Our authentication process starts from outside of Authentic Experts with our buyers, where they attend trusted auctions and sales with their own authentication process, ensuring the item is real and has not been tampered with in any way. Once the item has been purchased, it will be transported to our head office and passed on to our team of highly skilled authenticators.
Inside the Authentication Team
Arriving with this team, the items undergo rigorous investigation to catch out any items that may have slipped through the cracks of the auction. I spoke with one of our seasoned authenticators to ask how these items are checked:
“Each brand that we receive has a different process in which we must authenticate it. But some common points across the board we check is the serial number; if the font is different or the serial number does not match once researched, the logo; if the logo is off centre or differs from other items from the same brand, and the material; if the texture feels wrong or is missing a key part of its design. If the item fails any of these checks it cannot proceed to the tagging stage or be sold.”
Tagging, Grading and Photography
After our authentication process the passing items are moved to our tagging team. While the items are here their quality is checked and any damages, discrepancies or repairs are noted following a strict grading process to determine the quality of item. The items are then passed on to our photography team, where the general aesthetics and condition of the items are captured as well as any of the imperfections, ensuring that anything and everything is available for the customer to see prior to purchase.
Final Quality Control
Finally, the items are passed to our quality control team, where they are inspected once again, noting any discrepancies between the description, photos and overall condition. If the item matches the description given and photographs show the condition clearly, it is able to be listed in the weekly sale. However, if the item fails the final quality check for any reason, it is updated to show the additional information that has been missed, checked by our head of quality control to confirm these changes, and processed into the weekly sale once the information has been corrected.
In Conclusion
And that concludes our journey of authentication and quality control! I hope this has been useful in understanding the process your item takes before reaching your basket, and helps to reassure you that the quality you buy is the quality you get!
Written by Josh Bolton — Head of Quality Control