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Exploiting death.

I've been a collector for decades, and have seen the hobby go through many changes. Some good, others not so much.

One of the things that bothers me is how fast signatures of recently deceased appear for sale. Sometimes within minutes of the announcement.

I well understand the motives, competitive factor and psychology why this happens. But I find it crass, insensitive and disrespectful. Currently Betty White is an example. It was utterly insane when Kobe Bryant passed away. And in almost every instance of a well known figure this happens.

To me, it reveals that the collector has no interest or attachment to the memorabilia of the deceased. Things are just merchandise, alive or dead. Which I do recognize as a an element of the business side of things. But please, at least wait till the body is cold before trying to cash in on knee jerk reflex reaction.

As well, fakes and fraud are often more likely at such times when emotional instinct is highest. Market value always increases with death, but is it so cut throat a hobby/business that a day or two can't go by before rushing out over priced items?

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on January 1, 2022 at 12:19pm

"...Market value always increases with death..."

Sympathy impulse purchases. One can't stop that or the sellers. However, often, at least in the not distant past, after the feeding frenzy is over prices settle back down a bit. I think this was observed with Diana and John Jr.

Odd this doesn't quite apply to painters/artwork.

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Permalink Reply by Nick Dimeo on January 1, 2022 at 1:08pm

I see lots of fakes up for Betty right now, whether knowingly or unknowingly. All the TTM being sold for Betty are secretarial as she stopped signing TTM years ago.

The day Hank Aaron passed away everybody and anybody was trying to profit off of him, it was sad. Collectors are stockpiling everything Willie Mays right now and his prices are shooting thru the roof and he’s still alive. It’s the get rich quick mentality that goes thru a lot of peoples minds and as frustrating as it is for the human dignity side of it some don’t seem to have a problem with it because these people although famous are in essence strangers to them.

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Permalink Reply by Eddy on January 1, 2022 at 1:26pm

Old School ..... you've articulated my own thoughts and others, I am sure.

This morning, when checking my email inbox, I found an eBay notice that one of the autograph sellers I follow had posted overnight a new listing for a Betty White signed photo. I think this is actually a quickly revised older listing because, while the description of the photo described her as "the indestructible television icon", the heading of the listing was "the late actress Betty White".

I think Betty might have appreciated the irony in that.

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Permalink Reply by marc e on January 1, 2022 at 1:41pm

with record prices being set memoribila and collectibles are comidities now and if done right can be a great asset to your portfolio no differnt than art work or coolecting a new artist and and hopping he hits big

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on January 1, 2022 at 1:47pm

Someone asked me for one and I said "...well, now she's a star in the night sky, not a TV. The shipping is astronomical..."

RIP Betty

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Permalink Reply by Eddy on January 1, 2022 at 2:17pm

Back in 2008 when Paul Newman died, tons of Paul Newman "signed" photographs deluged the market immediately. Many of those to this day bear TPA stickers on them. They are usually in blue felt tip...sometimes black... with his name only. They all look pretty well alike and I've never seen one that convinced me.

This was the same Newman who had quit signing years before after he claimed that some fan followed him into the men's room at a public event and slid pen and paper under a stall for his signature.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Viola on January 2, 2022 at 8:00am

Not exactly 100% true. I got him several times when he did Broadway in the early 2000s. He signed a lot there.

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Permalink Reply by Dan Morris on January 1, 2022 at 3:22pm

Whilst it can be crass, often sellers can make a lot of money when someone famous dies. More recently Kobe and Carrie Fisher saw prices go insane in the days after their passing. I have seen buyers ignore great prices for an item and then days after the person dies the same item sells for 20-30 times the original price.

As Nick says, Betty White's for sale are going crazy and most are secretarial signatures and no doubt in a few days and weeks the same buyers will be offering these signatures for even crazier prices.

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Permalink Reply by terrier8HOF on January 2, 2022 at 6:27am

it all comes down to supply and demand. From purely a business standpoint, it make sense to jump on a celebrity's passing to maximize profit. However, if I were still selling on ebay, I would not participate as I feel it is too cold and calculating ie "Betty is almost one hundred, let me stock up on her signed items, and sell them the minute she passes". More for the collector's benefit, I would certainly support a "grieving" period where a pre-determined period of time has to pass before listing items of a recently deceased celebrity.

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Permalink Reply by Nick Dimeo on January 2, 2022 at 7:51am

It’s funny, when “normal” people (particularly elderly people) pass away the family promptly has an estate sale. They will sell furniture and other big items but they most always sell intimate items like jewelry and other heirloom items. Celebrities are practically strangers to us, they show up on our television and we have fond memories of them but essentially they are strangers. I replied earlier that I think it’s also not right to profit off a recent death but I just find it funny that people have no problem when it comes to a family member who recently passed but draw the line when it’s a stranger.