A method of charging for secure data management and item authentication. The method includes charging an initiation fee to a customer to create an entry for an item owned or manufactured by the customer. The entry may include (i) information associated with the item, and (ii) information about a security feature associated with that item. The method also includes charging an annual maintenance fee to maintain the entry for the customer; and charging an authentication fee each time the customer requests authentication of the item. The method may also include charging a lease fee to a customer for each secure reader the customer leases, where a secure reader is required to request authentication of an item.