To those of you that are new to this hobby, I am extremely excited and also extremely concerned. Fakes are out there in the artifact world to be bought and sold. I have made my living with artifacts for about 7 years now. I have been collecting artifacts for 20 plus years. I am about to share with the artifact world some great trade secrets for buying authentic artifacts. I hope you will read this and learn how you can buy artifacts that are authentic for enjoyment and for profit.

First decide if you are building a collection for your enjoyment or if you are building a collection for an investment. I cant stress this enough. I have alot of experience buying and selling artifacts, and there is a big difference in an investment grade artifact and just a common artifact. All artifacts are collectible but if you are looking for a higher profit margin you should buy investment grade artifacts. The next thing you should do is do some homework on your ebay sellers. Yes there are good ones and bad ones out thier. I would suggest emailing the seller and ask them about a return policy. I suggest that the seller offer you at least 30 days to veiw your artifact or get it "authenticated" wich I will go into further later. Some sellers have been selling on ebay for years with 100% feedback, and lets face the facts if they were not selling authentic artifacts they would not have repeat buyers and they would not have 100% feedback. In order for a seller to keep that kind of feedback score he takes care of his buyers if they are not happy, he gives a refund. In the world of artifacts honesty is the best policy.

Authenticators this is a dirty word to some collectors and a blessing to others. Lets face it there are several authenticators in the artifact world. I myself make part of my living authenticating artifacts. I will offer this word of advise when choosing a authenticator, check out there background. How long have they been in the business. People who use my services do so because I am regional. I only authenticate artifacts from Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky. If you are new to the hobby and you like Texas artifacts and have never been there you are at a big disadvantage. I would suggest using a authenticator that is familiar with Texas artifacts and material types, this is not rocket science. It's safe to say a guy from the state of Texas that handles thousands of artifacts from that state every year is more familiar and qualified than you to judge if a artifact is authentic. So do some homework before sending a artifact to a authenticator, send it to someone who knows that material and point type.

What is an investment grade artifact? I have alot of people that are new to the hobby ask me what should I buy alot of artifacts that are low end to mid grade or just spend my money on a few investment grade artifacts. I have found over the years that the quality artifacts always hold value or increase as long as you dont go crazy when you purchase them.  Where as when you purchase a few hundred field grade points, they just dont ever show the increase in value. Dont get me wrong you can make money with them, but it takes time. I also would like people to know that the Overstreet price guide is not the bible when it comes to artifacts. That was printed and should be used for reference. My name is is the front of that book. I have had several pieces published in it. The prices are not that accurate. I have had pieces in it with the price saying it was worth $600.00 when I sold it for $2100.00 I have also had pieces in it where the price said $400.00 where i could only get $250.00 so dont use the Overstreet price guide as a bible, it is a reference book. I have always said a artifact is worth what you can get out of it, and thats all.

I also would like to say this for people who buy artifacts on and off of ebay. If you buy a artifact always buy the artifact and not the story. I have heard some great ones believe you me. I needed boots several times because it was getting deep. If it sounds to good or looks like its the deal of a lifetime, I would suggest you run LOL because you just don't usually get $3000.00 paleo pieces for $100.00  trust me I buy thousands of pieces every year. I also want to encourage people to read and study archaeology with all the books and archaeology reports out now knowledge is power.

I hope this guide helps you out when your building your collection of artifacts. I would also like to thank all my customers you help me to do what I love thank you .