Hello forum members-
There has been a lot of criticism and heated debate regarding how authenticators do their work. I personally have displayed a Lou Lampson COA which I felt offered very little information about the item. I think many of the problems personally come from the fact that the way Mr. Lampson chooses to do business is different from what my approach would be, So let's get some insight, I pose this to you.
Complete this sentence
If I were authenticating I would...
Remember, this is not an excuse to take shots at anyone, I'm looking for opinions here.
I will even chime in on this with some thoughts off the top off my head.
If I were authenticating I would...
1- Right off the bat include my contact information on every letter. In this day and age, there is no excuse not to make yourself AT LEAST available by email.
2- Know my limits. There is not a single person who knows what tagging, style, fonts etc are appropriate for baseball, football, basketball and hockey. I'm sorry, but that expert does not exist. What I would do was only authenticate in the areas I knew (which hopefully would bring my percentage of mistakes down to a minimal percentage) and either shop out to experts in the areas I didn't know OR not write letters on things I knew I wasn't knowledgeable about.
In the authenticating business, all you have is your name. If people can trust your name, you get repeat business and it feeds on itself. If people feel they can't trust your name, it hurts your business, and the business of the auction houses who employ you, so it seems foolish to do things that would hurt your reputation.
3- Be upfront about conflicts of interest. I would never ever authenticate something for an auction house that I currently or ever had a financial interest in without mentioning it on the letter. Some people would see that as an endorsement of the item. Some people would choose not to get involved in that item. Either way, you are arming the consumer with information to make their own decision.
4- Provide some sort of guarantee. If I am calling myself an authenticator and you bought something with your hard earned money based on my analysis of the item, which later was proven to be incorrect, I would make myself accountable. Again, that goes to the above statment that your name is the most important asset in this hobby. I don't know if it would be a buyback policy, or perhaps something the consignor and auction house would have to sign saying a deal would be undone in this situation- but something has to be done here.
In the end, I would offer the best opinions I could, and make myself accountable if they were wrong. Anything short of that is unprofessional in my eyes.
Just my thoughts. I'm giving this a sticky because this is your hobby and you have the chance to pressure authenticators and auction houses to do the right thing.
Your thoughts?
Eric
There has been a lot of criticism and heated debate regarding how authenticators do their work. I personally have displayed a Lou Lampson COA which I felt offered very little information about the item. I think many of the problems personally come from the fact that the way Mr. Lampson chooses to do business is different from what my approach would be, So let's get some insight, I pose this to you.
Complete this sentence
If I were authenticating I would...
Remember, this is not an excuse to take shots at anyone, I'm looking for opinions here.
I will even chime in on this with some thoughts off the top off my head.
If I were authenticating I would...
1- Right off the bat include my contact information on every letter. In this day and age, there is no excuse not to make yourself AT LEAST available by email.
2- Know my limits. There is not a single person who knows what tagging, style, fonts etc are appropriate for baseball, football, basketball and hockey. I'm sorry, but that expert does not exist. What I would do was only authenticate in the areas I knew (which hopefully would bring my percentage of mistakes down to a minimal percentage) and either shop out to experts in the areas I didn't know OR not write letters on things I knew I wasn't knowledgeable about.
In the authenticating business, all you have is your name. If people can trust your name, you get repeat business and it feeds on itself. If people feel they can't trust your name, it hurts your business, and the business of the auction houses who employ you, so it seems foolish to do things that would hurt your reputation.
3- Be upfront about conflicts of interest. I would never ever authenticate something for an auction house that I currently or ever had a financial interest in without mentioning it on the letter. Some people would see that as an endorsement of the item. Some people would choose not to get involved in that item. Either way, you are arming the consumer with information to make their own decision.
4- Provide some sort of guarantee. If I am calling myself an authenticator and you bought something with your hard earned money based on my analysis of the item, which later was proven to be incorrect, I would make myself accountable. Again, that goes to the above statment that your name is the most important asset in this hobby. I don't know if it would be a buyback policy, or perhaps something the consignor and auction house would have to sign saying a deal would be undone in this situation- but something has to be done here.
In the end, I would offer the best opinions I could, and make myself accountable if they were wrong. Anything short of that is unprofessional in my eyes.
Just my thoughts. I'm giving this a sticky because this is your hobby and you have the chance to pressure authenticators and auction houses to do the right thing.
Your thoughts?
Eric
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