Hi Guys, i'm new to this forum and really a beginner collector, recently I've been looking for an authentic signed piece by the band Coldplay to frame with a Vinyl.

Originally, https://autographstore.com/ caught my eye, they were selling a signed piece by all 4 members of the band for $25! I thought I was getting a great deal, but to make sure I sent a photo of it off to AFTAL in the UK. The evaluation of the piece came back as "Likely not genuine" and one experienced and accredited independent AFTAL dealer wasn't surprised... in his own words he said "There are quite a few authentication companies in the States, but $25 for a group signed Coldplay i'm not surprised it failed authentication, something like that would cost at least £150-£300, and they're a hard band when it comes to signing autographs, I've had a few of Chris Martins in my time but haven't managed to get the full complete band in many many years."

So my mind was made up, id gotten a fake... Luckily I managed to find another independent autograph dealer in the UK with 40 years of experience in the business, AFTAL authorised this time (phew) who had a signed piece from the band that he'd obtained at the bands promotional signing for their Viva La Vida album, the print is a Parlophone print (their record company) and while Chris Martins signature is a little faded i'd rather have something that is generally regarded as the real deal for a higher price than something that i'm pretty certain is a fake. Please also note that the Bands Signatures have changed over time, this one is from 2009 and the other one was supposedly from 2017...

We managed to meet in the middle at £150 and all is good, but i've learned a lot about the fraudulence that takes place in the autograph business over the last few days...

My main question about my experience here is has anyone on the forum had experience with https://autographstore.com/. I've seen a lot of experienced collectors on this site say things like "they wouldnt touch them with a barge pole" etc, not going to lie, their weekly auctions with the likes of MJ and David Bowie signatures going for only $100 a pop does look slightly off, also as soon as i'd won the assumed fake Coldplay photograph from them, they listed another one straight up on that night!

Thank you for reading if you did, I'd appreciate opinions of anyone but I know there are some very experienced collectors on here, so any advice for a beginner to help me stop having issues like this again would be great!

Have a nice day everyone!