Lance Armstrong memorabilia may suffer

AUSTIN (KXAN) - With his recent doping confessions, Lance Armstrong's reputation will not only take a hit, so will the value of his memorabilia. Experts say as much as 50 percent or more.

At University Cyclery, manager Justin Jackson says, "Anytime a legacy is tarnished the value of the memorabilia just doesn't mean as much to people."

Asked if the passage of time may help, Jackson replies, "It's tough because society moves on."

Armstrong is still peddling his goods online, some for many hundreds of dollars; but at other sites, collectors are desperate to unload.

One collector says he spent $30,000 on Lance memorabilia as an investment and is begging people to take it off his hands.

At E-Bay, there are droves of sellers but apparently few bidders.

At the Austin Sports Connection they know the affects of disgraced athletes. They no longer carry once prized cards of Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.

"Their cards skyrocketed and after they got into trouble you can barely give it away," said manager Bobby Lo. "I have a lot of their autographs and stuff I can't even sell them."

What does he expect of Lance memorabilia?

"It will definitely go down, a lot," said Lo.

Brandan Canaday was shopping for memorabilia with his son.

He was adamant. "I would refuse to buy memorabilia based on the events that have occurred. Having said that it doesn't affect my interest in sports memorabilia in general, I believe most athletes are honorable."