AutographLive will be buggy tonight while we test code we're developing for it. Everything should work fine within the next 3-5 hours.

(I wrote this at 7 PM PST.)

Autograph auction sites - how do they get away with it?

I am about as green as a person can be when it comes to collecting autographs. I have several autographs however, most have come getting the signature in person, My dad used to work heavily in Branson, MO and ordering the autograph from the star's website. Or when I was fortunate enough to be doing security I got some signed game balls from the St. Louis Cardinals team, including La Russa.

I have a passion for authentic autographs, as most of you probably do. I have came across many online auctions offering autographed 8x10 photos, guitar, pick guards, movie posters, etc. all for a pretty unreal, low price at [autographstore.com]

As UNexperienced as I am, I know some of the autographs must be fake especially since they offer several of the same person (Clinton, Nine Inch Nails, Roy Rogers, Obama, etc). I have read about autopen, ghost and stamp autographs but honestly I still really dont know how to tell if the signature is authentic or not. I have browsed through this site and read many blogs of folks asking about a signature is good or bad. My question is how do you know - really if it is or is not a good one.

One thing that I have noticed about the site [autographstore.com] is, they usually sale the same autograph and picture. They may skip a week or 3 in between but you can bet your suit that if you miss that "awesome" Van Halen autograph it will be for sale again in a few weeks. Do these people some how by a template or something for these stars? I am curious as to how they pull this off AND continually get away with it.

What are some sites and/or people to positively stay away from?

Thanks all for your help and I look forward to your feedback.

Tags: autographs, forgeries

0 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by CJCollector on March 8, 2017 at 5:21pm

Because the only people who care are us true autograph collectors.

Sellers of forgeries are very well aware that 70% of the people who buy autographs do not know autographs, and unfortunately the majority of that 70% are impulse buyers who believe that a piece-of-paper makes an autograph authentic.

And many of those sites employ Forensic phonies.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on March 8, 2017 at 5:36pm

Several good points. As for auction houses, generically speaking of course, the answer would be, in my opinion, smoke, mirrors and very small print. Some houses will state, deep in the terms, that the description may be inaccurate, the info incorrect, the photos juiced to enhance the sale and folks still bid, buy and pay premiums to do so. This applies to almost any collectible I can think of that can be auctioned.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ian Baldock on March 8, 2017 at 5:44pm

Avoid the site you mentioned! The answer to knowing a graph is practice. Most people comment on the signatures they know,not everybody knows all the different genres (sports,music.entertainment,historical etc.). The ones that do are more advanced and look at slant,speed of sig,pen pressure,size of loops spacing,street graps compared to sit down and many other things! You've already made a good decision by coming here and reading back through the archives.Welcome!