Advice for Collectors of Autographed Sports Memorabilia

Back in the day, your typical collector of autographed sports memorabilia was a bright-eyed kid hanging around the stadium and praying for a chance to get his hero’s signature on that foul ball he caught. It didn’t take long for entrepreneurs of various stripes to figure out that there was profit to be made in sports autographs, though. Today, autographed sports memorabilia is a multi-million dollar business, and finding genuine sports memorabilia can be tricky. If you’re just getting started in sports collectibles, sports memorabilia or autographed sports memorabilia, these tips can help you enjoy your hobby and find quality pieces for your collection.

Follow Your Heart

Are you buying sports memorabilia as an investment or because you love sports? If your answer is the latter – or both – the best advice you’ll get is to specialize in buying what you love. The best defense against fake sports memorabilia is knowing your niche. It’s a lot harder for someone to pass off a fake autograph or piece of game-used sports memorabilia when you know your stuff. More importantly, when you collect pieces that you love, you’ll get more enjoyment from your hobby. In addition to the fun of tracking down items you want and the triumph of finding that special autograph, you get to enjoy your collection over and over again whenever you look at it or display it.

Buy from Trusted Sources

Unfortunately, the increased value of autographed sports memorabilia has brought the scammers out of the woodwork. Over the past few years, there have been several scandals in the sport memorabilia industry. They underscore the importance of being able to rely on the purchaser to provide authentication for any sports collectible or sports memorabilia you buy from them. After all, unless you’re knowledgeable enough to be able to authenticate an autograph yourself, you need to trust the buyer.

Finding a Reputable Dealer

The most important thing you can do to make sure you’re getting genuine sports collectibles is to research the qualifications and reputation of the seller. The sports collectibles community is small enough that most dealers are well-known, so you can learn a lot just by asking around on Internet forums devoted to sports collecting. In addition, you should check into the background of the dealer, including any professional credentials they may have and whether they self-authenticate or use third-party authentication services.

Finally, always be suspicious of prices for autographed sports memorabilia that are too good to be true. If someone is offering a baseball autographed by Babe Ruth or a basketball with Magic Johnson’s signature for $50 when other sources are pricing the same items at $1,000, the chances are pretty good that it’s not a genuine piece of sports memorabilia.

Collecting autographed sports memorabilia is a rewarding hobby in many ways. Take the time to know your dealer and you’ll always be happy with your purchases.

How to Buy Autographed Sports Memorabilia

Collecting autographed sports memorabilia is fast becoming an in hobby, which is both a blessing and a boon to the serious collector. On the one hand, the growing demand for sports collectibles has greatly increased the supply of legitimate pieces on the market. On the other, it has also increased the number of fraudulent sports memorabilia, scams and traps for the collector. If you’re just beginning to collect sports autographs, these tips can help you avoid the traps and enjoy your collection and collecting.

Focus on a Niche Market

The best and most satisfying collections of sports collectibles are those that have a specific focus. If your focus is basketball memorabilia or baseball memorabilia, for example, you might narrow your collection to sports collectibles from one particular team, or only from championship teams, or to autographed game jerseys from one team. In addition to giving you a more focused – and thus, more valuable – collection, it will allow you to build your knowledge as you build your collection. That way, when you’re ready to move on to buying more expensive pieces, you’ll know the market well enough to spot improbable “deals” and have the contacts to help you track down specific pieces that you want.

Meet People in the Sports Memorabilia World

The more you know about the people who collect and deal in autographed sports memorabilia, the more equipped you’ll be to find and evaluate sport memorabilia. If you can, attend some local memorabilia auctions where you can meet people in the industry as well as other collectors. Those contacts – even if they specialize in movie memorabilia – can be valuable down the line as you start looking for pieces to fill out your collection. Don’t overlook the Internet as a source of knowledge, either. A sports memorabilia discussion group is a great place to meet experienced collectors who can help you out with information and advice, point you to reputable dealers and steer you away from those whose reputation is shady.

Protect Yourself from Frauds

According to one study, only about 20 percent of Lou Gehrig memorabilia was genuine. That’s a scary, staggering number for a beginning collector. But it’s not hard to make sure that you only purchase genuine autographed sports memorabilia. It just takes some knowledge and a good eye.

For example, stay on top of the signing habits of particular athletes that whose sports autographs you want to collect. Most of the top athletes have contract agreements with companies that sell memorabilia and only distribute through specific houses. Knowing about those contracts can save you from making expensive mistakes. Likewise, if you know how much various players charge for their signature, you’ll be able to eliminate a lot of the “great deals” you might find online at places like eBay.

Buy from Reputable Dealers

When you first start out, make it a practice to only buy autographed sports memorabilia from legitimate, reputable dealers with a good reputation in the industry. Dealers with a name have no reason to try to pass off fake autographs, and they’re very careful about the pieces they sell. They have a lot invested in maintaining their reputations for dealing honestly in authentic sports collectibles & memorabilia.

Welcome to the world of collecting autographed sports memorabilia. Get to know your merchandise and your favorite players, teams and items and you’ll quickly build a worthy collection of your own.