autographs on ebay?

[spanky]

i'm looking at some autographed items on ebay, and i'm wondering how valid are these signatures? anyone have experience collecting autographs? most of the auctions i see mention that the item will come with a certificate of authenticity. do u think these certificates r bogus, or would it be pretty legit? basically, what i'm asking is, do the certificates mean anything? couldn't any ol' joe schmoe print one up, claim the autograph to be real? is there any way to check if the seller's certificates are legit?

EDIT - for example... check this out.

 

[spanky]

bedtime bump

 

[Lucky]

I'd be skeptical of most claims on ebay, but look at their feedback. 612 positives and NO negatives. Thats quite an impressive feat considering any schmuck with an attitude could ruin it on a whim. I'd feel pretty secure that what they were advertising is the real deal.

 

[Hammer]

I'd be skeptical unless the item is numbered and the guy includes a picture of himself and the person autographing the item with number clearly visible.

 

[murphy55d]

It's hard to tell. There really is no way to tell if this is autopen, fake, or the real deal.

I know when I go to ebay for NHL autographs I go to the same seller because I know their auto's are real... I've compared them against actual autographs, and did a lot of checking up, plus the sellers 4600+ positive feedbacks makes me feel much better about my purchase.

 

[DaiShan]

I really wouldn't buy an autograph off of Ebay, but that is just me I guess.

 

[murphy55d]

After reading the auction more carefully, I would not buy it. Let me tell you why....

They say "We work with a focused group of collectors who obtain many in-person celebrity autographs and entertainment memorabilia! We also supplement our stock by purchasing authenticated autographed items from carefully selected companies that are experts in the autograph industry."

Meaning, we didn't get this in person, we bought it from someone who claims to have gotten it in person.

I'd avoid this seller.

 

[Digobick]

TechTV's Cybercrime did a story on this a couple of months ago. They bought 3 autographed baseballs from eBay and Yahoo actions, and had them authenticated by some professional firm. Their findings? All three authographs were forged. They even showed one baseball player what was supposedly his autograph and he just laughed, saying there was no way.

Don't Get Smoked

 

[spanky]

interesting... anyone else have input?