It was a truly sad day. I got home to discover that The King of Pop was rushed to the hospital in cardiac arrest. He passed away later that afternoon. Being a lifelong fan and avid ebay user, I made a watch list on some of Michael's memorabilia. Everything from t-shirts, to vinyl records, posters, and especially signed/autographed memorabilia. One signed photo sold for over $800. Did you know that over 80% of autographs on ebay are fake...YES 80%! You can count on that number to rise in the next few weeks and months due to The Undisputed King of Pop's untimely passing. Opportunists are taking full advantage of Michael's fans emotional impulse buying by listing 1000's of items dedicated to him.

In a recent interview with Mike Frost(President of the IADA-CC see below)...this guy knows authentic autographs. He examined Michael Jackson's autograph sales on ebay in the hours following his death. By 6:30 pm on June 25 there were 163 signed items: 15 were PSA/DNA certified, 89 were reprinted signatures, 48 were 100% forgeries and only 14 others were 100% authentic. Were you one of the 48 people that bought a fake? Possibly spending over $500 for paper and ink? By 11:35 pm there were 675 signed Michael Jackson items on ebay with over 70% being FAKE! These sellers are very very bad bad people. And they feed off of your trust and ignorance.

Don't be fooled into buying something you believe to be authentic. If you have a feeling that the item is fake...it probably is. Please read the following tips to help you buy authentic autographed memorabilia and run the counterfiters out of ebay.

DON'T LET THE FORGERS GET RICH OFF OF YOU!

THIS INFO IS FOR ALL AUTOGRAPHED MEMORABILIA, NOT JUST MICHAEL JACKSON

PRICE

If the price is too low to be true...guess what people?...it usually is. The forger doesn't care if he makes a dime or $1000 off of you. He's out to make money, period. Don't get fooled! $14.99 for an "authentic autograph" is plain ridiculous! It kills me to see 100's upon 1000's of people buying something for an insanely low price, believing i'ts real. The price point is very important when purchasing real signatures. Do a little research. It's like buying a car. Find out how much the autograph your seeking is worth in today's market. Authentic autograph dealers will have a comparable price point.

AUTHENTIC AUTOGRAPH ASSOCIATIONS

Buy only from reputable autograph dealers with a strong/long track record. Choose sellers affiliated with a prestigious autograph association. In particular, dealers who are members in good standing with one or more of the following autograph associations. These associations were created for the preservation of authentic autographs. Failure to comply with their standards with complaints lodged against them, will result in their membership being revoked. It's fair to say that if the seller is a member in good standing in one or more of the following organizations, they are reputable. Please contact each and every organization that they claim to be a member of to verify their membership.

             Universal Autograph Collectors' Club Registered Dealer Program...dealers can purchase an annual membership to the UACC and not be a registered dealer. Registered Dealers have a monitored and screened membership

            Autograph Fair Trade Association Ltd

           Professional Autograph Dealer's Association

         International Autograph Collectors Club & Dealers Alliance - IADA-CC

          The Manuscript Society

CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY COMPANIES

Don't buy into the COA/Certificate of Authenticity! Most often, it's not worth the paper it's printed on. If a seller is willing to forge an autograph, he will most definitely print out a COA. The following are a list of legitimate COA companies approved by ebay and not found fraudlent by the FBI in a recent sting operation:

                   UDA - Upper Deck Authenticated

                   Superstar Sports

                  Steiner

                 PSA/DNA

             Green Diamond (The Ted Williams Family Company)

                TriStar

Do not accept a COA just because it was named after the sellers id or a fancy name like "National COA Company of America". Like I said, a COA is worthless unless it has an authorizing body. The guy who answers the phone at an unregistered COA company may very well be the seller. Be Careful!

THIRD PARTY AUTHENTICATION SERVICES
These services examine your autograph and determine if it is 100% authentic.   They then offer you a COA. Bar none, the following names are the cream of the 3rd party authentication crop.

Al Wittnebert
James Spence
Roger Epperson
P.A.A.S.

LIFETIME GUARANTEE

Only accept a "For Life" guarantee! Not 10 years, not 30 days, not 1 year...FOR LIFE only! Autopen forgeries have been discovered years after purchasing memorabilia.

CONTACT INFORMATION

The seller must provide you with contact information. If he doesn't, don't buy from him! Name, address and telephone number. A seller may provide a "brick and mortar" address that may not exist. Always check your sources. Don't be fooled. Use Google Earth! Enter the address to see if it's where they say it is. They might be giving you an addres to McDonalds's!

ASK THE SELLER QUESTIONS

Ask a lot of questions. A legitimate seller will be more than happy to answer all questions. Forgers will be evasive and give you unsatisfactory answers.

"How long have you been in business?" "I would like customer references, can you provide a few?" "Where did you obtain the autograph?"

MULTIPLE SIGNED ITEMS...ONE PIC OF THE CELEBRITY SIGNING AN ITEM...THE COMMON SENSE RULE

At times, the seller will provide a photo in the listing of an autograph seeker with a celebrity and claim, "This is when I got the autograph."...don't believe it! They may have gotten one autograph, possibly two...but if you see a dozen or more listings claiming that same photo as the source for all that celebrity's signed memorabilia...you and I know this to be unrealistic. Seriously, is Adriana Lima or Angelina Jolie gonna stand on the street and sign a dozen items for one person?...or will they sign one and move on to the next fan? I can't tell you how many times I've seen one seller with about six or more different photographs of a single celebrity with the same supposedly "authentic photo of them signing it"...yeah right..."Excuse me, Mr. Depp, can you sign this photo, and this one, and this one, and don't forget this one..." And these same photos will be up for auction again in 2 weeks...poppycock! IT'S FAKE! Use Common Sense people! If the buyer wants definitive proof that the autographed item is authentic...ask the seller to show each separate item being signed and not just one. I challenge anyone to get a reply with that kind of proof. I've lived in Hollywood and NYC and I've seen many overzealous autograph hounds "workin' it"...even the best of them couldn't do better than 3, possibly 4 autographs before security stepped in or the celebrity jumped into a car or ran into their apartment building.

OVERNIGHT SELLERS

I cannot stress enough to buy from a legitimate seller with a strong/long track record. Forgers will set up shop to take advantage of hot A-list celebrities that are in the news at the moment. Only to close soon after. Don't be fooled!

THE FEEDBACK THEORY

This leads me to the whole "positive feedback theory". Just because a seller has thousands of positive feedbacks, does not mean the autographs are legitimate. The buyer is more than likely addressing the speed of delivery, careful packaging and/or the high quality photo. It does not proove the authenticity of the autograph.

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