Does it bother you that there are people out there that think their game used item that has nothing behind it, but proper tagging think their item is just as good as your item you bough from the team and you photo matched.
Which lead me to-
With all the photos on line today of players for the last 10 or so years, is it fair to have a standard of "if a 2000-2010's item does not have a photo match it can not be proven that it is game worn". Of coarse additional info of where the item came from and tagging are important also.
(I am not saying a photo-match is 100% guarantee the item is legit, but it does make things a bit better.)
If buyers, whom ever they are, had this standard the sellers would do more work to show their items were legit. If they do this they can sell it for more. They ask big money on items anyway, so do the work and get more money.
Also if buyers had this standard, auction houses would have their people they get items from prove to them it was game worn. If they can do this the seller would receive more money for their item and the auction house would get a higher commission. This info would be shown to the bidders. Why not, the sellers get good money anyway, so do some work and make even more money.

That leaves the question "well, what if I can't find a photo match of my item?" The answer would be to show another way it was game worn, like a player or team letter or........I don't know, you tell me and I will see if I will believe it.
I added that sellers and auction houses can make more money which is fair. Both buyer and seller would benefit with the buyer having one more layer of proof and seller having the opportunity for more money.

"Put it this way, how well would a game used "photo-match only" auction do?"
That would be the buzz wouldn't it.

Mabey these are just my standards and I can decide if I want to buy or bid as I please. It just makes me scratch my head wondering who is buying all this stuff that says "game used" with just the proper tagging alone.
I agree on the 90's or before, but why not have higher standards on the new stuff?
I know this is wishful thinking, but why not put it out there with all the photos to check. Also it is wishful thinking that all buyers will care that their items are properly checked before they buy.
Thanks for all your info and keeping collecting "real" on this site.
Long thread sorry.