Is The GAI Authentication Service Legitimate?
GAI has an authentication system similar to PSA-DNA and from what we have heard they are a very reputable company. We would like your input on what you know about this authentication company. Feel free to comment below!
PLEASE NOTE: We do not have anything against GAI and ALLAuthentic has never had a problem with this company. We receive a lot of emails about GAI and want to see what our readers think. Please keep your comments fair -- of course GAI is welcome to comment on this post if they would like.
33 Comments:
GAI is a pretty decent company. i have delt with them on a few ocasions and were good. most of the staff was friendly. the only problem i have with all these companies is that it THEIR OPINION. a ball i had was signed in front of me and PSA DNA didnt authenticate it since they said in their opinion its not "authentic". tell me how that can work. i dont understand how companies give their opinion and have so much value added on to the autograph. if they can a ball that was signed in front of me and call it fake, cant they have a fake ball and authenticate it? most of the authentication companies are the same and do the identical process. PSA DNA will charge you $75 for a mantle ball and give you their opinion that its fake and you gave them $75 to hear their opinion. they need to change their prices to make it affordable for people instead of stealing their money.
as a collector or promoter i do not indorse gai!they have made to many mistakes in the recent past to be even considered in the league of psa/dna.human error is allways a risk no matter what compant your dealing with but error with gai is becoming a trend.mike baker and his team have authenicatied serval very questionable items in the last year.theres even problems brewing with players seeing gai on items they know they didnt sign and if a player says "hey i didnt sign that"that should tell you a person is the foremost expert in there own signature.one example at a recent singing with ben roethlisberger....another company pulled out 20 jerseys allready signed by ben with gai stickers on them to have ben add "sbxl champs"ben looked at the signatures(hes very outspoken)and said you got to be kidding me...i didnt sign these jerseys and im not adding a inscribtion to them.one example and i have many more if anyones diagrees.dont panick if you own a gai autographed item.its probaly real but theres been to many problems out of that company to risk using or trusting them in the future and my opinion there heading down hill fast.i recomend psa as a top choice and onlinecoa is becoming a proven leader in the feild but there still unknown by many collectors and some dealers.of course psa is the most $$$ but gai is a little cheaper so they draw in just as much business if not more and online coa is quiet a bargin as they work a lot cheaper just to draw in buisness to make a name for themselfs.i want to know what allauthentic has to say about this.im guessing either you had a experince with them or have just heard stories about them.whats your take on this because you got to be holding something back or you wouldnt of posted this blog.come on kelly this blog needs a good story even if its unrealted to you..
also on a unrealted matter.AA i really like your blog and i think this is something all promoters should have on there site to help safeguard buyers against fraud.im stealing your idea and putting on of this on my site with the thought of if i save one person from getting screwed i made a difference in the industry..
Great post, thank you for that info, we have actually never dealt with GAI but we have heard they are reputable. We have had readers email us asking us about them and saying they found some questionable items authenticated by them. However, we know several reputable dealers that use them.
We have a great field of readers now and sometimes I like to post questions and get feedback because we have several experts following the blog now.
Thanks again for your responses!
They frequently authenticate Ghost signed Terry Bradshaw items as legit signatures. If I see a global sticker on an item, I pass.
global!oh no!ok they are known around the country and go work and setup at all the big shows but there not were i would send my stuff off to.they have gone on record for authenticating a stack of george bush sr. photos...all were reprints and finally spotted by a well known promter.how can you feel confident buying a piece of sports history with there sticker on it knowing they have said a stack of photos that didnt even have ink on them are real...come on i can hold a picture up sidesways and tell if its a facsmile signature.but they did and ammited to it.i strongley disagree with the mans comments up top about"dont worry if you own a gai item,its probaly real"i tend to differ and if yo have one send it to psa and trust just cause it has a gia sticker on it psa will treat it as a unauthencitacted item and make the real expert opinion
Personally, I would never buy anything (especially Derek Jeter autographs) that was authenticated by GAI. I emailed them a few times about Derek Jeter autograph items that weren't even close to Derek's autograph. There was a seller on Ebay whose Derek Jeter autograph items were rejected by PSA/DNA's "Quick Opinion" and Ebay removed them, but then the seller had them authenticated by GAI and put them back up. It was totally bizarre that GAI authenticated those particular items.
global couldnt tell if a ham sandwhich has cheese on it or not.
thats funny i heard about the george bush thing before llike a year or 2 ago.dont forget about the kobe bryant scandal on the full signature jerseys.some guy at the nationals 2 years ago had a box of bryant jerseys with his old full signature on them with gloabl and at the same show a investor bought them and took them to psa's booth and the rejected them and called them fake.needless to say the seller was kicked out
VERY UNFAIR COMMENTS ABOUT GAI!THEY ARE ONE OF THE COUNTRYS TOP COMPANYS AND A EBAY PRE CERIFIED COA.THERE COA IS ACCEPTED IN EVERY MAJOR AUCTION HOUSE AND SOME OF THE RAREST ITEMS IN HISTORY HAVE BEEN EXAIMED BY MIKE BAKER
MOST GAI EMPL. ARE FORMER PSA GUYS.I OWN HUNDEREDS OF SPORTS SIGNED ITEMS AND I JUST COLLECT BUT FOR MY KIDS WHEN IM GONE IVE HAD GAI CERTIFY EACH AND EVERY ITEM.
THEY CANT AUTHENTICATE A HAM SANDWHICH???THEY ARE SO SMART THEY CAN PROBALY FIND OUT WHAT COMPANY MADE THE "HAM" U KNOW NOTHING ABOUT MEMORABILIA MR.HAM SAND!
lets get real psadna has made alot of mistakes to give gai a break!!!
If you want a real opinion forget psadna or gai, you need to use richard simon, paas or jsa !
Regarding Richard Simon, he has been around forever and I believe he is still regarded as the industry expert on autograph authentication.
I have posted here before regarding the issue of authenticators and their opinions. I have had PSA call my "all authentic" Jerry Rice jersey a fake. I have posted this in a previous topic in this blog. No matter which alphabet you want to pick be it PSA, GAI, JSA, whatever, it is all that persons opinion.
After paying PSA for their opinion, and being robbed of my money, I have no longer been able to trust the so called experts. PSA is supposed to be the cream of the crop right? So if they cannot authenticate a Rice signature accurately, PLEASE. All Authentic does signings with Jerry Rice all the time. From what I know about AA they send the jersey numbers to the Rice and Montana and they send them back. They then apply the numbers onto blank jerseys. So All Authentic does not personally see every autograph is signed, but I am more than sure that the items are being recieved and signed by the athelete. So since All Authentic does not personally see every item signed, and PSA says its "Not Likely Genuine" it comes down to who do you trust or believe. AA has photos with Rice, Endorsements from Rice on his sports formula, golf tournaments etc. So to me, its a no brainer. All authentic is the real deal. PSAs so called opinion is worth less than zero to me.
Lets keep it real here. The authentication of signatures is a business. Its not done for the "Love of the hobby". These people are getting paid. They just like people selling flat out fake autos are profiting from the sale of Sports memorabilia. They push fear into the buyers of buying fake items in order to make a profit for themselves. They want people to be scared to death and skeptic of everyone they buy from. But at the same time they are ripping off people by charging you 60,70 80 bucks a pop for an opinion that is only 50/50. They say themselves even on items they say are real it is not 100% guaranteed to be real. So basically what they are saying is, This item is real! But it could be fake as well. BULL. Is that what I get for my hundred bucks? Who in the world could not give me a 50/50 opinion? The truth is if PSA says that every item is real, they would be out of business because the fear of buying fakes would not be there. That is what they survive on.
If you want to say GAI are crooks and they are made up of PSA former founders and employees, What makes any of the other companies any more reputable than them? Are you saying GAI employees were legit when they were with PSA, but they left in order to make money by labeling fake items real all of a sudden? That makes no sense. What makes some one an expert any way? Do you just make up an alphabet name, have your custom invisible ink to dab items with, make up a cheap sticker and give out opinions that you dont need to stand behind? What a joke.
in my opinion as being part of the autograph business for allmost 10 years if you had to pick one person,,,,just one guy to make a judgement my vote is for james spence(jsa)james is old school,been around the world and back and seen it all.james has been called on in the past to authenticate some of the worlds rarest artifacts and has done so with very little error in his career....he is reguarded by most of his peers to be the foremost expert in his feild and the most qualifed for the "tough" autograph item.i share this opinion with many throughout the hobby and i dont know of anyone who can honestly bad mouth james like they are psa and global.if you had the option to send your item to anyone in the feild why wouldnt you send your item to the most qualifed man to do the work...only 2 guys at jsa exaim items,james and his long time counter part(forgot his name)but he himself brings exlcelent knowledge to the table as he was a long time in person collector and knows a ton about that side of the hooby about how "in person" sigs look like and only makes james job easier as a team to work together
TOP 6 AUTHENTICATOR IN THE HOBBY,ANY ORDER YOU LIKE, MIKE GUTIERREZ, RICHARD SIMON, MIKE FROST, STEVE KOSCHAL, BILL CORCORAN, JIM SPENCE, PHIL MARKS, MAKE THAT TOP 7 HOW COULD I FORGET KEVIN KEATING !!!!
In response to the reader above, you are correct, an authenticator's opinion is just that, an opinion. It needs to be weighed against several other factors.
That is why when we used to post PSA DNA findings on our blog we would mention several other facts along with the opinion.
ALLAuthentic.com has been doing business with Jerry Rice and Joe Montana for years. We have conducted several in person signings and private signings and we obtain signatures direct from their agent.
All autographs we receive from Rice and Montana come with their personal hologram. If you were to contact Jerry or Joe they would confirm that we do regular autograph signings with them.
The purpose of this blog is to educate consumers on how to obtain authentic autographs. I think the knowledge our readers bring to this blog is amazing. Remember, when we look at fake autographs we look for a variety of factors, the autograph, other items the seller is offering, the history of the seller, do they contract direct, do the items come with the player's hologram, and several other factors.
HOW ABOUT THE FACT THAT PSA/DNA DOES THEIR QUICK CERTIFICATIONS ON AUCTION ITEMS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY? OR THE FACT THEY DO NOT STAND BY THEIR ON SITE CERTIFICATIONS ALL THE TIME? GAI,IS JUST AS REPUTABLE AS PSA/DNA.NO SERVICE IS 100% FOOL PROOF. IF YOU GUYS HAVE COMPLAINTS ABOUT GLOBAL I WILL GLADLY BUY ANY ITEM YOU HAVE AUTHENTICATED BY THEM AT A BARGAIN DISCOUNT PRICE.
GAI IS AS REPUTABLE AND AS ACCURATE AS PSA/DNA.
This is a very informative blog. I started collecting about 1 yr ago. In that time I have learned tons about the good and the bad of the industry. As with many novice collectors I started by looking on Ebay and was amazed to find the "great deals" out there. I have since learned that many of those "great deals" could easily and most likely be fakes. Now I'm always sceptical of auctions for items signed by top names which start for under $20 with no reserve. I don't think there is anyone in this business that would let any auto go for less than they paid for the item itself not to mention the cost of the signature.
Now I won't purcase anything unless it has been witnessed in person by a reputable company. One of the best I have found is Onlinecoa. They only certify signed items that they witness and do not authenticate signatures. There is no "opinion" involved. They also provide an online record that includes pictures and videos of the signing and an upclose picture of the signature of the item with their serialized card. They seem to be fairly new but I think they have the right idea. I had items certified by them at the CSA show in Chantilly and really like what they do.
As for PSA/DNA and GAI, it's still someone's opinion and we all know what they say about opinions.....
Glad you find this blog informative, the more people that become educated on how the autograph industry works, the less fake autographs you will see on eBay.
It is important to buy from reputable companies or from companies who are selling items from known sports memorabilia companies.
price is allways a great way to judge how real a item might be but then again on ebay some sellers use diiferent angles to sell and im talking about legit ones like myself...i might put a dan marino jersey on with no reserve for 1 cent and that way i dont get hit hard for fees through ebay and let the market dictate how much it will go for 200-275 average..i can put a 249 reserve on it,pay the extra fee and it still sells the same price.trust me theres hard core collectors on there and when you get your name out there as a good guy you dont have to worry about your stuff selling under cost but i will give you this its the "buy it now"price that you should be more worried about.if i put the same jersey on there with a buy it now option for 99.99 that should tell you something
What does anyone think about the ebay seller "celebrity-row"? They seem to be putting up a lot of items that they say are from Global DNA, GAI. I almost bought a Don Mattingly autographed pic, but figured I would ask what you guys thought. Thanks for any comments.
I have never been a fan of GAI and I posted a previous comment explaining why. I'd like all of you to check out Ebay Item Number 8813194972 and I want someone to convince me that the autograph on that baseball bat is Derek Jeter's. No way!
Kelly,
We use GAI on a lot of items but they are items that are signing in the presence of. I think alot of people question GAI's ability to authenitcated items sent in for examining and I cant relate to that because we dont use them for that. We use the in person service where a bonded rep is there to witness the signing. When you look at a gai authenticated item you can tell the difference by the following:
If the first two letter of the serial number are GP then it means the item was signed in the presence of a rep. If it says GV, that means the item was sent into GAI for their opinion on the signature.
Thanks,
Joe
http://www.sportsintegrity.com
YOU CAN HAVE ALL THE SCHOOLING ON SIGNATURES IN THE WORLD, BUT THE BOTTOM LINE IS...IF YOU DIDNT SEE IT SIGNED, THEN YOU DONT KNOW. DOESNT MATTER WHICH COMPANY YOU SEND TO, NONE OF THEM SAW THE ITEM GET SIGNED. SO KNOWING THAT, YOU KNOW YOU ARE PAYING FOR AN OPINION.
http://elite-sports-marketing.com/Ebay/JULY24/30ax.jpg
this looks fake to me.
well anyway i'm wondering if getting an AROD certificate is even a legit certificate for authenticity.
also i have the highest bid on an auction by sportsintegrity who has posted on this site. the auction says that it's "Global Authenticated+AROD Authentication".
However AROD got rid of the company.
"Angry A-Rod Dumps Memorabilia Company
By MIKE FITZPATRICK, AP Sports Writer
Friday, April 29, 2005"
if it's coming with the arod authentication, i'm starting to think its useless. plus there's no mention of it coming with a Global Authenticated certificate. i'm confused now, especially because of that fake auction up above.
We are going to start a new post for this one to see what the deal is with AROD Authentication, thanks!
Recently, REAL Sports (HBO) discussed autographed forgery. They "tested" a few of these so-called authenticators and GAI was regarded as the best one (They tested them twice, and passed with flying colors both times). As far as PSA/DNA, it failed miserably. Now here is something interesting, the NFL uses PSA/DNA as their official authenticator. The reason is unknown. Why would the NFL use a company that not only fails, but also gets into legal trouble? I recommend GAI if you want an autograph certified.
Here is my opinion on GAI:
They have a service like PSA where they actually witness signings and they have a special COA for that.
Anyhting that is requested for an opionion is a toss up. I have had in-person sigs that I got rejected from PSA (Pujols) and that made me mad, BUT the sig was hurried and did not look like many of his other signatures...it almost looked abbreviated.
JSA is the best...just an opinion.
GAI is at the bottom of my list for two reasons. I have seen TONS of stuff that did not look close to other exmplars pass GAI.
Second, I know a three sellers who previously sold nothing but fake merchandise...all of a sudden, thier signatures (every one) is equipped with a GAI cert??? I have a feeling that all it takes at some of these places is an extra $20 under the item to get it to pass...or else there are some major politics.
Seriously, I bet that dealers who send in 100+ "signed" photos have a percentage "pass" and another percentage "fail" I personally would never buy something from GAI other than the in-person witness sutff (of which I have a legit Scott Rolen bat from SportsIntegrity (ebay ID).
I have been collecting for 20+ years and would not send anything to GAI, just from seeing too many items that don't look close. PSA did a horrible job on e-bay item #120111537812, as there's no way the 4 sigs are good on that card! I lean toward James Spence as well, but for any of them, it's pretty much a rip...they look at an item for a few seconds to a couple of minutes (tops), gladly take your $50-100+ for an item, and tell you what they think. The problem is, if you have something you know is real, and they won't certify it, then you have a very difficult time selling it for fair money.
Anyone have an opinion on Richard Bond? He was the primary authenticator for Leland's Auction House for the past couple of years, and sets up at a couple of shows here in the northeast a couple times per year with his own stuff... I bought a couple of items that I can be sure are real, but psa recently said that it was no good, because they've never seen one before... Not really a good excuse for me that since they haven't seen one, then "it can't" be good. Thanks for listening and your thoughts...
As stated above, all sent in autographs are just opinions. I have been in the autographed sports memorabilia business for 5 years now and have seen my fair share of fake autos provided from numerous authentication companies. I have even been interviewed on ESPN Sports Radio about autographed sports memorabilia. I had a friend tell me that when he grew up, he lived right next to Ted Williams and had numerous baseballs signed by Ted. He had photos of Ted at his house for cookouts and they had sent some baseballs in to PSA/DNA for authentication after Ted had passed away and PSA/DNA said they were fakes. Athletes don't particluarly sign the same way everytime. When you obtain an individual's autograph from a ball park vs. a show where they are sitting down and not rushed, there will be a difference in their autograph. These comapnies can only guarantee the autograph's authenticity if they are present for the signing. I have seen quite a bit of fake autographs on Ebay and I try to keep beginners from buying on Ebay, to try and protect the business so that they don't get stuck with a fake, no matter who the authenticating company is. I saw one dealer on Ebay sold 1/2 dozen 1999 World Series baseballs, individually, signed by Ronald Reagan. First of all, how is somebody going to get near a former president to get 1/2 dozen baseballs signed and last time I checked, Ronald Reagan had Alzheimer’s Disease in 1999 and these signatures were crisp and smooth. He had lots of other autographs and I e-mailed Ebay and informed them but nothing was done. I started e-mailing people bidding on his items informing them of the fakes and even provided photos of what the ligit signatures should look like. Needless to say, he got very upset and called me, we had an interesting conversation and since then, I have not seen him on Ebay, He probably changed his name. Bottom line is, if you don't know that much about autographs, take the time and go to a show where your favorite celebrity or athlete is signing and get your item signed in front of you. That's the only true authentication that you can have. I hope that people learn from this and other people's blogs.
Much like ALL authentication companies,it is just an opinion on what they believe to be real or fake. Only problem with these companies is that they do charge a lot for an opinion that will not be guaranteed.
I've only been collecting autographs for about a year and had the experience of unfortunately buying some items from a certain seller that ended up being most likely not authentic... i had talked with Richard Simon who i believe is one of the most Honest people in this authentication business about my situation, and pretty much he said if it's to good to be true it probably isn't real.
bottom line is Just be very careful on items that are priced way below market value, do some research online with respectable companies to get images of REAL autographs compare and judge for yourself...just use common sense!
srjw
Hi my name is Wil Pujols. I am a minor league baseball player for the St. Louis Cardinals and family of Albert's but collecting memorabilia is my my other
passion. This Month I will be launching "Pujols Authentic" an authentication company that will only authenticate Albert Pujols items that are not associated with Upper Deck. The reason I decided to start this company was to clean up the market from all thos Albert Pujols fakes (as seen on ebay) but to also make sure that every real signature gets authenticated. PSA and other companies are having too much trouble with Albert's autographs. My company will make sure that everything that is real passes and everything that is fake gets sent back with a warning. For more info please contact us at pujolsauthentic@hotmail.com I know there are alot of you out there with Alberts signature's thats not getting repect. thank you
The big 3 companys PSA JSA and Global are the only ones making any money at the card shows anymore....maybe I should start cert'ing items instead of the 6 dollars that global and jsa charge or the 7 bucks that psa is now charging dealers Per autograph. Ill only charge 3 bucks and call my company ALLSTAR AUTHENTIC.....James Spence stopped selling autographs when he figured out he could make alot more cash selling stickers and certs.....Global passes anything that PSA or JSA Fails....its common knowledge when you talk to dealers and collectors , They all say the same thing.
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