Judging the Authenticity of Early Baseball Cards
by David Rudd Cycleback

Chapter 2 : Essential Tips for Beginning Collectors

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Collecting baseball cards is a great hobby for boys and girls of all ages.However, all areas of collecting have fakes, reprints and scams. The following is a brief but important list of tips.The beginner should read these before jumping into the hobby with open pocketbook. 1) Start by knowing that there are reprints, counterfeits, fakes and scams out there. If you start by knowing you should be doing your homework, having healthy skepticism of sellers' grand claims and getting second opinions, you will be infinitely better off than the beginner who assumes everything's authentic and all sellers are honest. 4) Learn all you can about the hobby and cards. The more you learn and more experience you have, the better off your are. 5) Realize that novices in any area of collecting are more likely to overestimate, rather than underestimate, the value of items they own or are about to buy 6) Get second opinions and seek advice when needed. This can range from a formal opinion from a top expert, to input about pricing from a collecting friend. Collectors who seek advice and input are almost always better off than those who are too proud or embarrassed to ask questions. 7) Find out if a card grader is reputable before you purchase the graded card. Do not assume that all card graders are equal, because they aren't. Some are little more than scams. With early baseball card collectors, PSA (Professional Sportscard Authenticators), SGC (Sportscard Guarantee) and GAI (Global Authentication Inc) are generally considered the most reputable. 8) Start by buying inexpensive items. Put the 1933 Goudey Babe Ruths, 1952 Mickey Mantles and mint grade T206s off until some other day. Without exception, all beginners make mistakes. From paying too much to misjudging rarity to buying fakes.It makes sense that a collector should want to make his inevitable beginning mistakes on $10 rather that $1,000 purchases. 9) Gather a list of good sellers.A good seller is someone who is knowledgeable and trustworthy.A good seller fixes a legitimate problem when it arises. Ask other collectors who they like.Discover good sellers on your own, by buying a few inexpensive items from an eBay seller and seeing how good are the transactions. It's best to buy real expensive items online from good sellers, including those you have dealt with or those who otherwise have strong reputations. 10) Avoid private eBay auctions. These are auctions where the bidders' identities and sometimes the seller's feedback is hidden. Private auctions are often used for shill bidding and sellers offering problematic items. cycleback.com................cards main (c) david rudd cycleback, cyclback.com all rights reserved

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