Quality Autographs & Memorabilia (Kevin Keating)

[dgo71]

I have dealt with him for years and owe much of my HOF collection to him. I heard he recently went out of business. Sad day for me if this is true. Does anyone know any details? He had an immense inventory that I can't imagine he could liquidate quickly. His private signings with new HOF members was also a great way to stay current on gold plaque postcards. I will miss his business if he has in fact hung it up.

[keithsky]

It's my understanding he went to work for PSA so had to end his business

[RichardSimon]

Keith is correct.
Kevin along with Rich Albersheim and Bill Corcoran.

[Big Six]

So we're down to Rich and Jim as trustworthy dealers...ugh.

M@tt McC@rthy


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[Klrdds]

The future of the autograph business has been changing and evolving ( whether for good or bad only time , as well as customer feedback will determine ) ever since Steiner, and PSA and in some respects JSA entered the market . Auction houses with their tacit complicity and involvement with PSA and JSA have dramatically altered the buying and selling habits of veteran collectors, and especially the new and inexperienced collectors who rely on the "blessings " and "approval " of PSA, and to some extent JSA before buying.
I know when Jim Stinson was selling some items for me over the past few years the first words out of prospective buyers mouths were "Will it pass PSA or JSA " regardless of Jim's opinion. They wanted a PSA LOA in some cases before buying and for the seller it was an added expense , Jim never charged me for those PSA opinions; but as you know the rarer the autograph the more expensive it was for the PSA letter. This added overhead to his business. I am sure that Bill, Rich, and Kevin had to deal with this issue also, which can be very frustrating after all the years they put into their businesses and after the debacle with Grad at PSA this was a perfect time for PSA to reign in some dealers and eliminate competition in an indirect way.
I believe, and it is only my opinion that the spectre of PSA for dealers like Bill, Rich, and Kevin became too much to deal with indirectly because their expertise as solo dealers was being constantly challenged by customers. Perhaps PSA made them a deal they couldn't refuse to give it up and join them.
I believe that we and our hobby/business will continue to see some changes in the autograph business happening and perhaps sooner than we can imagine.

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by Klrdds

The future of the autograph business has been changing and evolving ( whether for good or bad only time , as well as customer feedback will determine ) ever since Steiner, and PSA and in some respects JSA entered the market . Auction houses with their tacit complicity and involvement with PSA and JSA have dramatically altered the buying and selling habits of veteran collectors, and especially the new and inexperienced collectors who rely on the "blessings " and "approval " of PSA, and to some extent JSA before buying.
I know when Jim Stinson was selling some items for me over the past few years the first words out of prospective buyers mouths were "Will it pass PSA or JSA " regardless of Jim's opinion. They wanted a PSA LOA in some cases before buying and for the seller it was an added expense , Jim never charged me for those PSA opinions; but as you know the rarer the autograph the more expensive it was for the PSA letter. This added overhead to his business. I am sure that Bill, Rich, and Kevin had to deal with this issue also, which can be very frustrating after all the years they put into their businesses and after the debacle with Grad at PSA this was a perfect time for PSA to reign in some dealers and eliminate competition in an indirect way.
I believe, and it is only my opinion that the spectre of PSA for dealers like Bill, Rich, and Kevin became too much to deal with indirectly because their expertise as solo dealers was being constantly challenged by customers. Perhaps PSA made them a deal they couldn't refuse to give it up and join them.
I believe that we and our hobby/business will continue to see some changes in the autograph business happening and perhaps sooner than we can imagine.

Extremely cogent analysis of the situation as I saw it.

[Klrdds]

Originally Posted by Big Six

So we're down to Rich and Jim as trustworthy dealers...ugh.

M@tt McC@rthy


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The last 2 men with integrity and great customer service standing after all the others have fallen by the wayside.

[theshleps]

I could be wrong but I suspect kevins inventory will get slabbed and sold by various auction houses

[Klrdds]

I would like to know also what happened to Bill's and Rich's inventories since they closed shop much sooner than Kevin did .
I have not noticed any references to their collections or inventories in any ads or AH listings

[tazdmb]

I have spoken with Kevin and he has no plans to auction any of his inventory.

[mschwade]

Originally Posted by Klrdds

The last 2 men with integrity and great customer service standing after all the others have fallen by the wayside.

And now Jim announces he's retiring The vintage sources of this hobby is drying up. I'd add Rhys Yeakley as another trustworthy dealer with that focus.

Nonetheless, a huge hit losing Kevin and now Jim over the past 8-9 months.