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Authenticity is Everything
Ebay buyers. Innocent victims or ...?
I just recently reviewed the recent sold Madonna autographs on Ebay? Not a single sold Madonna over $500. Most under $50. Really?
I used to think all these poor souls were simply ignorant souls being taken advantage of. Lately, I've come to a different thought process. They just don't really care about authenticity. They just like the pretty picture and want to display and, possibly, impress their friends. The buy impulse is just the low price factor.
Now, that is not to excuse those who are selling these pieces of garbage and Ebay should do far more to protect the public from such scams. But, there seems to be an endless market for low priced trash.
Perhaps a bigger market for that than for those who are offering authentic autographs at the proper price point that sit on the shelf waiting for the right buyer to come along.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Pete Bendu on
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It's not just Madonna. 2 real Scarlett Johansson autographs have sold on ebay, and one fake from GA.
Beyond those 3 pieces, 150 fakes since mid-May have sold for an average of $15 each.
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Permalink Reply by Joe W. on
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Yes, Pete. I've been watching Johansson's for awhile as I want to add one but haven't seen one I like. It's every big name, not just Scarlett and Madonna.
The fakes stink but my point is I don't think Ebay buyers are as much deceived as they are apathetic.
Also, I do have concerns that the casual collectors are decreasing. The hobby has a strong core of advanced collectors but seems to be attracting less into it's ranks. There is a lot of quality product out there that sits and sits. That wasn't the case not long ago.
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As with every single hobby, there are no kids joining the ranks. When is the last time you saw a kid collecting stamps? coins? comics? Even baseball cards are a thing of the past.
Kids today have the attention span of goldfish. If it isn't in video game form or on their smart phone, kids want nothing to do with it.
The future autograph collectors now want a "selfie" instead of an autograph.....because they can post it on their social media platform, be it facebook or twitter or whatever else they are using at this second.
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Hope we are not all doomed!
All I know is 5 years ago I could start, say, 10 auctions on Ebay with super low minimum bids and sell 75% or more at a reasonable price. Today, I would have to start the bidding higher, yet at low the low price point, and if I am lucky maybe sell 10%.
Not a good trend.
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Permalink Reply by TradeGeek on
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Pete, you are unfortunately correct. I collect both autographs and baseball cards with my 8 year old son. His friends have zero interest. When we went to our last in person autograph signing he was one of maybe 3 or 4 kids out of 200 people. It doesn't seem to matter to him. He still loves busting open a pack of Topps or meeting the latest Dodger or Angel rookie and hanging the autograph on his wall.
Hobbyists are becoming an endangered species. I'm doing my best to leave at least one nerd behind when I'm gone.
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Permalink Reply by Scott Paul on
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That is right Joe. A lot of nice items sit partly because of forgers have defecated into the ocean of eBay so much it looks like a Brazilian Olympic diving pool. While there will always be ones interested in autographs the average person will be scared away after a few bad burns.
Pete is correct about young people growing less interested in autographs. Soon it will be collecting type fonts of favorite celebrities by email. With the continuing slow death of the paper check and even documents there is less of a need for "signatures" other than your social security number and date of birth. I am not sure they even hand out pencils and tablets at the beginning of the school year anymore. There was even a movement to do away with cursive writing fortunately I think that has been reversed.
I have often said I would never get back the money I have put into autographs over the years. Another reason young people probably are not interested is look at 90 percent of most modern autographs. Scribble, scrawl and straight lines who wants that? Take away the picture who can really say who wrote ~? Is that really worthy of veneration or the price of framing? With most older autographs there was a dignity and pride that the person put into them. For most there was also a sincere appreciation of the fan.
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In general I would say they are victims, but I'm not sure they are totally innocent. Most just put zero effort into understanding what they are buying. I had an employee some years ago come up to me with excitement and tell me how she purchased a framed Ted Williams autographed photo for her husband for under $100 on eBay. I didn't have the heart to tell her that, sight unseen, it was almost certainly fake. I'm sure it's still on his wall. She was just clueless but had every good intention. I wouldn't be surprised if she picked up one of those $15 Madonnas.
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