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I'd like forum members' opinions on celebrities who sign autographs for a fee

I have heard that there are celebrities who charge a fee for their autographs. How common is this practice?

Just out of curiosity, I thought I'd ask forum members' their thoughts on such a practice.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on September 25, 2023 at 9:59pm

A lot of celebrities have commercial signings. They may still sign for free in person from time to time, but most of us don’t feel they’re beholdin to us as fans.

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Permalink Reply by 0800Autocollect on October 24, 2023 at 2:26am

If the fans are allowed to sell autogrpahs at inflated prices, then the celebs are as well.

Look at the recent schwarzenegger frenzy on this site with people buying large number of copies. It is no surprise that celebs are looking at that profiteering and thinking they want a slice of the pie.

Matt Cardona (small time wrestler) recently said that he will sign for free if asker can prove they are a fan and I think that is fair enough.

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Permalink Reply by Findbooks on September 26, 2023 at 5:56am

I have never attended one of these conventions where you have to pay the signers for their autographs, and nor would I ever do so.

Usually they are pretty minor celebrities and a lot of them completely unknown (to me) - "4th Startrooper in the elevator scene" etc. I guess that it might be an important source of income for many of them which I would not begrudge - it may the only part they have ever had!

I know of one or two older-times celebs now down on their luck who offer signed stuff for cash online through their own websites and again, I would not begrudge them that income.

I have not heard of major celebrities doing this. That would seem contemptible to me.

If you are buying signed merchandise at a gig you are in effect "paying" for the signature but no-one would surely think that unreasonable.

I have never heard of an author doing it unless it was related to a charity donation.

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Permalink Reply by Rich on September 26, 2023 at 7:19am

Con attendees aren't necessarily always that minor. For instance, New York Comic Con is in a couple weeks and guests who are signing and doing photo ops include Chris Evans, Ewan McGregor, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and Tom Hiddleston.

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Permalink Reply by Findbooks on September 26, 2023 at 7:38am

Wow - a better class of celeb altogether than I am used to seeing on the UK guest lists.

And do these guys charge a fee?

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Permalink Reply by Rich on September 26, 2023 at 9:11am

Yep, they all do. McGregor and Evans in particular are at least a couple hundred. Stallone did NYCC a few years ago and I want to say it was something like $400-500. At least he signed especially nicely.

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Permalink Reply by Findbooks on September 26, 2023 at 11:04am

Holy sh%t!

That is plain greed, i.m.h.o.

Have they ever heard of giving back? I expect they receive huge fees from the organisers for turning up in the first place.

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Permalink Reply by JK on September 26, 2023 at 11:12am

Give back to who? The dealers who would monopolize and profit off of low cost autographs?

I would never pay that kind of money but obviously some will, to make sure they're getting an authentic autograph.

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Permalink Reply by Findbooks on September 26, 2023 at 11:29am

I've never been to such an event so I cannot say with any certainty but I would guess that 90% of the attendees are genuinely star-struck fans, most of whom cannot afford (after the entrance fee) to pay $200 or $500 for an autograph or selfie. Or if they can it might be a once-in-a-lifetime indulgence.

As for the dealers...for someone like Ewan McGregor, if you are willing to pay $200 for his autograph then you are taking a huge business risk there and if you can make a wee profit then good luck to you! I think it a bit unfair to describe them as parasites. It's not the same as waiting outside a restaurant or similar.