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In the beginning I used EBay to buy items for my sports memorabilia collection. But now I only buy from a select few sellers due to the unthinkable amount of forgeries that are for sale here. There are not many sellers you can trust on EBay in regards to autographed memorabilia. In 1999 it was been estimated that approximately 87 percent of the autographed items on EBay were forgeries. I would like to tell people that are new to collecting and new to EBay to be VERY, VERY careful when purchasing autographed items, although these days Ebay has done a much better job policing them than they did back in 99. But remember, only two people make money when it comes to the selling of forgeries: the seller of the forgery and Ebay. Ebay makes money whether the item you pay for is authentic or not, so dont expect Ebay to help you very much if you get taken. Thats why you need to do your homework BEFORE you start buying autographed memorabilia.
First of all, just because someone is selling something with a COA (certificate of authenticity), that doesn't mean its authentic. A COA isn't worth the paper its printed on in most cases. The only COA's that mean anything are from Steiner, Tristar, Mounted Memories, Upper Deck, Super Star Greetings, UDA, PSA/DNA, All Star Lineup, certain players own COA's, and a few others. A COA from "Joe Schmoe Sports " means absolutely zilch! Anyone can print up a COA!
There are also players who have their own COA's, like Reggie Jackson, Brett Favre, and Barry Bonds just to name a few.
Like I said earlier, there are not many sellers you can trust on EBay. I have listed my favorites below. They are all 100 percent Legit, and the item you buy off of them will be an authentic autographed item: SportsWorld-Auctions (ReggieJackson.com) exlsports (exlsports.com) CreativeSports (CreativeSports.com) MRakSports (MRakSports.com) asi-auctions (authenticsportsinv.com) RadtkeSports (radtkesports.com)
One thing you need to watch for on EBay are the sellers who have nothing but the Premium Autographs for sale (Bonds, Sosa, Montana, Elway, Clemens). Where do they get all these signatures??? If the seller has a lot of these signatures, and NO OTHER WEBSITE (only sells on EBay), you should be extremely skeptical. A lot of them will tell you that they got the items signed at a charity golf event, or they have "runners" all over the country, who track the autographs down, and send them in to them. Hogwash!
First of all, an athlete is not gonna stand there, and sign several items for someone at a charity golf event, because he/she knows that the items would be for profit.
I know of a few current sellers who use this tactic, but their signatures are obvious (to someone with a trained eye) forgeries. I have reported them many times to EBay, but it takes a lot more than just one person to get EBay to look into something like this.
Here are some questions you need to ask yourself when dealing with a seller on EBay: "If he is a small time dealer, how did he get 10 Michael Jordan autographed balls to sell?" and, "If real Jordan basketballs sell for $600, why does he keep selling his for $100?" or "If John Elway has an exclusive contract with Mounted Memories, where did he get all these Elway autographs?" When in doubt, go to www.PSADNA.com/QuickOpinion BEFORE you bid on an item!!! There you can get an experts opinion of whether or not the autograph is authentic or not. It costs around $8, which is a small price to pay for peace of mind if you ask me.
Also, even EBays SPOT FAKE AUTOGRAPHS on eBay and Find REAL SIGNATURES! page doesn't give you the real story when it comes to forgeries. Their first recommendation; Read Description Thoroughly, doesn't mean anything! Sellers on EBay LIE all the time! Ive seen many sellers on EBay advertising stamped signature balls as being authentic signatures! EBay does nothing about this either!
Another one of EBays recommendations; Look for the Money Back Guarantee, also means ZILCH! Sellers will advertise this to get you to buy their forgeries, but if you ask for your money back, good luck! There used to be a seller by the name of OnlineSportsAutographs here on EBay that sold NOTHING BUT FORGERIES for years! EBay did NOTHING about it because they were making money off of him too. He GUARANTEED all his forgeries to be authentic. So a sellers guarantee means nothing.
Another one of EBays recommendations; Know the Seller...Again, this means absolutely NOTHING on EBay. Again, sellers like OnlineSports Autographs got away with ripping off thousands of customers on EBay. And he had a decent feedback rating too because the people who bought off him knew NOTHING about the autograph business. So knowing who the seller is, in some cases, doesn't mean squat.
EBays last recommendation; Ask The Seller Questions, again means nothing. Shady sellers LIE.
EBay doesn't care if people sell forgeries here, and they surely dont care if you buy one. They wont accept ANY responsibility when it comes to forgeries being rampant here. The fact is, you need to do A LOT of research if you are new to buying autographed memorabilia. EBays recommendations are ridiculous. Because forgeries account for the majority of autographs here on Ebay.
And finally: ESPN and 20/20 recently reported that 80% of all autographs sold in the United States are forgeries! On 20/20s report, they actually purchased a Tony Gwynn forgery from the Padre's Stadium Gift Shop!
When spending your hard earned money, you can't be too careful! From knowing what you are buying to who you are buying from, those are just a few steps you can take to protect yourself. Good Luck!
Please give a helpful ''Yes'' vote to this guide.  Your vote will help others to see this guide and avoid getting ripped off.