Our
overriding objective at Sports Gallery is to be the best
in our business.
Willie
Mays Visits Sports Gallery [click
on image to see more Willie photographs]
To
accomplish this, our reputation and credibility with our
suppliers, partners and, most important, customers MUST
be without question.
And we realize the most important part
of our reputation is the authenticity
of the autographs we sell.
Our customers must be able to purchase
our merchandise with the utmost confidence
that the collectible they are taking home
is authentic.
Frankly,
the future of our company
depends on it.
As
such, we are dedicated to the
authenticity of our collectibles.
We promise our customers to be thorough and diligent in
our efforts to obtain genuine and authentic autographed
memorabilia.
Ronnie
Lott In-Store Appearance [click
on image to see more Ronnie photographs]
Here
are just some of the precautions we take to ensure the authenticity
of our merchandise:
We
only work with nationally recognized and reputable sources
that, in most cases, have the athletes or entertainers under
direct contract.
We
often work directly with the athletes and/or their agents
to arrange for witnessed, public and private signings with athletes.
Our most recent/upcoming autograph sessions include:
Willie
McCovey to
sign at Sports Gallery on August 30, 2008!
THIS WEEK!!
Juan
Marichal signing
at Sports Gallery on September 5, 2008!
Patrick
Marleau, SJ Sharks Captain visited Sports Gallery
in October, 2006.
Ronnie
Lott, 49ers HOF'er, visited Sports Gallery in
August, 2006.
Brandi
Chastain returned to Sports Gallery in October,
2005.
Ronnie
Lott conducted a private signing with us in September,
2005.
Roger
Craig,the 3-time Super Bowl RB, signed in Carmel
in August, 2005.
Willie
Mays wowed the crowd at our Palo Alto store in
April, 2005.
Joe
Montana
conducted a private signing with us in August, 2004.
Dwight
Clark signed autographs in our Carmel store in
August, 2004.
Brandi
Chastain visited our Palo Alto store in February,
2004.
We
actively attend signings to personally obtain signatures
and/or witness the autograph session whenever possible.
We
DO NOT purchase any of our items from individual collectors.
The authenticity of such items is extremely questionable
(hence the lower cost) and nearly impossible to verify.
"Buyer
beware."
"You get what you pay for."
"If
it's too good to be true...
...it probably is."
Monta
Ellis Signs At Sports Gallery [click
on image to see more Cliff photographs]
All the typical consumer warnings apply to buying collectibles
from individuals on e-bay, personal collections and many sports
collectible retailers. At Sports Gallery we're committed to
taking those concerns out of the equation so you can have
confidence in the authenticity of the high-quality collectible
you're purchasing.
Dwight
Clark Visits Sports Gallery [click on
image to see more Dwight photographs]
If
you are considering buying a collectible from another
dealer,
do this Authenticity
Test first.
Ask them if they'll buy a signed collectible from
your private collection. If they even consider it
without proper authentication from a paid professional,
be very concerned about the origins of the collectible
you are considering buying. Who knows what private
collection that collectible came from...
At
Sports Gallery, our answer would be
NO.
Not because we don't like you
and value you as a potential customer,
but because we wouldn't be able to verify
the collectible's authenticity to the extent necessary
to satisfy our stringent
authenticity safeguards. We could definitely
get items cheaper if we said yes (many dealers do) but
the ultimate cost would be our reputation for authenticity
and that is a price we are not willing to pay.
Gaylord
Perry & Orlando Cepeda
Sign at Sports Gallery [click
on image to see more photographs]
And
while our methods of authenticity are not the least expensive,
they do ensure the best "safeguards" in our
industry.
Safeguards that guarantee that a buyer
of our collectibles is receiving
the benefit of our total commitment to authenticity. In
fact, we're so confident
in our merchandise, that we will
accept the return of any item
within 30 days of purchase
when the authenticity
is refuted by a reputable source.
Please
Note: We do NOT consider PSA/DNA to be a reputable
source. They are in the business of selling their authentication
services and are currently trying to strong-arm memorabilia
stores/dealers around the country to utilize their services
on all their merchandise. They do this by rejecting items
sent to them that do not have PSA/DNA authenticity stickers.
In the past, they have rejected "in-store" signed
items as not authentic. As such we simply cannot consider
them a reputable source in signature authentication.
Brandi
Chastain In-Store Appearance [click
on image to see more Brandi photographs]
Patrick
Marleau Signs At Sports Gallery [click
on image to see more Patrick photographs]
Marshawn
Lynch is All Smiles
At Sports Gallery [click on
image to see more Marshawn photographs]
In
short,
Authenticity is our key to success.
It is your guarantee of our total commitment to our collectibles.
More importantly, it is your guarantee
of our commitment to you,
our customer.
