Insane signings prices at the Sun Times show

[isaac2004]

I just can't justify some of the signing prices listed out on the site, $200 for Strasburg!!!

http://www.mountedmemoriesshows.com/...&criteria=1294

Is this standard for this show, or are they high to more experienced collectors.

[Runscott]

Only $59 for a Tim McCarver!

[isaac2004]

Originally Posted by Runscott

Only $59 for a Tim McCarver!

Silly, baseballs are $20 on ebay with PSA. Do I want to pay an extra $40 to watch him sign it... I think not

[pclpads]

Originally Posted by Runscott

Only $59 for a Tim McCarver!

At that price, I'll take 2 dozen!

[packs]

I'd pay Tim McCarver $59 to sit out the next few innings. In my view, that's a heck of a deal.

[Kzoo]

At least Rickey Henderson is still only charging the price of 1 autograph ticket to sign game used items. He was charging a 2 ticket price up until 2 years ago. What a deal at $300 to sign a bat, instead of $600. Rickey realized that Rickey was asking way too much, I guess.

[JimStinson]

Proves.................for sure "THERE IS AN ASS FOR EVERY SEAT"

[Big Ben]

Originally Posted by Runscott

Only $59 for a Tim McCarver!

You need to purchase the $59 photo op for the complete McCarver autograph experience.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by Big Ben

You need to purchase the $59 photo op for the complete McCarver autograph experience.

Haha.

Actually, having such a photo would be worth $59 - just to send copies to all my friends who know my thoughts about McCarver's blather in the broadcast booth (assuming I could get away with the rabbit ears behind his head).

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by Runscott

Haha.

Actually, having such a photo would be worth $59 - just to send copies to all my friends who know my thoughts about McCarver's blather in the broadcast booth (assuming I could get away with the rabbit ears behind his head).

I'll sign anything for $59 as long as I don't have meet Tim McCarver.

[GrayGhost]

PSA/DNA will be offering a flat rate of $75.00 to authenitcate one item signed by all of the 1980 Hockey Players.
Please note all aoutgraphs need to be on one item, after you have your item authenticated in the autograph area you can take your item to the
PSA booth and get a letter of authenticity. This ticket is only available through Mounted Memories either pre-order or at the ticket
counter at the show.

this is RIDICULOUS. you need to want this if you sign at show?

And why won't Jim Craig signed a photo w Vlad Tretiak in it? the prices are asinine. If people go there and buy even a few signatures, there'll be nothing left for the dealers, at least public money

[Mr. Zipper]

Originally Posted by GrayGhost

PSA/DNA will be offering a flat rate of $75.00 to authenitcate one item signed by all of the 1980 Hockey Players.
Please note all aoutgraphs need to be on one item, after you have your item authenticated in the autograph area you can take your item to the
PSA booth and get a letter of authenticity. This ticket is only available through Mounted Memories either pre-order or at the ticket
counter at the show.

this is RIDICULOUS. you need to want this if you sign at show?

Scott, I certainly understand the point and in a perfect world who could argue it?

But, if you were going to drop $500 or so on a group signed item, wouldn't you want to protect its resale value to some degree? Certainly you don't need PSA for your enjoyment and validation, but when the day comes to sell it, chances are you'll take a bath on it if you try to sell yourself with no independent authentication. Love it or hate it, that's the reality of the market.

I think about the thousands and thousands I dropped on show signings back in the 90s. I KNOW all the stuff is good. But if I want to turn it, I'll get pennies on the dollar based on MY word alone. I wish there was some way I could have protected the investment back then for as little as $7 a signature.

[isaac2004]

Originally Posted by Mr. Zipper

Scott, I certainly understand the point and in a perfect world who could argue it?

But, if you were going to drop $500 or so on a group signed item, wouldn't you want to protect its resale value to some degree? Certainly you don't need PSA for your enjoyment and validation, but when the day comes to sell it, chances are you'll take a bath on it if you try to sell yourself with no independent authentication. Love it or hate it, that's the reality of the market.

I think about the thousands and thousands I dropped on show signings back in the 90s. I KNOW all the stuff is good. But if I want to turn it, I'll get pennies on the dollar based on MY word alone. I wish there was some way I could have protected the investment back then for as little as $7 a signature.

I know a guy who took photos of himself holding the signed item in front of the player, before and after. But that still doesnt do it for some people, but before holos, thats the best you can do.

[Gary Dunaier]

Originally Posted by isaac2004

I know a guy who took photos of himself holding the signed item in front of the player, before and after. But that still doesnt do it for some people, but before holos, thats the best you can do.

It works better if you can get a shot of the individual actually signing the item. For example - all apologies for this not being a sports example - if I ever wanted to sell this 3x5 card signed and sketched by legendary cartoonist Al Jaffee of Mad Magazine "Fold-In" fame...



I can offer as proof of its authenticity this photo of Mr. Jaffee signing it...



...AND this zoom-lens close-up of the sketch in the process of being created!



So who needs third-party authentication when you have photo proof?

(NOTE: The Al Jaffee card shown in this post is not for sale, and never will be. All references to any contemplation about future sale is for discussion purposes only. )

[travrosty]

Originally Posted by Mr. Zipper

Scott, I certainly understand the point and in a perfect world who could argue it?

But, if you were going to drop $500 or so on a group signed item, wouldn't you want to protect its resale value to some degree? Certainly you don't need PSA for your enjoyment and validation, but when the day comes to sell it, chances are you'll take a bath on it if you try to sell yourself with no independent authentication. Love it or hate it, that's the reality of the market.

I think about the thousands and thousands I dropped on show signings back in the 90s. I KNOW all the stuff is good. But if I want to turn it, I'll get pennies on the dollar based on MY word alone. I wish there was some way I could have protected the investment back then for as little as $7 a signature.

thats a bunch of baloney, we sell lots of boxing on our word and get the same as if we had a psa or jsa cert, and the cert cost money out of our pocket so we would make less. i bought an early muhammad ali cut for a good deal and ended up losing money because i dropped 120 to get a james spence LOL that killed my profit margin when i could have sold the thing for the same price and kept the 120 in my pocket. dont believe the baloney that you need a psa or jsa cert to get the big bucks. the real collectors can tell its real and will pay for quality, they dont need a psa or jsa crutch.

[isaac2004]

Originally Posted by travrosty

thats a bunch of baloney, we sell lots of boxing on our word and get the same as if we had a psa or jsa cert, and the cert cost money out of our pocket so we would make less. i bought an early muhammad ali cut for a good deal and ended up losing money because i dropped 120 to get a james spence LOL that killed my profit margin when i could have sold the thing for the same price and kept the 120 in my pocket. dont believe the baloney that you need a psa or jsa cert to get the big bucks. the real collectors can tell its real and will pay for quality, they dont need a psa or jsa crutch.

This is a post about crazy prices for autographs, not a thread on how much TPAs suck in some peoples eyes.

[cubsfan-budman]

he's just saying that you dont *need* to have something authenticated to ensure good resale.

you can save the money you would have spent on authentication.

[Mr. Zipper]

Originally Posted by travrosty

thats a bunch of baloney, we sell lots of boxing on our word and get the same as if we had a psa or jsa cert, and the cert cost money out of our pocket so we would make less. i bought an early muhammad ali cut for a good deal and ended up losing money because i dropped 120 to get a james spence LOL that killed my profit margin when i could have sold the thing for the same price and kept the 120 in my pocket.

So you do make money buying and selling autographs?

In this post, you state, " i am not an authenticator, a dealer, and i haven't made ten cents in the hobby..."
http://www.net54baseball.com/showpos...9&postcount=61

And in this post, you state, "I am very experienced in boxing autographs, that makes me a pro in that sense of the word. I haven't made it my profession that i make a living or part of a living off of..."
http://www.net54baseball.com/showpos...5&postcount=89

Which is it?

Your factual inconsistencies aside, the fact remains that the average collector looking to sell will generally obtain higher prices for his material if it is authenticated by one of the accepted third party authenticators. Certainly there are exceptions such as Richard Simon, Jim Stinson and some others, but for an otherwise unknown collector selling his wares, the general rule applies. If you are unwilling to accept this reality and prefer to live in a world as you WISH it was, so be it.

[mighty bombjack]

Originally Posted by travrosty

thats a bunch of baloney, we sell lots of boxing on our word and get the same as if we had a psa or jsa cert, and the cert cost money out of our pocket so we would make less. i bought an early muhammad ali cut for a good deal and ended up losing money because i dropped 120 to get a james spence LOL that killed my profit margin when i could have sold the thing for the same price and kept the 120 in my pocket. dont believe the baloney that you need a psa or jsa cert to get the big bucks. the real collectors can tell its real and will pay for quality, they dont need a psa or jsa crutch.

We seem to be talking baseball here. You have convinced me that boxing is a different beast, one that TPAs are worthless on, but that is because I don't give a crap about boxing and haven't done any reading about beyond this board.

In baseball, those TPAs make a resale difference. I've seen it. I don't like it, but I've seen it.

[cottnat]

Back to the original topic, I agree these prices are absolutely nuts, especially for guys that really haven't accomplished much yet in the grand scheme of things. The value of prospect autographs/cards makes no sense to me. I mean, how many HOF pitchers are charging $200 for an auto? Even if Strasburg does great the rest of the way, he will have signed enough autographs to likely be in the $80-$90 range at the best and it wouldn't even have HOF inscription.

I guess I can't quite see the draw to seeing a guy sign it for you either. Granted there are a few guys that are a treat to be around. Johnny Bench was in a good mood when he was up here in MN for a show and Harmon Killebrew always made you feel like you were his grandson but most guys make the whole process very transactional. Pete Rose for example appeared to be pretty hung over and crotchety, even to a kid in front of me (that paid for an autograph). The point is, there are only a few guys I think I would be pretty tempted to go get in person (paying the inflated price) to see them and my guess is I would walk away disappointed and with a lighter wallet.

[Mr. Zipper]

It seems more and more the in-person signings are priced for "the experience" or if you need the person on a group item. It seems that for almost any regular on the show circuit, the secondary market pricing is much less on standard items such as signed balls or photos.

[isaac2004]

Originally Posted by Mr. Zipper

It seems more and more the in-person signings are priced for "the experience" or if you need the person on a group item. It seems that for almost any regular on the show circuit, the secondary market pricing is much less on standard items such as signed balls or photos.

I get that, but the prices are still way too high, your pretty much paying this premium because there is far more overhead in an athlete signing at these shows. How much of that $59 does Tim McCarver get? $20? Flat fee?

[Mr. Zipper]

Originally Posted by isaac2004

I just can't justify some of the signing prices listed out on the site, $200 for Strasburg!!!

http://www.mountedmemoriesshows.com/...&criteria=1294

Is this standard for this show, or are they high to more experienced collectors.

Just checked out the pricing...

What is most disturbing to me is that there is now a hefty fee for "photo op" for almost all guests. Does this mean you have to pay to take a photo with your own camera or is "photo op" strictly if they take a photo for you? Will guests pose for free if you are taking a pic or is that now forbidden? It used to be a photo was part of the deal and included in the price of the autograph ticket.

[HOF Auto Rookies]

Amazing how Strasburg charges more than a first ballot HOF'er, Chipper, and pretty much everyone else

[D. Bergin]

Strasburg charges so much because they're going to have to shut him down after about 160 signatures.

[cubsfan-budman]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

Strasburg charges so much because they're going to have to shut him down after about 160 signatures.

oh no he di-int!

[isaac2004]

Originally Posted by d. Bergin

strasburg charges so much because they're going to have to shut him down after about 160 signatures.

booooooooooooooooooyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[Big Dave]

Very simple solution for this kind of stuff......don't participate......No demand.....prices drop.

[RichardSimon]

$300 for Shaq!!!
I can see Bruce Springsteen three times for that much money and get 11 hours of great music. Of course that has no resale value, but how much resale value does a Shaq autograph have after you paid $300 for it?
Who the hell there cares about the future of the hobby? The kids, the lower budget collector. That price list is insane.

[Gary Dunaier]

Originally Posted by Mr. Zipper

What is most disturbing to me is that there is now a hefty fee for "photo op" for almost all guests. Does this mean you have to pay to take a photo with your own camera or is "photo op" strictly if they take a photo for you?

I believe it's their camera, and you receive a printout. There's an additional fee if you want an extra print, and there's an additional fee if you want a digital copy of the image. Don't know how these promoters work, but that's how it worked with the celebrity photo op booth at the New York Comic Con this year.

I think the idea of paying to have your picture taken with someone is silly - and I've actually done it! I paid $40 to have my photo taken with Stan Lee (of Marvel Comics fame) at the NYCC, and I was surprised to find that I did NOT regret the experience, and I did NOT have buyer's remorse. Maybe it's because the photo came out good, maybe it's because I may not have many more opportunities to see him in person in the future (Stan Lee will turn 90 next month, and he lives in California so I'm sure there will come a time where his doctors will tell him to reduce, if not eliminate, travel - and Stan Lee has a lucrative lifetime contract with Marvel Comics, so he doesn't need the money), who knows - but I'm glad I did it.

It also helps that I knew ahead of time, thanks to a video I saw on the Internet, that celebrity photo ops are generally in-and-out, in-and-out, in-and-out with little opportunity to say anything other than "hello" to the celebrity.

But yeah, even though I'm glad I did it I agree that the concept of paying a hefty fee for a photo op is disturbing. What's next - an extra fee to put your arm around the guy? An extra fee to be photographed in a handshake pose? An extra fee for a pose that has you and the athlete holding a prized piece of memorabilia? Hoo boy!