Beckett Authentication Services has launched a low-cost review service for autographs, one that offers a non-binding opinion in a short period of time.
Beckett Signature Review will allow customers to share a link or photo of an autograph that hasn’t been authenticated by the company. For a cost of $10, a Beckett authenticator will review the item and offer their opinion on whether the item would likely pass the full authentication process. The determination is sent to the customer by email within 24-48 hours—sometimes less.
PSA currently offers a similar “Quick Opinion” service for items being offered by eBay sellers.
“This brand new service is one that we are really excited to be offering our customers. They have been asking since day one for an online review service, and now it’s finally here,” said Jeromy Murray, Vice President for CBCS and Beckett. “We hope that by utilizing this service before making a purchase online or at shows, our customers can save themselves the hassle of trying to get a refund for a non-authentic item from the seller later because they simply knew not to buy it based on submitting it for a signature review.
The $10 cost of the Signature Review will be charged whether the item offered is projected to be genuine or not.
“We realize that people acquire autographs in a variety of ways, whether it be from home shopping networks, hobby shops in their local area, conventions, trading with friends and even the new online marketplaces within social media, so we wanted to make sure our Signature Review service was inclusive to the way that our customers collect,” said Murray. “We often received request from customers to check their item before they paid to ship it to us and pay for return shipping back, and now we can offer that, which will be especially helpful for our growing international customer base.”
Sometime in the next few weeks, Beckett plans to add the Signature Review option to its smartphone app that will allow users to easily take a photo and upload a review request from that device. They also plan to offer a “lightning speed” option exclusive to the app, which will allow users to know when an authenticator is online processing reviews. That could mean an opinion would be offered a matter of just a few minutes. Such an option is aimed at collectors and dealers who are looking to get an opinion while at a trade show without committing to purchase.
“By speeding up our normal 24-48 hour turnaround on Signature Review requests, we hope that we can create smarter, more qualified buyers in the trade show environment,” the company stated.
In order to receive a full certificate or letter of authenticity all items must be sent in to Beckett Authentication for a full in-person review. Costs and turnaround times for those standard full reviews will vary.
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