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How to buy autographs on eBay; Tips to avoid fakes on eBay

My latest Collectibles Chat video is "How to buy autographs on eBay." While it has something for everyone, it is most valuable to newer collectors by providing tips to avoid fakes.

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Permalink Reply by Rich on June 20, 2022 at 4:03pm

You seemed to have some positive sentiments in past posts of merch sold directly by artists or show/private signing events. Has this subsequently changed?

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on June 20, 2022 at 4:06pm

I'm sorry but that just isn't so. One can know. I'd like to see these photographs and signatures faked. The Gleason is a signed USPS PC posted 1.21.53 (on the other side). The candid contact sheets are original and dated early in 1953. The Garland is a signed TV candid sent in by Grace Cunningham to be signed "By the X and returned" as she wrote on the back. There were dozens of these signed photographs from the Cunningham Collection framed in silly TV mats. I selected his one and got it for $68 on eBay.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on June 20, 2022 at 3:23pm

+1. Crabby, the only person who knows an autograph is authentic is the one who obtained it in person…and they will never be able to “prove” to anyone else it is authentic. All “proof” can be faked. If you want an authentic autograph, get it yourself. Otherwise, assume it’s fake.

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Permalink Reply by Jason H on June 20, 2022 at 3:32pm

Crabby Appleton.. love the name, it fits haha.. I agree with you to a point.. its true, nothing is 100% for sure unless you see it in person... but those of us who have been in this hobby for 30 or more years, has learned how to research and feel confident about their secondary market purchases. Some autographs are impossible to authenticate and I have a long list of celebrities and artists I flat out stay away from.. no amount of research would convince me.. however there are others which are much easier to authenticate and enough research would make me almost certain they were real or fake (never 100% but close), you admitted to this yourself with Brigitte Bardot.. so what you are saying is a bit hypocritical..

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Permalink Reply by Crabby Appleton on June 20, 2022 at 3:40pm

Not hypocritical. A calculated risk on my part. If you research Bardot, you will see that her signature is remarkably consistent and rarely faked, though I have seen it laughably faked.

She has been a prolific signer through her foundation and her autographs are plentiful and, until recently, reasonably priced, on eBay France.

Bardot is my thing…I would never purchase anyone else. What’s the point? Like big game hunting..the thrill of the hunt and the takedown are inseparable from the autograph.

Then there are those who like to purchase, mount and display trophies hard won by others.

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Permalink Reply by Crabby Appleton on June 20, 2022 at 3:50pm

See all the delusional would be buyers looking for opinions on The Eagles, Stones, Beatles, Bowie, Mickey Mantle, Carrie Fisher…even if you had a thousand dollars, chances are you’re buying a fraud. Why do people even consider such impossible autographs?

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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on June 20, 2022 at 4:18pm

"...even if you had a thousand dollars, chances are you’re buying a fraud..."

Not with Andy Peters and Bowie, or me with Gleason. I recently changed PSA's opinion of what is genuine and what is a fake/secretarial. Half the exemplars on Gleason's PSA Facts Page were removed. With time and observation/experience and research into inks, papers, signatures, photographic prints, etc you can be pretty darn certain.

I'd like to see this faked properly. It was signed April 25th, 1976.