Autograph Baseball Photos

How much does it cost (fee) to have an autograph authenticated?

I got a donation for a fundraiser, it's an autographed baseball. I know it's genuine, but there's no COA (it came right from the player, not through Steiner or similar organization).

If you decide to have your baseball authenticated there are three major companies accepted by the general public and major league baseball that you can submit the baseball to and have the ball authenticated. They are James Spence Authentication (www.jsa.com), PSA/DNA (www.psadna.com) and GAI. (There is also Tri-star, Mounted Memories and MLB itself, however, they need to witness the athlete sign the ball to authenticate)

The cost of authentication depends on the autograph you wish authenticated. Most baseball players cost about 20$ for each company, 20-25 is the bottom end of the authentication cost and is usually set aside for lower level hitters and prospects. If the player is a superstar or close to, then your cost will be anywhere from $25 to $50 per ball, but most fall in the $25 range (David Wright is 25$ at James Spence). And the biggest names in baseball history cost anywhere from $75 to $175 (Joe Dimaggio and Mickey Mantle cost $75, Babe Ruth cost $175), and the most rare auto, not necessarily the best players in the game, but perhaps died young and/or a long time ago, for instance dying in the 1800's, cost more becuase of the cost of hiring a expert on those particular autographs.

Generally $25 is going to be your cost, however you must include shipping and handling, but if you decide to have the ball authenticated, check with local sports card dealers as PSA and JSA will create contracts with reputable dealers where you can drop items off with them and they will submit bulk to the authentication companies and you save on shipping cost. Also check there websites as they advertised where they will be showing up in person and you can have your item certified on scene. If not, you can order a weekly periodical Sports Collector digest, and they also advertise in there and you can see what baseball they certified sell for.(Monthly option Beckett or Tuff Stuff)

When you certified and authograph item, they provide a sticker that is secured to the ball, they photograph the ball and scan it to a certificate they will provide. The ball is also evaluated by a panel of experts, with years and thousands of hours analyzing autographs and studying baseball history to confirm the ball is legit. It must pass the entire panel in order to earn the authentication. Be prepared, if the ball fails the inspection, you still have the pay the authentication cost.

Steiner website does provide you examples of legitamate autographs, they are widely considered one of the preimer autograph dealers in the business. The cost of a baseball is generally high, but your paying the cost of doing business and in Steiner's case, they do signings with players, so there overhead is higher and is handed over to the buyer. There autographs are expensive, but you know your getting a legitamate autograph. However, on the secondary market, you will not see those type of sale prices realized. Steiner is the highest end, no other company is as expensive. If you purchase a steiner autograph online in the secondary market you will pay substantally less Unfortunately if you want a real comparison of your balls value to the market, set up an ebay account, look under the players name and look under completed items. Once there, look under the subsection of the player that sold with a certification, from anyone of the certification companies I mentioned and you will see what the ball sold for. I just checked ebay and a steiner 2004 World Series Curt Schilling sold for 55$ and also a dozen steiner Curt Schilling World Series balls signed sold for $260.

In the end, the authentication has the purpose of re-sale of your ball, know if you were given a forgery, or to increase the ball's value for your collection. I hope all this informmation helped.

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