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  1. #1
    Senior Member 64SHEA's Avatar
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    First fake autograph

    I recently bought a signed poster from another collector (not on this site) and it came back as not authentic. I have already emailed the seller to let him know I would like a refund and to ship it back to him. This is the first time I have had an autograph come back as not authentic and I think that the seller should pay for the authentication fee since they sold the item as authentic. Can someone who has been in this situation tell me if that's normal practice or if I am going to have to fight with the guy to get my money?

  2. #2
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    Re: First fake autograph

    I would think a refund would be obvious but the authentication fee would probably be on you. I do not have any knowledge on the subject, but it was an option of yours to have it authenticated. Once its yours, any financial choices you make would be on you. Unfortunate though, sorry about your luck. If he had multiple auto's available that were all fake, then I think you may have options... but if its just one auto that maybe he was sold, then I'd think you'd be out of luck.

  3. #3

    Re: First fake autograph

    In my experience, unless the seller says they will refund authentication fees it is on you for those fees. That's why its best to come up with those terms up front. Say someone gets an in person autograph and it doesn't pass, they know it is real, and they shouldn't have to pay for authentication fees.

  4. #4
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    Re: First fake autograph

    Quote Originally Posted by ChiGuy1 View Post
    In my experience, unless the seller says they will refund authentication fees it is on you for those fees. That's why its best to come up with those terms up front. Say someone gets an in person autograph and it doesn't pass, they know it is real, and they shouldn't have to pay for authentication fees.
    I have to agree.
    Proving it is real or not is not an exact science.

  5. #5
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    Re: First fake autograph

    I'd be interested to have you elaborate in this just a bit, if you didn't mind.

    Why would you bid on an item if you had any doubts?

    As a collector, does a 3rd party authentication matter?

    Now, just my side of that is I don't plan on selling much so a 3rd party "guess" doesn't effect me at all.

    For what it's worth, 3rd parties are just that. You either saw it signed or you didn't, it's that simple because that's the only way to know for sure. Anything else is pure speculation, and what matters most is YOURS because its in your collection.

    If its something you wanted in your collection, I'd ask you reconsider your stance, especially if its a unique item.

    I had a eBay buyer go to a 3rd party who will remain nameless. They returned the item as "not likely genuine". However, the clincher is quite simple. The athlete in question I've worked with for 5 years. I've got a stack of 50 blank 8x10s, all signed.

    When I contacted the authenticator I asked them about the "exemplar" they were using? Zero response. I ended up getting the athlete to write a letter to the buyer citing the authenticity of the signature. He advised me he tried to forward that letter to the vendor and demand a refund. They canned him a response saying you pay for an opinion and that's what you got.

    After all that, the buyer finally let it go and kept the piece. Meanwhile a credible authentication "company" was confronted by an agent for an athlete and did zero about it.

  6. #6
    Senior Member 64SHEA's Avatar
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    Re: First fake autograph

    This was not a item from ebay, I bought it from another collector. There are few autos that I can tell if there likely authentic or not such as Wright or Beltran since I deal with there autos a lot but I would still not advise someone to buy an item on my opinion. In either case this was a space item, a new area I recently started collecting in. If you feel you can authenticate every auto you buy that's great but to me 3rd party authentication is very important, so long as they are a reputable company. Also having someone whose job is to study autos look at your item isn't speculation. While getting my physics degree I took a class in handwriting analysis and I can tell you if done properly it is a true science. If anything forming the foundation of an autos authentication based an what the seller tells you would greatly depend on your trust of the person and is still, without evidence, conjecture at best. I understand the only way to be 100% sure is to see every item in your collection signed in person but unless I win the lottery tomorrow its not possible for me to fly to every autograph event. On the same note since I have a limited amount of money I can spend on my hobby I will not buy an item if I can not be almost certain it is authentic. There is to many authentic items out there to have something on your wall with questionable authenticate.

    Back to my original questions do you think it would be different since the seller said he guaranteed it would pass authentication?

  7. #7
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    Re: First fake autograph

    Quote Originally Posted by 64SHEA View Post
    I recently bought a signed poster from another collector (not on this site) and it came back as not authentic. I have already emailed the seller to let him know I would like a refund and to ship it back to him. This is the first time I have had an autograph come back as not authentic and I think that the seller should pay for the authentication fee since they sold the item as authentic. Can someone who has been in this situation tell me if that's normal practice or if I am going to have to fight with the guy to get my money?
    For arguments sake, this is your original post.

    Show me where this clearly says you don't even have the poster in question? Because the way I'm reading it, "I would like a refund and to ship it back to him" implies you have possession of the item.

    You close with asking for suggestions from those in the situation. I'm pretty sure you got responses from people from a buyer and seller perspective.

    Along the way, you have been pretty reluctant to take anybody's advice. You continually kept defending yourself rather than assume some responsibility for your purchase.

    You still haven't made it clear what the seller guaranteed, only that they said it was authentic. I'll reiterate to you, since you discussed with the seller and had him send it on your behalf to authentication, the he should refund atleast part of your fees.

    Bear in mind I'm not calling myself a better collector or telling you to take up beanie baby hunting but try to never do that again. From the outside, you bought an item way over your head regardless of how bad you wanted it. Historically, you put yourself in a position people get burned.

 

 

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