Buyer Beware
Curtis Moore | February 22, 2006 02:04 PM | Link
Hal Wagner knows a fake signature when he sees one.
Wagner owns Ace Sports and Tickets at Oak Park Mall and in Lawrence. Wagner said 75 percent of autographed items are fake. He collects sports memorabilia and has been in the business for 18 years. Wagner owns 10,000 autographed items. Recently, a woman inquired about purchasing a football mini-helmet signed by Indianapolis Colts running back Edgerrin James. Wagner told her $125. She said she could buy one on the Internet for $35.
“There isn’t a chance in hell that autograph is legitimate,” Wagner said he told the woman.
With the advent of eBay, fakes in sports memorabilia are popping up all over the place – especially on the Internet. The opportunity to rip someone off is so easy on eBay, a number of eBayers don’t hesitate to scam the online shopper. However, steps can be taken to ensure that you don’t get scammed.
Todd Jones of Olathe uses eBay to purchase items for his collection – mostly Kansas City Chiefs merchandise – and he disagrees with Wagner’s 75 percent estimate. Jones said he believed maybe 25 percent of autographs are fake, but found 75 percent outlandish.
Jones never buys without a certificate of authenticity, which ensures the legitimacy of an item. However, sometimes these certificates are also forged.
“When you buy from an Internet site, you have very little recourse,” Wagner said. “Go try and find the person who sold it to you. All he has to do is change his Web site, his e-mail.”
In Lawrence, Kansas basketball memorabilia is the hot item. Autographed items from former Jayhawks fill Wagner’s Lawrence store. Autographs from mostly current players flood eBay. One seller of a signed Sasha Kaun jersey on eBay claims: “Stop paying high prices for a signed jersey that cost even more money to have framed.”
On the “buy it now” option on eBay, someone could purchase the Kaun jersey right now for $13.99. But when a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is, Wagner said.
Dale Jones, a Jayhawk fan from Goddard, attended the Baylor game at Allen Fieldhouse with his family. Jones and his family waited around after the game for autographs. Jones was getting a ball signed for a co-worker. Autograph seekers who bring floor tiles to the game irk Jones, because he said he knows they plan to turn around and sell the tiles. Jones said he would never consider selling autographed items.
“I would think it’s not right to do that,” Jones said. “I think the players should sign for kids. It should be for families. I know it’s hard to differentiate.”
Wagner stays away from the current Jayhawks. He only hosts autograph sessions at his stores for Kansas players after they graduate, and the signings are set up through the player’s agents.
“We don’t want to be partially responsible for any college kid losing his eligibility because we were involved in an autograph signing,” Wagner said.
The Downtown Barber in Lawrence, features a wide array of Jayhawk memorabilia throughout the shop. John Amyx, owner of the Downtown Barber, said he has collected memorabilia for 35 years, since his childhood.
Amyx’s collection comes from items his customers have given to him or sold for a “free haircut” – like a box of Flutie Flakes a customer once gave him that is displayed in the store. Amyx holds onto memorabilia from games he attended a long time ago, such as the free towels KU gave out this year at the Missouri games. He stores posters and stuff he has collected in an old Coca-Cola cooler in the shop and eventually displays the items on the shop’s walls.
Amyx also buys memorabilia at auctions – he attends the St. Patrick’s Day auction every year held at Liberty Hall – but Amyx said he never strays onto the Internet to make purchases for his barbershop. He doesn’t trust the stuff sold on the Internet.
“Autographed pictures, jerseys and balls, anybody could have written on those,” Amyx said.
So what steps should a new collector take to avoid the signature scams?
Wagner always starts by checking the signature. Wagner, a certified authenticator, said he rarely comes across a signature he has never seen before. If Wagner has never seen the signature or questions the legitimacy, he checks his records – a database of autographs – or he asks the seller to invest in getting the item professionally graded. If they object, he doesn’t buy.
Wagner sends any questionable items to the Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) in Newport Beach, California. Wagner said PSA is the leading authority on autographs.
Wagner said some sellers have no idea their items are fakes.
“I see people bring in merchandise all the time that is so hideously fake that I crack up laughing,” Wagner said. “People bring in machine signed autographs thinking they’re real or Babe Ruth signatures on balls that were from the 1970s and 80s. Unless Babe Ruth has come back from the dead, the odds are it’s not real.”
If a collector isn’t sure something is real, ask questions and as Wagner said, be sure it is someone you can track down.
When e-mailed about his collection of Jayhawk memorabilia, the seller of the Kaun jersey on eBay, responded, but said that he would not waste his time answering questions. When messages were sent to three other sellers on eBay of autographed items from current Jayhawks, no one responded.
Wagner said he checks eBay occasionally when he needs a good laugh, but never to buy anything. Like he said, if you want to find the sellers, they could be to Mexico by now – or erased their Internet identities.
Buying sports memorabilia is a risky business and the Internet has only increased the chance to get scammed.
“When you buy anything on the Internet that’s autographed, you’re taking your life in your hands,” Wagner said.