Autograph Values Can Explode in Moments

By Greg Johnson

We all like to hear the “rags to riches,” “from the ground up,” “from nothing to something” stories. It can be satisfying to hear that what was once worth next to nothing eventually came to be something that people value in more than just monetary ways. This can be the case with some of the autographed baseballs that at first seem like they will not be worth much, and for some reason end up increasing in worth. It’s true that autographs values can be a ‘zero to hero’ kind of thing.

Unfortunately the same can be said about autographed balls that at one point are worth a good amount of money, and then eventually loose that value. Regardless, if you are ever going to get rid of one of your signed baseballs, whether you are selling it or giving it away, make sure you know what you are getting rid of before you do it. Also, remember if the player is still in the league there is no telling what can happen and there is still a chance that his autograph goes up value.

Personally, I have stories on both sides of the spectrum, I have held on to balls that were not worth anything and then their value went up, but I have also held on to balls that were once worth more and declined value over the time. In this case, I will tell you about my “feel good” story and perhaps I can influence you to try to keep all the baseballs that you get autographed.

I think I can say that I tried getting Edgar Renteria’s autograph about ten times throughout the seasons of 2009 and 2010. For some reason I never got it because he was always busy and sometimes he just straight denied me. I am not exactly sure why I insisted so much because I was never really a big fan of him but I guess you can say I am persistent.

For some reason towards the end of the 2010 season he gave me an autograph and I put it in my collection. If you were to have checked on Ebay, and looked up an Edgar Renteria signed ball, you would have seen that they were on sale for $20-40 and most of those weren’t selling. But autograph values can change like the stock market.

If you watched the 2010 World Series, you know that Renteria was the MVP and just as he did in 1997 with the Florida Marlins, became the series hero. And just like that, in a matter of days, a signed ball by him is worth a little more. Now, if I was someone else trying to make money that would be very convenient for me. I choose to keep all my signed balls whether they are worth money or not, but that is only because to me they have a sentimental value.

Other players, like Albert Pujols can be decent, but not heralded minor league draft picks and then suddenly explode on the scene to become future Hall of Famers. Pitchers who are an afterthought sometimes find their niche later in a career and eventually put up Cooperstown-worthy numbers like Randy Johnson, who coincidentally is a tough autograph.

The most important point here is that you just never know when a signed ball can go up price unexpected, because it can take a player as little asone at-bat to make history.


Sorry there were no results or an error