Buying baseball memorabilia..

[Dirt Schilling]

I am from Amsterdam the Netherlands. It is realy hard to buy some nice fan stuff or memorabilia here

I am thinking of buying a signed baseball by David Ortiz or Cody Ross. There are some available on ebay. They come with holographic certificates of authenticaty. My question is how reliable are these certificates and sellers? I would hate to spend 70 or 80 bucks on a fake.

[redsoxrules]

I wouldn't buy anything on EBAY for memorabilia .

There's so many fakes on there.

Best bet would be steinersports.

[Youk Of The Nation]

A three-dollar pair of wire cutters and a nail file and you can get pretty much anything you want. David Ortiz's toothbrush, Cody Ross' silverware, their wives and children...

 

No, but I agree, Ebay is notoriously unreliable for sports memorabilia. I've known many people who have ordered "Authenticated, Game-Used Equipment Signed by Players" and ended up receiving things that were obviously pulled brand-new from their packaging and scribbled on by the seller. I could print up a genuine-looking certificate, indicating that I won the International Badass Competition by defeating Bruce Willis and Harrison Ford, and I could include the authentication signature of Nelson Mandela. Anyone can do anything like that with a printer. You're better off buying from, as redsoxrules suggested, a dealer that specializes in memorabilia and has a history of providing the genuine article.

[Meh]

Don't buy Cody Ross. He's not going to be with the red sox after this season.

[Youk Of The Nation]

I hate when that happens. I kept wearing my Renteria shirt through 2007 and I still have a Beltre shirt.

 

I also had a Mueller shirt that finally became unwearable in 2009. I still keep it in my dresser as a memory.

[mvp 78]

At one of my last jobs, I swang a game used and auto'd Ortiz bat (still dirty like it was just thrown into the on deck circle) and dribbled a Kareem signed basketball.

[Dirt Schilling]

Thanks for all the input. I think I am going to force my brother in law who lives in Boston to get me a real autographed ball by Big Pappi.