the dice.

[theshleps]

I have had the opportunity to know some of the top authenticators and spend time with them and learn from them. At last a few of them know alot more than me. many questions still remain
1- when we send something in we do not know which authenticators look at your item, how many look, how much time they spend looking.
if I knew only the top guys would look and take all the necessary time they need, I'd be great
.
Unfortunately that cannot be guaranteed as the demand for authentication outweighs the number of experts that do it for a living.
Again if you need to sell and use an auction house TPAs are required and PSA slabbed typically will go for more than the others. In some ways I wished we turned back the clock but that is in many things in todays world

[Hankphenom]

To paraphrase what Winston Churchill said of Democracy, that it is the worst form of government except for all the others, substitute TPAs. I'd like to hear from somebody that would like to go back to when they weren't part of the hobby.

[guy3050]

in many cases they are a necessary evil.

[The Detroit Collector]

They are pretty much necessary if you plan on reselling. If you got autographs done personally and only planning of keeping them in your personal collection, they are not needed.

If you plan on reselling and at a reasonable price, they are needed.

Also, they are not always 100% accurate, especially for extremely rare autographs. Vintage baseball as an example. The best course of action is to first see if there is a TPA and then personally review other autograph examples to conclude if the autograph is authentic.

[rand1com]

Originally Posted by theshleps

I have had the opportunity to know some of the top authenticators and spend time with them and learn from them. At last a few of them know alot more than me. many questions still remain
1- when we send something in we do not know which authenticators look at your item, how many look, how much time they spend looking.
if I knew only the top guys would look and take all the necessary time they need, I'd be great
.
Unfortunately that cannot be guaranteed as the demand for authentication outweighs the number of experts that do it for a living.
Again if you need to sell and use an auction house TPAs are required and PSA slabbed typically will go for more than the others. In some ways I wished we turned back the clock but that is in many things in todays world

I agree we do not know who looks at our items. And like you, I have a lot of confidence in the senior authenticators at all 3 major 3rd parties, but they have to hire trainees just like the card grading companies do and they are no better than anyone else who starts with no real knowledge. I know that the 3rd parties for the most part when they authenticate at shows send pics of most of the autographs(especially the high dollar ones) to the senior guys. Sometimes, they take the item back with them if there is any question. They really try to do their best and we all know they sometimes miss the mark. Overall, they have greatly improved the autograph market in my opinion.

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by rand1com

I agree we do not know who looks at our items. And like you, I have a lot of confidence in the senior authenticators at all 3 major 3rd parties, but they have to hire trainees just like the card grading companies do and they are no better than anyone else who starts with no real knowledge. I know that the 3rd parties for the most part when they authenticate at shows send pics of most of the autographs(especially the high dollar ones) to the senior guys. Sometimes, they take the item back with them if there is any question. They really try to do their best and we all know they sometimes miss the mark. Overall, they have greatly improved the autograph market in my opinion.

+1.

[ThomasL]

I dont put much weight in them at all. I know collectors that have far better knowledge and comp libraries. Kevin Keating at PSA is a good judge IMO but I have no idea how you could know he looked at a submission or someone else. JSA is usually good IMO. Beckett is the worst (least reliable).

Again there are collectors that are far better judges so save your money