What are the affects of photomatching on prices?

[jon_8_us]

I have recently photomatched a few bats i own.I picked these bats up at market price or a little below.Now if i have a buyer that agrees the item is a photomatch regardless whether it's Steiner,Elite,or no COA at all what is the affect on the price?Any opinions appreciated.Thanks
Jon

[scottanservitz]

Jon,
I think this has been brought up, but I may be mistaken. To me, if you have a photomatched item it should bring a significant premium in price if you decide to sell it. Again, the photomatch has to be a no doubt picture. I own exactly one photomatched piece and I would want atleast 50-100% premium over what one without the match would sell for. I guess it would also depend on what it is matched to. For example, a World Series or Super Bowl photo match would probably take the price WAY over one without it. But I definitely think it should bring a significant premium. Good question and one I think all collectors try to do to some degree. I know I try to match up my collection all the time. It is just tough to do sometimes. By the way, I got Randy Moss in my fantasy league, so when you see him would you please get him pumped up for me! I also got Maroney, but I think he is going to have a breakout year!
Scott

[R. C. Walker]

I may be in the minority on this issue, but in my opinion, a photo matched item would only bring a premium on a significant item or star player to an extent.

A player collector knows that players bat specs and what it should look like. A Manny Ramirez bat is a Manny Ramirez bat. Now if that same bat was his 500th or other milestone bat of course = premium.

The notion of a photo matched premium on any item is hard to justify. I’ll use an example of a jersey which was recently for sale on this site. No offense to Kylehess10 on this one. He was told that being a photo matched jersey, the Eli Marrero he had would go for $300. A nondescript player, common Colorado Rockies shirt? Photo matched or not, it is no where near a premium jersey.

Would or should a collector pay a premium for a Pete LaForrest jersey because you have a photo of him wearing it? It do not believe so. Just my opinion.

[both-teams-played-hard]

I collect vintage basketball and "oddball" basketball. Most are from the 50s-60s-70s and photographs are low-lit and poor quality or they just don't exist. The poor quality in dark gyms makes a true "photo-match" near impossible. A simple "photo reference" or "style match" to some vintage items would enhance a jersey's value in my opinion.
http://img103.mytextgraphics.com/photolava/2007/09/06/141-47qoqxxtn.jpg
http://img108.mytextgraphics.com/photolava/2007/09/06/washstate2-47qosm2wb.jpghttp://img105.mytextgraphics.com/photolava/2007/09/06/washstate3-47qot0idd.jpg

[Vintagedeputy]

I dont think that the value of photo matching has reached its potential yet. With all of the doctored items and Lampson-esq LOA's out there, I think the day will come that buyers will require a photo match on an item, which will result in a premium. I liken it to a team letter but with a higher degree of certainty.

I'd pay a slight premium for a photomatched item.

Take my Jorge Posada bat for example. Everyone knows his tape pattern. Same goes for Paul O'Neill et al. Its not that hard to doctor a bat with that tape and pine tar pattern. Posada is having a career year this year and may end up in the post season once again. With a photo match, I can assure a buyer that my item is legit. Now, my bat was only used for one at bat (that I could find so far) and he got an rbi single with it. It was his 800th career rbi. If I can show that video footage or a photo to a potential buyer, I think it adds something to the bat's value.

oh, and by the way, sorry guys but the bat isnt for sale....:)

Jim

[zookerman182]

I think it adds to the value and adds even more if the player did well with the bat. If you have a bat and know the player hit a home run or go 12-16 with it then you have a really nice bat with proof that the payer not only used your bat but did well with it. As long as sellers are able to prove this there will be buyers and i do think the time will come when almost everything will be photomatched if possible but will also bring prices up when it does happen. Now that i have two photomatched bats with video mathes and know when the players used them i dont want to go back to having bats that match the players use characteristics but not know what he did with the bat. i may be a geek but i like to know that kind of stuff and will search to find out about it.

[sylbry]

Depends on the item.

Look at Kylehess' photomatched Jeter held WS bat. That bat certainly jumped in value due to the photomatch.

However a well tagged, well worn common player jersey may not see a bump in value with a photomatch.

[indyred]

I know I would pay more for a nice photo matched item. You don't see all that many sold. I know for myself. The stuff I have photo matched makes it harder for me to sell. It really adds keeper value in my collection. Just makes the piece so much more special, even if it's a common player. One of the most exciting things in this hobby is just looking through all the photo sites and hoping you can pick the needle out of the haystack and getting a match. Or even now looking at past games on mlb.com looking for video matches.

[RKGIBSON]

In my opinion a photo match proves a item is real. It in turn, make the item worth top market price. I believe in a competitive market place, like a auction, it can make the item bring above the general market value, it just takes two people that want it.

Items with no photo match and just some authenicators LOA usually do not bring good maket prices. A LOA does not prove the item is real beyond doubt. I only collect football items. I see Tomlinson, Brady and Manning jerseys without photo, or team documentation, go in auctions for far less than market, under 2K. Any of the above with provenace should go for 10K or more. Personally, I would not own them for any price. I would rather have one great jersey than 20 that could not be proven real.

Roger

[kylehess10]

I also agree that a photomatched piece is worth more. In January, I purchased an Eli Marrero photomatched game worn Rockies jersey for $89. I found another photomatch for the picture and found out that it came from Opening Day Weekend. I brought the jersey to Dave Bushing, and to my surprise, he valued it at $350. I was guessing maybe $150-$175 but $350 completely shocked me.