Starting Your Autograph Collection
Although collecting autographs from the most famous athletes in the world can be a financially rewarding endeavor, this shouldn’t be your first priority. If you’re new to the sports memorabilia.
The first priority should always be, actually enjoying what you’re doing. This may seem like common sense, but many people start collecting just because it may equate to making some money. Usually it doesn’t work that way.
People that get into this business just for the dollars and cents of it, usually fail, and miserably at that. You should truly appreciate what you get. If you are ever lucky enough to get a Babe Ruth autographed baseball or a Mickey Mantle signed jersey, the first thing that should come to your mind is not “how much can I sell this for”. The first thing that should come to your mind is “Wow! I can’t believe I’m lucky enough to own this”. That piece of sports memorabilia should be viewed as an iconic piece of history.
It’s no different than an art collector owning a Picasso painting just for the great privilege of enjoying its legacy and what it represents.
Another important factor to know about autograph memorabilia is that there are a lot of scammers out there. It’s not too hard to take a pen and try to plagiarize an autograph from Tom Brady or Michael Jordan. Unfortunately for all of us, there are many unscrupulous people that have created an art form in plagiarizing athlete’s signatures.
Luckily, though there are many authenticating services who have a very good reputation. There is PSA/DNA, Steiner Sports, Upper Deck, and many more. These companies’ sole purpose is to identify that an autograph was indeed signed by the respective athlete.
Although these authentication services do the best they can, there is always a possibility that a fake sneaks past them. One way to get past this, is to just get the autograph yourself. If you happen to live near a professional sports team in your area, just take a drive down there. After practice, athletes spend a good 20 minutes just signing different things from fans.
Just bring a baseball, football, poster, jersey, bat, card, or anything else you can get your hands on. (Don’t forget your pen). You’d be quite amazed at what you’ll end up with. And the most important thing is that you know that John Hancock is 100% authentic.
If you want to start buying your memorabilia, there are many respected online autograph sellers. I also recommend going to eBay. I know some frown upon eBay, as they do have some scammers, but the majority of the sellers are very respected in the industry. Also, you just can’t beat the selection. Obviously, the important things to look at are
1) is it authenticated? The majority of the sellers show their certificate of authenticity on the listing.
2) Take a look at the signature on the piece. For example, if you’re looking at a Ted Williams autographed bat, do some searching online. You’re bound to run into more Ted Williams autographs. You can compare and contrast the ones you’ve seen to the one that is in the listing.
3) Also most sellers have refund policy. Get a second opinion on your autograph. Send it to another authenticating service. If it comes up as a fake, they will take it back for a refund.
4) Most importantly, check the seller’s feedback. That’s what it’s there for. If you see some unhappy buyers, you know this is not for you. If you see nothing but glowing reviews, then you know they are certainly more trustworthy.
If you're new to eBay, make sure to check out my video on starting an eBay account.
