Autograph fees, are they too high?

Toro

What are your thoughts on this? I just saw a flyer for the Sun Times show in Illiinois and was a bit surprised at the fees. I'm no promoter and I understand the cost to get these athletes out there but are fees getting out of hand? My main question is, are the promoters being greedy or are the athletes?

Sun Times

MantleMarisFordBerra

The market will determine if the prices are too high or not.

EchoCanyon

I think it's funny that under Pedro Martinez it says: Mr. Martinez will not sign any Don Zimmer related products.

Mickey71

Prices have been out of whack for years. Yoiu can buy them on ebay for about half the price and they're PSA authenticated.

orioles93

I dont know why people pay so much to go to signings. The only time i do signings is at the Orioles fan fest and its only $15 per table of players. Usually about 3 or 4 per table, and they mix in old players with the new. PEople must not realize they can get them cheaper elsewhere.

JustinsShoebox

<< <i>Prices have been out of whack for years. Yoiu can buy them on ebay for about half the price and they're PSA authenticated. >>



Totally agree. Last month Bob Gibson was doing a signing at a local show and I was tempted to go get his auto in person. I think he was charging 69.00 and I was wanting to get a ball autographed. Well...balls on ebay were going for 30-50.00 at the time. After looking on e-bay, and after thinking about the time standing in line, it just did not make financial sense.

Justin

halosfan

Booooooo still no dr j

BenOutbid

Something seems to be upside down when Jermaine Dye charges essentially the same price or higher than five HOFers. But then again, bless his heart if he has anyone in line.

VitoCo1972

I'm of the opinion that the only reason to pay show prices these days is for multi-pieces that can't be bought elsewhere and (for me at least) set cards that people don't ever get signed otherwise - and are thus not available on eBay. Why anyone would pay the show price for a single signed baseball is beyond me. It'd be like paying the sticker price on a car or High Beckett for a raw card.

mtcards

The only reason to justify paying those high prices is twofold

(1) To get a "meeting", albeit a brief one, with the player in question

(2) To get an oddball or personal item signed which is not readily available.

To me, getting an 8x10 or something of the like signed and paying that price is ridiculous, especially as has been mentioned, you can PSA certifed autos of the same people for half what they charge.

A good example is the upcoming Star Trek convention in Nashville. I am going and have pre bought tickets for all the major stars autos. Every one of them will be signing a custom made plaque that I have created for them to sign....an original item, something that cannot be bought elsewhere

cwazzy

<< <i>

<< <i>Prices have been out of whack for years. Yoiu can buy them on ebay for about half the price and they're PSA authenticated. >>



Totally agree. Last month Bob Gibson was doing a signing at a local show and I was tempted to go get his auto in person. I think he was charging 69.00 and I was wanting to get a ball autographed. Well...balls on ebay were going for 30-50.00 at the time. After looking on e-bay, and after thinking about the time standing in line, it just did not make financial sense.

Justin >>



$69 for Gibson seems VERY reasonable considering what most players charge. You said his SSB can go for $50 you're only talking $19 more than that to meet the guy and possibly shake his hand. I would do that in a heart beat.

alifaxwa2

<< <i>(1) To get a "meeting", albeit a brief one, with the player in question

(2) To get an oddball or personal item signed which is not readily available.

To me, getting an 8x10 or something of the like signed and paying that price is ridiculous, especially as has been mentioned, you can PSA certifed autos of the same people for half what they charge.
>>



Perfectly sums up why I do it.

jswieton

<< <i>Something seems to be upside down when Jermaine Dye charges essentially the same price or higher than five HOFers. But then again, bless his heart if he has anyone in line. >>



I need Jermaine Dye on 2005 WS project. I am considering paying his ridiculous fee because I have no other way of getting his autograph. Mounted Memories knows that a lot of local collectors need Dye on their WS projects since he has only done 1 signing since they won the WS.

fur72

I don't think those prices for the Baseball players are too far out of whack with the exception of Pedro. NFL and NBA guys always charge a premium.

To add to that I have seen many a star sitting at a table with no one in line beating down the door for an autograph (Isiah Thomas comes to mind), not sure who determines the price point.

Also don't expect anything but a signature. There's a good chance you wont get a hello out of the person (Cough Rodman!)

wallst32

<< <i> My main question is, are the promoters being greedy or are the athletes? >>



Athletes and celebrities typically have an appearance fee that they charge, which directly relates to the price the promoter must charge per signature. So if you consider this greed, it would be coming from the player's side. Most promoters break even on the appearance fee and autograph fees. They make their money selling related memorabillia such as photos, balls, shirts, ect that people buy to get signed.

You rarely see the megastars have public appearances because their fees are too high. The promoter would need to charge hundreds per signature to break even, and at that price point turnout you would expect low turnout.

JMDVM

<< <i>

<< <i> My main question is, are the promoters being greedy or are the athletes? >>



Athletes and celebrities typically have an appearance fee that they charge, which directly relates to the price the promoter must charge per signature. So if you consider this greed, it would be coming from the player's side. Most promoters break even on the appearance fee and autograph fees. They make their money selling related memorabillia such as photos, balls, shirts, ect that people buy to get signed.

You rarely see the megastars have public appearances because their fees are too high. The promoter would need to charge hundreds per signature to break even, and at that price point turnout you would expect low turnout. >>



All true, but the promoters are milking it too. I sell photos at several area shows and so I have opportunities for back room deals. Sometimes my price and the public price can be substantial, especially on the lesser stars.

cubfan89

The prices are unreal, but people keep paying them with glee.

GR

I try and get full name inscriptions on occasion just to flavor up my future return when theres something else i want to buy, otherwise i just do ebay

stown

The upcoming Houston TriStar show is a tad more reasonable than before:

Auto Fees

I cannot recall how much the last show was but the fees were so astronomical that I didn't even bother to attend. True story.

fiveniner

Autos have gotten out of hand in most cases due in part that both of the signers fee to appear and the also promoter greed.

NVbaseball

<< <i> I'm no promoter and I understand the cost to get these athletes out there but are fees getting out of hand? My main question is, are the promoters being greedy or are the athletes? >>



The answer to both your first question and your main question is No

fmaz

I think, like anything else, things are worth exactly what people are willing to pay for it.

So if these prices are working... they'll do nothing but go up, sadly.

My son very much wanted to go to the special show at Citi Field earlier this spring... but he wanted to MEET the players. I mean, yes, getting autographs would be cool, but he'd have been thrilled if he could just have met them and taken a picture. Heck, I wanted to shake Tom Seaver's hand too. That would have been amazing. But we weren't going to spend hundreds upon hundreds of dollars for that.

But we did consider it. :-)

bking

<< <i>

<< <i> I'm no promoter and I understand the cost to get these athletes out there but are fees getting out of hand? My main question is, are the promoters being greedy or are the athletes? >>



The answer to both your first question and your main question is No >>



If anyone is really to blame, and I don't think blame is the right word, it's the autograph speculators. When players/promoters know that a decent percentage of people are buying just to sell, they aren't inclined to give their "product" away.