Sports Memorabilia

There is a huge interest in sport memorabilia, and sports-related items include signed commemorative photos, baseballs, footballs, basketballs, pucks and jerseys. A Google search of companies hawking these items comes up with almost 5 million businesses!

Some of the items on offer cost thousands of dollars.

Where there are so many eager and gullible customers, fraud is sure to appear. A Sand Diego federal judge who recently sentenced several sports autograph forgers to prison said, "Life, liberty and the pursuit of the national pastime, has been undone". The prosecution stemmed from an FBI investigation called Operation Bullpen, which closed down a professional criminal organization that forged and sold bogus autographs. 60 search warrants were served, more than 2 dozen people arrested, and a warehouse with 10 million dollars worth of forged merchandise was seized. The ring leaders received 3 years in prison and forfeiture or assets to the IRS. Both current and "vintage" items were involved. Any sports fan who has a signed souvenir may now want to question its authenticity. Phil Halpren, the assistant U.S. attorney who worked to prosecute the forgers stated that fraud is so pervasive in the sports memorabilia market that unless you personally see an item being signed by the athlete, odds are greater than fifty percent that it is fake. The most athletes most well-known the the public are popular with forgers, too. Halpren said, "If you are looking at a Mark McGuire signature, it's alost a guarantee, 99.9 percent it is a forgery." Certificates of authenticity can be fabricated just as easily as the collectible item they supposedly validate, so this is no protection.

Vendors are fighting back in an effort to maintain the integrity of the market. Disney, which owns ESPN, will begin next year to auction signed sports memorabilia online. Disney says it will authenticate the signatures with holograms encrypted with the item's identifying information and package seals, videotaping the entire process.

Sophisticated forgers can even produce holographic seals which appear, on casual inspection, to be real. However most forgers are amateurs, and the more sophisticated the anti-forgery system, the less likely criminals are to attempt to copy it.

Baseball and football are most popular in America, but a few famous hockey players such as Wayne Gretzky and Bobby Orr are popular targets for forgery as well.

With all the items available, both off and on the internet, fans can avoid a lot of fraud by using common sense. For example, a baseball autographed by Babe Ruth selling for $500 is obviously a fake, because such a price is unbelievably low, too low for real market conditons. Also, it pays to know a little bit about the development of baseballs and pens. If you see baseballs supposedly signed in the '20s and '30s with Sharpie pens, these are obviously fake, because these pens were not invented yet in that era. To quote Phil Halpren : "I have seen Babe Ruth balls signed on a Bobby Brown American League President ball. So, you know, he was president in the early '80s. That's impossible to have been done. But someone did it."

So, while it's enjoyable to own a peice of sports history, the motto to follow is : buyer beware. Unless you are a professional trader who knows how to authenticate merchandise, don't buy an item strictly for its potential resale value, because you may be disappointed by what you eventually get for it. Buy an item you personally like and intend to keep, and don't spend thousands of dollars. This ensures that you will be happy when you look at your purchase, without the lingering doubt that you have wasted a large sum of money on something of dubious value.

Internet Marketing Strategy Arizona
Internet Marketing Seo Papua New Guinea
Boost4 Clickbank Hop Http Net Noadware
Earn Extra Money From Home Information Online
Based Business Home Income Opportunity Online Education Jobs
Internet Marketing Seo Hungary
Seo Consultant Increase Search Engine Traffic Buy Web Site
Free Affiliate Programs Providing A Free Web Page 3
Ebook Compilers Exel
Google Adsense Ebook Make Money With Http
Chicago Search Engine Optimization
Online Markets For Writers How To Make Money By Selling
Homebased Marketing Mlm Network
Small Business Starting Advice Home Based Internet Work At
Earn Money Completing Survey Online
Marketing Strategy Internet Strategy
How To Make Most Money With Google Adsense
Make Easy Money Fast Online
Free Microsoft Reader Ebooks
Make Money Online Work At Home With A Home Based
Australia Internet Marketing Strategy
Earning Extra Cash Online Make Money Paid Survey
Pay Per Click Optimization
Click Engine Pay Per Search Top
Jobs At Home Make Money Online And
Best Internet Search Engines
Sfi Affiliate Program
Arthritis Info From Osteoarthritis Pain Relief Webmaster
Search Engine Submission And Optimization Service
Ion Digital Products
A Note To Myself A Blogging
Idaho Webmaster
Internet Marketing Seo Home Based Businesses
Webmaster Make Money
Top Paying Google Adsense Keywords
Web Site Marketing Service
Fashion Layouts For Blogger
Internet Marketing Strategy Work From Home Home Based
Book Ebook Estate Investment Real
Full Marketing Service Site Web
Free Online Surveys For Money
Information Marketing Adwords Google Adsense
Amateur And Voyeur Thumb Blogger
Affiliate Affiliate Clickbank Program
Online Small Business Insurance Quote
Change Great Nice Blog Flagged 34 26 34a 8pm 9am Blogger Day
Online Business Degrees
Pay Per Click Search Engine Scripts Directory
Money Internet Marketing Business
Earn Extra Money With Autocad
Fast Make Money Online Quickly Credit
Google Adsense Income Machine Instant Access
Google Adsense Through Phpbb Possible
Company Dallas Engine Optimization Search
Domain Name Network Marketing Internet Marketing Strategy
Advertising Internet Marketing Ebook Www Foreverca
Engine Marketing Optimization Search Service
How To Make Money Online Start Making At Home
Czech Republic Seo Consultant
Pay Per Click Software
Ways To Make Extra Money
Affiliate Internet Make Money Program
Golf Ebook Resell
Webmaster Tools Black Label Edition Iii Promoter Pack
Advertising Agencies
Ethical Search Engine Optimization
Professional Search Engine Optimization
Mlm Leads Network Marketing Leads Real Time Leads
San Diego Search Engine Optimization
Google Pagerank Script
Digital Photo Services Story Advertising Photographyl
Clickbank Login
Blogging Brits
Plastic Surgeon Practice Internet Marketing Web Site
Marketing Service Web Design Hosting Internet Web Site
Bingo Free Game Money Play
Malique Blogger
Stillwater Internet Marketing Strategy
Myinternetfortunecom Make Money On The Internet With Ease
Pay Per Click Make Money
Earn Money Fast Make Online Legally
Company Hk Marketing Site Web
Free Internet Marketing Affiliate Program
Make Money At Home Business
Trading Online Make Money Off Stock Market
Geschadigt Strukturvertrieb Mlm Network Marketing Betrug
Google Money Adsense Profits Http
Related Homeattnet Seo Internet Marketing Resourceshtml
Internet Marketing Strategy Ladera Ranch
Blogger Templates Blog Templates
Google Adword Equalizer Adsense Affiliate Marketin
Online Marketing Service Internet Home Based Business Home
Ways For Teens To Make Money Fast
Real Work At Home Internet Business Make Money Online
How To Make Wbr Money On The Internet
Website Marketing Search Engine Promotion Seo Sear
Pay Per Click Copywriting Ny
Bloggers
Webmaster Resource
Metasearch Metasearch Engines Pay Per Click Search Web