Fundraising Auction Organisers must be Savvy to Signature Authenticity Issues in Sports Memorabilia

Howard Lake | 31 July 2006 | Newswire

The UK’s leading sports memorabilia firm, Bigbluetube, explains how to protect yourself against forgeries when auctioning items of sports memorabilia at your fundraiser. The firm offers advice on ways to ensure memorabilia at your auction is genuine, giving you peace of mind and protecting your bidders’ investment.
We all know how popular items of sports memorabilia are at fundraising auctions. The exciting nature of the products coupled with a sporting celebrity’s signature, creates a buzz in any room and typically achieves huge profit potential for any given benefit.
But the rise in use of sports memorabilia items at auction is a wake up call to auction event organisers whose ethical obligation it is to ensure the legitimacy of our heroes’ signatures. After all it is their guests who are bidding generous sums of money in good faith that the piece of signed memorabilia is the genuine article.
It’s a sad fact of life but when say a George Best, Andrew Flintoff or Pele piece of signed memorabilia can fetch anything from £1000 upwards, there are always going to be unscrupulous dealers out to make a quick buck by forging or faking our heroes’ mark and passing it on to fundraisers to auction. So how do you make sure the signature on the memorabilia is real? There is no easy answer and if you’re not careful, your guests will end up bidding on a worthless fake.
Memorabilia dealers say that you should look for a paper trail. Supporting paper documentation, such as a certificate of authenticity, can help prove memorabilia is real. However, Certificates are only as valid as the company producing them so this may not always be the answer. Others cite that photo evidence of the athlete signing is crucial. But avoid photo evidence that sees the star signing whilst leaning out of a car near a training ground. This could explain one signature but doesn’t guarantee the authenticity of the other 500 odd items that dealer is selling from the same person. A good reference point is the isitreal.com website that gives advice about said issues.
One thing to bear in mind is that sporting autographs are expensive. A piece of memorabilia that is so cheap it seems too good to be true often is just that. eBay for example is littered with cheap sports memorabilia of dubious origin and is best avoided unless you’re an experienced buyer who knows how to spot a signing scam. Conversely an expensive item doesn’t guarantee authenticity! Don’t be afraid to ask the seller about the item’s provenance. A legitimate seller will only be too happy to regale tales of where and when a piece of memorabilia was signed.
In the US where the use of sports memorabilia at auction is even more established as a sound revenue generator, the issue of authenticity has long been a crucial issue. Top US firms such as Upper Deck and Steiner Sports have long used a third party authentication procedure where a trusted witness attends ands verifies every signing. They argue that this is the only way to prove the authenticity of autographs.
Following on from the US model, Bigbluetube for example has launched their Authenticate process, heralded as the most effective in the industry. The financial and business advisors Grant Thornton act as third party witness to verify the legitimacy of the autographs at every Bigbluetube signing and then hologram technology is used as a further measure of validity.
Sports memorabilia will long continue to be hot property at fundraising auctions for the simple fact that the revenue potential is extremely high. It is essential that fundraisers realise their ethical responsibility to protect bidders’ in this area. Charities benefit from the generosity of the auction winner who is bidding in good faith that the memorabilia is genuine with investment potential and not some worthless imitation. There are many reputable companies out there who offer fantastic items of sports memorabilia that go down a storm at auction. Just be aware that there are scammers out there who are looking to dupe both you and your bidders.
About Bigbluetube
Bigbluetube are the UK’s biggest supplier of authentic signed sports memorabilia. Not only do Bigbluetube boast the highest standards of authenticity in the industry but combine this with unique products, exclusive arrangements with the biggest names in sport and unparalleled commitment to offering the highest standards of customer care. By providing event organisers with premium pieces of sports memorabilia for auctions, Bigbluetube has helped UK charities raise over £100,000 over the last five years.
More: www.bigbluetube.com

About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale. He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.