The player's name sets the ceiling. What you can prove sets the price.
Price the certainty
Three items can carry the same signature and be worth very different money:
- Signed in front of the seller, with a photograph
- Signed at an event, with a certificate from a known issuer
- Signed at some point, by someone, according to whoever sold it last
That is not a sliding scale of quality. It is three different items, and pricing them alike is how sellers end up in disputes and buyers end up disappointed.
Where to start
Unverified material: start low, say unverified in the title, and let the room set the number. This is honest, it sells, and it builds the kind of reputation that makes your next verified item believed.
Well-provenanced material: a low start on a quiet night is a real risk. Use a reserve, and say in the show that there is one.
Do not bundle certainty away
A strong, documented piece does not belong in a lot with unverified ones. The lot drags it down and the doubt spreads across everything in it.
Pacing
These items need talking through — what it is, where it came from, what you can and cannot confirm. Give them time. A thirty-second memorabilia lot gets thirty seconds of trust.
Questions people ask
How much less is unverified worth?
There is no fixed ratio, and anyone quoting one is guessing. Start low and let the bidding tell you what this room thinks.
Does a framed presentation add value?
A little, and it adds a lot of delivery risk. See packing before you decide.
Should I say there is a reserve?
Yes. A room that knows there is a reserve bids toward it instead of giving up. What a reserve price is.
More: how to price for auction, selling cricket memorabilia.