Noob question regarding autograph cards

[TheCardBandit]

So one of my goals is to eventually have (1) autograph card of each player on the 1993-1996 Dallas Cowboys team, I figure with eBay, some decent trades, and TTM I'll eventually be able to pull it off without spending a large fortune, I'm not really setting a deadline so I have all the time in the world, so here goes my noob question:

Is there a way to tell if an autograph card selling on eBay is legit or not? I don't mean the ones that were originally auto inserts (they have the auto sticker or it actually states something like "Topps Certified"), I am talking about the base cards on sale where the seller claims they were hand signed by the athlete. I'm just wondering, the last thing I want is a fake in my collection.

[pwaldo]

The only way you can tell if the in person autographs that are sold on eBay are real is if you really study the player and get to know his autograph. Even then you should still check to make sure the seller is good by checking his feedback. Most of the time people aren't going to fake lower end players that aren't going to sell for more than a couple of bucks on eBay.

If you aren't really familiar with the autographs then just make a thread here (in the football section) asking if the signature looks legit. Somebody should be able to know since there are a lot of Cowboy fans around.

[TheCardBandit]

Awesome, I never thought about doing that, I appreciate the response!

[Scottish Punk]

Also, check his inventory. Look to see if a lot of the autographs seem to have the same "flow", meaning could be written by the same person. I also tend to trust sellers more if they have a large amount of custom signed stuff that is geographic specific. It seems more likely that a person living in Minnesota would have more autos of Twins and Vikings then other teams. Local card shows, etc..

[mrveggieman]

Mabey it's just me but I wouldn't trust buying an auto off ebay unless it was either certified by the manufacture or by psadna. It's just too many fakes out there. You can also look to trade with other autograph collectors on here but if their auto is not certified procede with extreme caution. I have people who ask to buy and/or trade for my IP autos and if they insist and make a good offer I will deal the ones that I have but I usually don't trade for or buy anyone's ttm/ip autos unless I am really comfortable with the trader/seller.