by lalashi485 » Tue Apr 01, 2014 2:15 am
I wish I had known about the cheaper service but it's too late now. COA's don't do much for me because I know that they can be easily made by anyone with a printer. I've definitely learned my lesson and I wont be making anymore autograph purchases from eBay. The seller has a rather short period of time for returns but I have been on eBay long enough to know that isn't set in stone. If it comes back as a fake I will report them if I have to in order to get my money back.
I've bought a few off eBay and I'd do it again--same with other rare collectibles.
Here's a little trick: Ask the seller every possible question about the item. How they got it, where they got it, why they got it, how many they got, etc.
The frauds will either dodge the questions or refuse to answer at a certain point: "Either you'll buy it or you won't." Even if they start out lying, the amount of questions will eventually annoy them to the point that they quit.
The honest ones will actually answer every single question, right down to what the person was wearing when they signed the item.
As for COAs being able to come from anyone with a printer--the problem with all major third party authentication services that aren't intentionally defrauding people is that they're stretched too thin. An unknown forensic examiner will be more likely to spend more time with the item than a major company that's required to authenticate one item every 3 minutes because of the number of items coming in.
It's not necessarily that they're bad at their jobs, it's that they don't have the time or freedom to be great at their jobs. That's why I said the quick opinion is the best route, because you get a quick opinion either way, only that one is a lot cheaper.
When you pay for the Quick Opinion, you're paying for just that. When you pay for full blown authentication, you're paying for the COA, as that's really the only difference.
But my fingers are crossed for ya, despite everyone else on this forum saying otherwise about my personality.
I appreciate all the feedback and advice. I'm still learning and I could definitely use it. I'll update this post once I get the card back.
[quote]I wish I had known about the cheaper service but it's too late now. COA's don't do much for me because I know that they can be easily made by anyone with a printer. I've definitely learned my lesson and I wont be making anymore autograph purchases from eBay. The seller has a rather short period of time for returns but I have been on eBay long enough to know that isn't set in stone. If it comes back as a fake I will report them if I have to in order to get my money back.[/quote]
[quote]I've bought a few off eBay and I'd do it again--same with other rare collectibles.
Here's a little trick: Ask the seller every possible question about the item. How they got it, where they got it, why they got it, how many they got, etc.
The frauds will either dodge the questions or refuse to answer at a certain point: "Either you'll buy it or you won't." Even if they start out lying, the amount of questions will eventually annoy them to the point that they quit.
The honest ones will actually answer every single question, right down to what the person was wearing when they signed the item.
As for COAs being able to come from anyone with a printer--the problem with all major third party authentication services that aren't intentionally defrauding people is that they're stretched too thin. An unknown forensic examiner will be more likely to spend more time with the item than a major company that's required to authenticate one item every 3 minutes because of the number of items coming in.
It's not necessarily that they're bad at their jobs, it's that they don't have the time or freedom to be great at their jobs. That's why I said the quick opinion is the best route, because you get a quick opinion either way, only that one is a lot cheaper.
When you pay for the Quick Opinion, you're paying for just that. When you pay for full blown authentication, you're paying for the COA, as that's really the only difference.
But my fingers are crossed for ya, despite everyone else on this forum saying otherwise about my personality.[/quote]
I appreciate all the feedback and advice. I'm still learning and I could definitely use it. I'll update this post once I get the card back.
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