PSA/DNA Reliability

[chargeralaska]

I have often questioned items with PSA/DNA certs in the past. One aspect I don't like is that most of the time there is not enough detailed information posted with the cert to get an accurate judgement of the item from.

I had a recent issue come up that has made me question the validity of the description of the item that is certified as well.

I purchased an NFL jersey that the seller claimed was game issued and not just an authentic. I normally only like to buy Game Worn or Used, but thought this item would be fun to have in the collection. It was signed and was purchased originally from NFL auctions. All that the cert verification description said was "Authentic". As well as the source being the NFL.

I wrote PSA/DNA to ask them if they had a more accurate description of the item that the NFL had sent to them to verify. I asked for specifics on whether it was Game Issued or Pro-Cut. The person responding was very nice and said they would look in to it. After about a week or so they got back to me with this response:

"The certification number N99385 is now updated with the correct item type in the PSA website. In regards to the jeresy, the it was deemed as authentic game worn. To verify that information, here is a direct link to the website: http://www.psacard.com/DNACert/N99385. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact customer service at Info@psacard.com or call (800) 325-1121.

Thank you,"

I only wish this were true--the jersey is definitely not game worn IMO. I never once mentioned anything about game worn even being something I was questioning. This really is a red flag for me because this could happen to items lots of times. Luckily I am not a scammer or I could go out and scuff the jersey up and pawn it off to some unsuspecting person. I was going to sell it on eBay, but don't want this cert circulating with the false information.

The worst part is that I never got my answer--is it actually game issued or just pro-cut authentic?

Anyone else have anything like this happen with verification's?

[ChiGuy1]

PSA/DNA or other companies that are authenticating the autographs don't really care what the actual item is (unless it would suggest the autograph is not authentic). Besides that, they may not know if it is game used/issued etc. and aren't going to spend anytime looking into it. I am sure down the road they will incorporate some other strategies to better show/describe items when being looked up through their systems.

[BVC]

...except that the PSA/DNA sticker references a cert stating that the item is game-used.

But you are right - they simply create stickers and certs for NFL Auctions or the auctions that are handling the NFL 'game-used' items. I won an item that came from NFL auctions and had a PSA/DNA sticker referencing a cert stating use in a particular game. While photo-matching, I discovered that a similar item from the same game that was NOT what the PSA/DNA cert said it was. Mine was good, but it was pure luck.

I did a little research and the best I can tell is that the equipment manager or other NFL team rep states that an item is something, whoever takes the item from the NFL accepts their word and PSA/DNA puts whatever is asked for on the cert. I guess 'cert' is inaccurate since it is short for 'certification'...which isn't actually done by anyone.

[DarronMarkwood]

I ran into a similar issue with a golf ball I pulled from the Leaf Golf Product. The golf ball was not even close to the player stated on the site (Aaron Baddeley). I contacted Leaf and they ended up figuring out it was issued wrong - the signature was Craig Stadler (better autograph). They also worked with psa/dna to correct it in the system.

Just based on my personal opinion, I'm not a fan of PSA/DNA autographs - unless I get them certified in-person. I've seen too many that make me wonder more than ones I've seen that looked legit. My $.02.

[BVC]

I don't know about modern autographs and PSA/DNA, but I don't trust them at all with their 'game-used' seal of approval. They simply create stickers.