HOW TO KNOW IF AN AUTOGRAPH IS WORTH AUTHENTICATING

There are so, so many fake autographs out there. Of course it’s not YOUR item, but according to research, those other collectors out there are holding a shocking number of fakes. Why are forgeries so prevalent in the autograph market? Because they’re easy and they’re lucrative for the forger. And the forgers operate out in the open, sometimes selling items as “decorative” to distract from the fact that the signatures are fake. So what’s a collector to do?

Only purchase autographs that are authenticated. Full stop. I don’t care – and you shouldn’t care – for someone else’s story about how their grandfather’s uncle’s cousin knew Babe Ruth growing up and got him to sign a baseball as a toddler. Everyone makes up stories, and you’d need a lot of time, a journalistic rigor, and generally more of a “give a crap” feeling than I have in order to verify the details on your own. Why bother? Anyone holding an item with a credible autograph that has substantial value should authenticate it before selling it. Authentication is a well-known process, and it’s not super expensive; if a seller chooses not to authenticate a high-end item before selling, to me that’s a red flag.

That’s all useful when shopping for autographs on the open market, but what about all the raw autographs sitting around in your collection? Maybe you obtained something at a game or event, maybe you won it at a raffle, or maybe you received it as a gift. Maybe you purchased an autograph that didn’t have authentication, ignoring my admonishment above. It’s ok. I’ll help you understand when to send your autograph for grading, and when to keep it just the way it is.

Here are the factors I consider:

· Frequency of forgeries – is this the sort of autograph that is frequently faked? Trust your own experience, but also look at research from PSA/DNA, Beckett, and other companies showing which athletes and celebrities tend to be declined most often by the authenticators. These lists contain many of the top names in the market: Michael Jordan, Mickey Mantle, Tom Brady, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, and so on. Follow this general rule – the more stratospheric a star is, the more likely people are faking that person’s autograph. Protect your value through authentication.

· Market value – in general, you should never spend more to authenticate a signature than the signature is worth. eBay is an excellent source of data here – look for sold listings to see what people are actually paying for an individual’s autograph, and compare that to the fees you’d pay for authentication. Here’s an example: Last time I went to a local JSA appearance, a couple of years ago, they were charging $25 to authenticate most autographs. Higher level stuff might be $30, $40, etc. – the price is based on the signer(s) – but I authenticated autos like Cal Ripken Jr. for $25. One of the signed photos in my pile was from Willie Stargell; it was authentic, but months later I could only sell it for $20. Objectively, it was a bad idea for me to have paid to authenticate that photo. Had I done better research ahead of time, I would have known.

· Personal value – like with cards, this is the part where you throw the first two filters out the window. Sometimes, you just want to get an autograph authenticated for your collection, and you don’t care if it costs more than the card is worth. I do this for almost everything, unless the dollar value is so low that it’s silly. Why? Because someday every item in my collection will be sold. It might not be sold by me – maybe by my kids after I’m gone – and I don’t want to impede the sale process for them. Authenticated autographs, just like graded cards, gain a type of market liquidity that you’ll you’re your kids to have if they wind up having to sell your collection. Unauthenticated autographs, just like raw cards, are way harder to sell. So, draw the lines wherever you see fit, just don’t waste money on authenticating low-value autographs unless they’re really, really special to you.

Here's another tip – if you’re willing to take some risk, you can benefit from other sellers’ unwillingness to authenticate their items. Particularly in bulk sales, if you can establish some credibility around a couple of items (maybe by looking at similar items on eBay that carry an authentication seal), there’s a high chance that many or most of the items in that collection will pass authentication. Sellers might not want to shell out several hundred dollars or more to grade a stack of items; if you are, you can buy those items at a discount, get them authenticated, and assuming that they pass, keep them or sell them for a nice profit.