Nice to have a trading card signed by Wade Boggs in his Yankees uniform. Thanks Matt Powers and his team for this signing event.
Why Do AUTOGRAPHS Cost So Much? Are Dealers GREEDY?
The price to get an autograph, whether that be helmets, jerseys, bats, baseballs, or whatever else have you, has been climbing and climbing for some time now, and a lot of collectors and hobbyists are really starting to take notice. There are athletes these days who's autograph will cost you a couple hundred dollars now even though they don't have any big titles under their belt, when 10 or 20 years ago you would have only paid $10 or $20. Why have these huge price changes been happening? Are dealers just getting greedy? The latter question is possible, but probably not the whole story.
#1 - Why are autographs so expensive?
One reason autograph prices have been increasing is mainly due to competition to secure autograph deals with athletes.
If an athlete's autograph is in high demand, many dealers will compete to secure that autograph contract and raise their offers in hopes of landing the deal.
#2 - Incentives
This might be surprising or new information to some people, but many pro players will put stipulations in their contracts that essentially say "...if I win a title or an MVP award, my autograph is immediately worth more money..." Take Bryce Harper for example, he's been having a solid season so far, so if he were to win a World Series MVP, you can feel pretty sure that you would see some price increases happen on his items. Obviously, the one who ultimately pays for this increase is the final customer.
#3 - Exclusive deals
The industry didn't always necessarily work this way, but in the last five or six years we've been seeing this happen more and more with players, signing athletes to exclusive long-term contracts. For instance, many athletes are under exclusive contracts with companies such as Fanatics, meaning any autograph signing the athlete does is controlled and handled by them.
This leads to increased prices for consumers because the company who has the exclusive deal now controls the market on that player. Raising or lowering the price as needed.
Having that kind of control over an athlete often seems to come at the expense of the hobbyists. Companies need to recoup their investment as quick as possible and often charge more for a player's autograph than if they didn't have an exclusive deal.
#4 - Athlete salaries grossly tower signing profits
This particular point has been brought up before. Athletes these days are paid millions of dollars to play. For many people, numbers like those are basically unthinkable. With that in mind, why would athletes want to spend 2-3 hours of their day to sign a bunch of items, and ultimately only get a couple thousand dollars? Of course, $5,000 or $10,000 is a lot of money to most people, but to an athlete making 10 million a year it's understandably chump change in a lot of ways.
Why do the athletes end up getting so little from signings? Well, a lot of things go into a signing. First off, that money is considered income, so they get taxed, and because they make millions in a year, they get taxed pretty heavily. Plus, most athletes have agents, and all those guys get to take a cut as well.
#5 - Expectations
Some of the price increases are due to forecasting a player's potential. Often times, dealers will sign a player who maybe has the potential to become an all-star or MVP, and price their autograph accordingly, even though they have never won that award or made an all-star team.
Also, many of these younger players haven't signed autographs before. It can be challenging to find a price point that works for everyone.
#6 - Travel and logistics of signings
With the cost of gas and air travel going up and up, the cost to get to and from signings has become astronomical lately. Adding up the cost of a plane ticket, hotel, food, and shipping product back and forth to signing, you can see how costs can add up quickly. All those costs get factored in to the final autograph price.
#7 - Overhead and payroll
This easily piggybacks on the last point, but memorabilia businesses are just like all other industries. They have rent, insurance, payroll, that all factor in to the final autograph price.
Payroll can really add up, especially if the autograph signing is a large one that needs to have 2-3 people travel to it.
The finale, are dealers greedy?
The quick answer to this is yes and no. You have to remember, dealers are providing a service and a product, and ultimately it is the customer's option to take part.
As the consumer, you don't have to purchase the autograph If you don't like the price, ignore it for you. It sounds a little cheesy to say, but as the consumer you do have a lot of the power because if people aren't buying, the dealer is going to react based on that behavior. When consumers and hobbyists stop buying, it let's the dealer know that the prices they are charging are too expensive, and that's when you see prices come down.
There are instances where maybe the dealer is just trying to get a little bit more off the top than usual. There have definitely been instances where, for example, an autograph is typically sold for $200 by everyone around, and then you'll see that one dealer who is selling it for double. Same price still being paid to the athlete, they just decided that the autograph should be $400.
From my experience though, majority of dealers just want to make a living, and help people get the items they are looking for.
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Nice to have my Rookie Card signed by Manny Ramirez himself. Thanks Matt Powers and his team for this signing event.
Nice to have an autograph from Dr. J himself. Thanks Matt Powers and his team for this signing event.
Another exceptional autograph experience with Powers! Thanks again!
Great experience once again! From start to finish Powers Sports Memorabilia hit it out of the park on my Ricky Williams Newpapers.
Finally caught the ghost!!!
Great to add another one to the 70 Topps set. Fantastic service!
All hail the Chief!!! Robert Parrish .. 4x NBA champion inscription.. Double 00..
I waited a long time for this one especially being a huge fan of the Showtime era Lakers. Kevin Mchale was a thorn in my side but I have the utmost respect for him and the Celtics.. A great addition to my growing collection..
The Hall of Fame ticket!! Earl Campbell thanks to the team at PSM!! Keep up the good work!!
My new favorite Funko!! #1 … Warren Moon
Nice autograph
The autograph looks great and full
Signature smaller than I requested...
Came out great!
Came out good
PSM always does an excellent job. They took care of my Dream rookie card. I like the fact that when I send my items into PSM I never have to worry about them.
The CJ auto hits for me. Upper Deck, sharp placement, and honestly, it makes my collection much better. Greatly appreciate the auto.
AWESOME
So awesome
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Great piece
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Smooth transaction
AWESOME
Beautiful piece of memorabilia!!!
To finally get one of my baseball idols is an absolute dream come true but to get this card with an on card auto really made it all worth the wait! Thank you!!
Excellent service with this signing. Thank you!
Autograph came out great!
Awesome experience as always, I’d highly recommend Powers to anyone looking to expand their sports memorabilia collection!
Once again, Powers Sports came through big time! I had been waiting for many, many years to have this mini helmet signed by Carson Palmer. With special thanks to Natalie and Mathew, they were able to coordinate this endeavor exactly as I wanted it. Excellent autograph, perfectly positioned, using the exact paint pen requested and the C.O.A. sticker positioned right where I wanted it. Thank you folks so very much!
Matt and his team did a great job as usual. I highly recommend power’s!
Always great dealing with Powers. Got to watch Earl Singing on their website. Couldn't be happier with the helmet and the signature. Another perfect purchase. Thanks Powers crew!
I submitted 2 cards for signing by Dennis Rodman and came back very nice but one of the cards corner was damaged when returned back. Thank you Matt Powers and his team for this signing event.
I submitted 2 cards for signing by Hakeem Olajuwon & came back very nice. Thank you Matt Powers and his team for this signing event.
Power Sports Memorabilia is the best and always my "go to" autograph company to deal with. They are so accommodating and always get what you want and how you want it !!!! A+ on ALL counts !!!
I wasn't at the convention to be there for his signing. However, he has a killer autograph very happy with this autograph
Another great jersey signing!
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Charles Fracchia
May 02, 2023
Great podcast!! ThIs is a complicated issue. You did well with this issue. It does depend on who’s autograph you want.