Autographed memorabilia is a multi-billion dollar industry around the world, that exists in several categories. Signed entertainment memorabilia, historical memorabilia, sports memorabilia, collectibles memorabilia, and author-signed books are just a few of the biggest genres of autographed memorabilia. So, the question becomes, how do I turn this desire for people to own a “piece” of their favorite celebrity/athlete/author into my own business? Here is a way to turn your business idea into a profitable enterprise.

Overview

Startup costs are basically zero on this, but if you want to think big, you should have a good capital reserve ($5,000-10,000 or more, depending) if you want to invest in some inventory or to pay for a large number of autographs from a high-profile individual. Obviously, the first thing you should do in this area is pick your niche. While you could provide any type of autograph or signature, depending on the client, your customers will gravitate towards you if you have a specialty, or main focus.

Once you identify your main niche, start investigating that area. In several of these industries, there are companies and forces at work to “clean up” their industry and capture more of the profit for the celebrity doing the autograph. Sports memorabilia is probably the biggest and well-known category for autographed items, and therefore, the biggest target for fraudsters. Some surveys acknowledge that up to 90% of signed sports memorabilia is fake, which leads to the need for authentication, which I’ll get to in a minute.

Because of fraud (and in my opinion, to capture more profit) certain manufacturers are offering signed items directly to the public. Upper Deck, for instance, offers their own line of signed sports memorabilia. There are a network of dealers in the Universal Autograph Collector’s Club that certify their signed entertainment merchandise. Most of the time, you will be competing with local stores and online merchants, but finding a manufacturer like Upper Deck gives you an idea of the types of upper limit prices you can charge for certain items.

The manufacturers aren’t the only ones getting into the game, if you will. Many celebrities or talents are participating in or coordinating their own signings, where they collect a fixed price per autograph. Many times, especially in areas like sports or comic books, these signings are associated with conventions in their specialty. In fact, there are now conventions specifically designed just for fans to buy autographs from their favorite TV or movie celebrities from today and yesteryear. Some examples include:

Authentication

If you are getting a celebrity or talent to autograph merchandise directly in front of you, well, then, you know it’s real, right? Unfortunately, your customers aren’t so sure. Because of the immense amount of fraud in this industry, having your signatures authenticated can be almost as important, or even MORE important, than the signature itself, especially for items that have already been signed.

FYI, for historical memorabilia, you will probably hear the word “provenance” more than authentication, but the two are similar. Provenance means you can prove or demonstrate that the item is as old as you say it is and that it was owned or signed by the person in question. Typically, this means that you have a signed statement, copies of records or logs, or some sort of written evidence (perhaps a letter from the estate of this person) that the signed item is genuine.

Nowadays, if you attend a public signing for a celebrity or athlete, the organizer will provide some sort of Certificate of Authenticity, hologram, or other certification. Otherwise, you will need to pay an authentication company per signature to certify whether it is real or not.

For Sports items, the company to contact is called PSA/DNA. You will pay a fee per item, and if there are multiple signatures on the item, you pay an extra fee for each additional signature. The prices vary by person, with a current mid-range ballplayer averaging $20 a signature for authentication, while legends such as Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, or Joe DiMaggio are $75 or higher. You can submit your items through a sports convention, a sports dealer who is an authorized dealer for PSA/DNA, or in limited cases, directly to the company itself. They will provide you with a Letter of Authenticity, and a hologram label (with matching serial number to the letter) to affix to the item or outer casing of the item.

For comic books, the company to contact is called CGC. They have a program called the Signature Series label. If one of their witnesses is present when the items are signed, and you then get the item appraised by CGC, the label will have a special color indicating that the signature on the item was witnessed and authentic. You cannot bring pre-signed items to a CGC witness to be graded/appraised. The witness will take care of presenting the item to the celebrity (or watch you as you speak to the celebrity), submitting the items for grading/appraisal, receiving the items back from appraisal, and sending the item back to you. The fees are negotiable, as it depends on which signatures you want, which comic books you want to get signed, and how many books you plan to submit.

For entertainment celebrity autographs, you can contact a dealer associated with the Professional Autograph Dealers Association to examine and provide authentication for you. In addition, PSA/DNA has branched out to accept both entertainment and historical autographs for authentication as well.

Tips

  1. Do your research – You will need to know what items will get you the highest return for your signature, or have a client list of exactly what requests will pay you the most. For example, if you are getting a signature by Michael Jordan, you would want to invest in an authentic jersey, and if that wasn’t possible, try for something like a basketball or rookie basketball card. Use sites like eBay to see what items sell the most often and for the highest price.
  2. Find out where the talent will be – Yes, there are autograph dealers that send people to every movie screening and awards show, with 8×10 glossy photos and sharpie markers in hand, hoping for that quick autograph as a celebrity walks by. More and more, however, certain celebrities agree to do specific signings at different locations, either for free (to promote themselves or a product) or for money. Use the Internet, check sites like fan forums for that celebrity’s current TV or movie project, or events guides, to know where they will be.
  3. Get to know the star’s management team. This is probably, by far, the biggest tip for success, especially if you want to scale your business. Waiting in line and having access to a star for 1 or 2 signatures helps you get started and maybe generate a few bucks. Getting to know their assistants, agents, and managers, and arranging a private session to get 100 autographs for a fixed price allows you to have instant, salable merchandise to many customers. (One avenue is celebrities who work with a system like IPA Network, www.ipanetwork.com, that coordinate everything for a private signing)
  4. For pre-signed items, invest in authentication services. If you pick up a collection of items that are already signed, it usually pays to invest in getting the signatures authenticated or to find someone to provide you the Certificate of Authenticity. If you’re unsure of whether to invest, take the average item, go to eBay, and check the average price AS IS and with a COA. If the difference is more than the cost of authentication, you know what to do. If there is no difference in price, don’t waste your money. Typically speaking, the bigger the star, the more it’s worth authenticating.
  5. Timing is everything. While some of you may find this obvious, selling signed baseball memorabilia does better during baseball season, than in the off-season. For celebrities, selling an item right before or on the opening of their new movie or TV show season will yield a higher price. Beyond that, however, current events in these people’s lives will affect the pricing. I represented a client who had signed Barry Bonds items and wanted to sell them right away. This was about 2-3 months before Bonds broke the home run record, and while I pleaded with my client to wait a while, she said no, and I sold the merchandise. After Bonds hit his 73rd homer in one season, I checked the prices again, and they saw a rise anywhere from 50-100% and beyond. If a celebrity may win their first Oscar, hold off. And yes, any time a celebrity passes away, the value of signed merchandise shoots up. If they have an enduring legacy, you can sell at any time. If the celebrity is more of a fad or shooting star, sell your stuff immediately!

The Bottom Line

Once you pick your niche, make your connections, and build up your inventory, you need to start finding your customers and reselling this merchandise. While there is a lot of competition on eBay, selling some of your items on the world’s largest auction site will help you get started. Having your own web site, setting up at targeted conventions, and making alliances with other organizations can help you grow your business. (For example, if you can get signed items from the cast of Lost, set up an agreement to resell these items through Lost fan clubs or fan blogs.) As you build up contacts and experience, you will hopefully see new opportunities and stay up to date on the wants and desires of your customers. LiveAutographs.com, for instance, offers personalized video greetings from your favorite celebrity. Who knows, maybe you’ll change the industry like LiveAutographs.com!