Buying and Selling Autographs Online for a Profit!
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I started buying and selling autographed pictures and autographed animated art and sketches about 10 years ago and I thought I might share some things I’ve learned by trial and error that might help others new to the exciting and fun hobby of autograph collecting. The thing I personally love about collecting autographed pictures and autographed art is that they look great framed in your home and the value if you collect right will appreciate each year.
Buying and Selling Autographs on Ebay
Buying
A great many of the autographs sold on Ebay are frauds and you need to be very careful when bidding and buying an autograph on Ebay. I would venture to say, without any scientific proof, that of all the items subject to scam bidding on Ebay (the seller using another screen name or his friends bidding up an item they have no desire to buy), autographs lead the field! Ebay has the nerve to also allow people to sell Printed duplicates of signed autograph pictures (i.e. a printed copy of a picture that was originally hand autographed) which in all likelihood fools buyers who don’t pay attention who think they’re getting a bargain and something for nothing- an autographed picture of the Beatles for $10- yeah that’s the ticket!
This isn’t to say that there aren’t authentic autographs sold on Ebay. One simply needs to make sure the seller has sold hundreds of autographs with feedback better than usual. If you buy an autograph from a new seller or someone without much feedback, chances are good you could wind up with a forgery. As a general rule, if an autograph being sold looks like too good a deal, it probably is and is a forgery. Autographs are usually listed as “Signed” on Ebay instead of autographed and hand signed is an even safer description as it means it was actually signed in hand. Ebay autographs should always be compared to other autographs of the same person that are being sold on Ebay as well as under the completed section. If you have the slightest question/doubt about an autograph being sold on Ebay, don’t bid under any circumstances. Do not throw caution to the wind, in fact take the attitude rather safe than sorry.
Autographs on Ebay are usually so over priced its not funny by greedy and stupid Ebay sellers who have no idea what an autographs fair market value is. “Cut autographs”, autographs that were originally signed on a slip of paper, are probably the worst investment for your value because unless they are autographed by someone extremely collectible and hard to find like a Jimi Hendrix, you will have trouble selling them as most people prefer to buy autographed pictures.
So as a general rule you should research online what you think is the going price for an autograph and only bid if you’re completely satisfied that the autograph is legit and that the seller has a stellar Ebay feedback record. If the bidding for an auction doesn’t seem to make any sense to you- don’t bid or retract your bid because it’s not your imagination- it means bidders have question on the product.
“Certificate of Authenticity” which some sellers state they will provide, really don’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things, it’s like printing money on your ink jet printer at home- it’s valueless, so don’t really let a Certificate of Authenticity factor into your autograph buying decision.
Selling Autographs on Ebay
I personally wouldn’t recommend anyone selling autographs on Ebay without going to R&R Auction’s First (More About them later). The main reason not to sell autographs on Ebay is that you won’t get close to what the autograph is worth especially now that a recession is on. Ebay is good if you need to get some working capital right away and if you have to take a loss or sell an item for less than its worth, that’s OK for your situation. Otherwise I recommend selling through R&R Auctions. I personally sold several autographed sketches I wish I never listed on Ebay because what I sold them for was a joke: An Autographed sketch of Bart Simpson hand drawn and signed by Matt Groening (I sold for $25) and an 8X11″ handrawn and signed sketch of Batman by creator Bob Kane ($100). I’d recommend not to list anything in an auction for your autographs under the price you wouldn’t be satisfied with and possibly making it a Reserve Auction. I’d also give buyer 1 full week to return the auction (they pay shipping) and pointing out your feedback record in your listing. Always use the words Hand signed in the title and listing and if possible say how you obtained the autograph.
Buying and Selling Using R&R Auction
I really hate to give this place a plug as they rejected selling several of my autographs which I knew were genuine as Non-Genuine. So from a buyers statement this place is good because if anything they are Over Cautious what they sell and they have a good return policy on Autographs as well. R&R Auction’s make their money by putting a mark-up on the autographs they sell-the last time I used them I think the buyer had to pay an additional 15% of his winning bid, which they keep. They also take a percentage off the seller’s end as well.
Each month, they put together a gorgeous and expensive catalog on glossy paper-its almost a book, with beautiful scans of all their autographs being auctioned that month, divided into categories like sports, music, movies, etc., with the opening auction price. R&R Auction is run the way Ebay’s auction should be, but isn’t: R&R Auctions will only allow a bid in the last two hours of an auction only if the person placed a bid prior to those two hours. The people who bid on these items are for the most part serious autograph collectors. I won an autographed postcard of Buster Keaton that featured a photo of Buster for $245 with the surcharge a few years ago.
I sold about a half dozen autographs with R&R Auction and they paid me within a month or so of the item selling if I recall correctly. I had no problems whatsoever with them about getting paid. It probably takes around 3-4 months between the time you submit an autograph to the time your are paid if the autograph sold. My problem however as I previously mentioned was that I had several autographs that I knew were valid rejected by them, like an autographed photo of the Beatles with original drummer Pete Best, signed by both George Harrison and Pete Best (Harrison signed it before Best later did). I don’t want to get into a pissing contest but my attitude was, I don’t need this crap.
Oh, I forgot to mention that R&R Auction has their auction results online as well as the results of their previous auctions for the past year or so and is a valuable reference as you can look up all the results by simply entering the name as well as seeing what their autograph looks like.
I hope this article was helpful to you if you’re interested in collecting autographs and I apologize if the tone might be a little too cynical but I’d rather have you not buy something then winding up buying a forgery. Please check out our large Online Discount Gift Store Click Here and our other Online Discount Stores below which helps support this politically incorrect blog. Thank you.
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