Beckett autograph authentication

[crxtreasures]

For those of you who read our previous post about authenticating autographs through Beckett, we have an update.  We ended up sending in 8 items and sadly only 2 of them were deemed authentic.  This was quite surprising because we really thought they were legit.  The issue now is what to do about the items that were not authenticated.  How can we list these and accurately describe them to a  potential buyer who may be interested in the item simply for the item itself and not the signature?  Saying right out that Beckett did not find them authentic does not seem a wise idea.  Any help on how to do an accurate description of these unauthenticated items would be greatly appreciated.

[tdumonde2014]

Do not list them. An item must be authentic to be listed on ebay.

[chipper01work]

If they are on glossy photos and in sharpie you can write over them with a dry erase marker and they will wipe off.

[sockmonkeydave]

@crxtreasures

Listing fakes on ebay is not a good idea.

[chrysylys]

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@crxtreasures wrote:

How can we list these and accurately describe them to a  potential buyer who may be interested in the item simply for the item itself and not the signature? 

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Describe the item itself if you think it has stand-alone value.  Maybe mention an 'uknown' signature.

[luckythewinner]

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@crxtreasures wrote:

Saying right out that Beckett did not find them authentic does not seem a wise idea.

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Telling the truth does not seem like a wise idea, and withholding important information does?

[thallidguy]

I have a feeling that those items Beckett could not authenticate might be more trouble than they're worth. I'm not going to comment on the eBay policy aspect because I haven't studied it, but it seems to me that a fair number of buyers will skip over whatever disclaimers you make about the signature because... well, that's how some buyers are. It's the kind of information that some buyers will just block out because they'll see the autograph in your photo of the item and get excited. Many buyers look at the item photo and see what they want to see, believe what they want to believe.

From your other thread, it sounds like you also have a retail location? Maybe I got that wrong. If you do, I would probably try to sell these items through your physical point of presence, where you get a chance to properly explain the situation to potential buyers. Maybe use them primarily as display pieces?

[fashunu4eeuh]

crxtreasures wrote:
Any help on how to do an accurate description of these unauthenticated items would be greatly appreciated. 

Just fyi, these are not unauthenticated items.

You don’t say what these goods are that might have value without a genuine autograph. That might make a difference in whether or not to list. 

Otherwise i think you would be taking a risk. Since the autographs failed to be authenticated, that makes them forgeries, does it not? I know you are disappointed and want to minimize your losses, but i would urge against listing.

But if you do, there would be no way around disclosing the fact that the autographs have been examined and found to be fake. 

[d-k_treasures]

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@tdumonde2014 wrote:

Do not list them. An item must be authentic to be listed on ebay.

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[chipper01work]

OP, the only reason I can think of not to disclose that Beckett declined to authenticate them would be hoping the buyer assigned extra value, on top of the item itself, to the signatures. That would be not cool at all. The facts should be disclosed to potential buyers. 

[loveyourimagination49]

Don’t list!
Hopefully this wasn’t an expensive lesson learned!

[crxtreasures]

We do not have a physical store, but we do sell items locally through Craig's List and LetGo.  Maybe that will be the only way we can sell these.  For example, one of the items is an autographed Poison album.  It definitely looks legit but since Beckett says it isn't, we can't sell it as an autograph.  What I'd like to do is list it as simply the album.  There may be a buyer who wants it even if the autographs weren't present.  How do we create a listing that says, "Ignore the autographs because they aren't authenticated" and hope the buyer doesn't care?

[sockmonkeydave]

@crxtreasures

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@crxtreasures wrote:

We do not have a physical store, but we do sell items locally through Craig's List and LetGo.  Maybe that will be the only way we can sell these.  For example, one of the items is an autographed Poison album.  It definitely looks legit but since Beckett says it isn't, we can't sell it as an autograph.  What I'd like to do is list it as simply the album.  There may be a buyer who wants it even if the autographs weren't present.  How do we create a listing that says, "Ignore the autographs because they aren't authenticated" and hope the buyer doesn't care?

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You really are setting yourself up by listing it at all.

You would be saying it is a fake, and that will not end well.

You could be out the album and the money.

[crxtreasures]

As examples, we have a Poison LP and a Stryper LP.  We also have a set of 4 Spin magazine covers with pictures of the members of KISS.  I believe these items had value on their own.  Since Beckett didn't give them their seal, I feel that now they've been devalued.  How can we list these as just the items they are without the autographs?  I don't think we can.  We'd basically be saying, "Hey, this is the album you really wanted, but guess what, somebody put fake signatures on it.  Sill want it anyway?"

[bubbleman2010]

Toss them in a trashcan what little value they may have write it off on taxes...