After procrastinating for a year on getting Miggy’s signature, I finally got it done. Another awesome addition to the rookie case. Thanks, Matt!
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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Overall rating: 4.9 / 5 from 4968 reviews.
Thanks to Power Sports Memorabilia and to Dennis Rodman for the cool auto....
The autographs turned out better than I could have imagined. Was a pleasant experience from sending to receiving back the items. You have a customer for life.
Nice big autograph!
Great autograph on this giant 2XL jersey
Power Sports was very helpful. They will answer any questions throughout the process of getting your Autograph. And they packed very well when they ship it back to you.
Another great looking signature added to my team signed helmet. It is great to get notifications throughout the process and using UPS is great to protect my items.
Nice autograph signed by former NY Mets great. Thanks Matt Powers and his team for this signing event.
Amazing customer service
Very straight forward process and the item lived up to expectations!
I’ve been holding on to this hat forever!! Finally got the opportunity to get it signed NBA legend Alex English.. Courtesy of Powers Sports!
Everything went smooth from ordering the autograph to receiving my item promptly and Natalie was very helpful and responsive with the questions I had.
Again, PSM did a great job!
Nice autograph by Roger Clemens himself. Thank you Matt Powers and his team for this signing event.
Nice autograph by Cal Ripken Jr. Thank you Matt Powers and his team for this signing event.
Nice autograph. Thank you Matt Powers and his team for this signing event.
Another perfect autograph on my 3000 hit baseball. Always a great experience! Thanks again.
I've had this card since the age of 12. Never had the opportunity until now to get his RC signed. Thanks Matt for making this happen!!
Once again, Matt and his team delivered a smooth, professional experience in obtaining a Dustin Pedroia autograph (with authentication) to a book already containing a number of Red Sox greats’ signatures. I recommend Powers Spirts Memorabilia highly.
Great experience. Card was just as described. Excited to have this added to the collection.
Frank Thomas 1990 Topps Signed Baseball Rookie Card #414B Auto Graded Beckett 10
The COA was placed exactly where I wanted it and it turned out great. Always an easy experience.
An excellent experience with the team. The ball turned out perfectly. Easy to ship the ball in and it returned after signing without an issue.
Great place to do business with. Thank you!
Fernando Tatis Jr 2019 Topps Baseball Rookie Card RC #410 Graded PSA 9 MINT
😍 such a nice autograph! Thank you!
Thank you for another awesome autograph!
Mr. Powers delivered on my request for this Cal Ripken jr. autograph. It was a nice size clean and perfect signature better than I expected. Mr. Powers team is quick to respond with any concerns you may have and keeps you posted on your item. I will absolutely be getting more signatures through them to finish my collection. I highly recommend Powers Sports to anyone that has any doubts. I use to do send ins with Steiner sports until he sold, to me Powers picked up where they left off and I couldnt be happier. Thank you
Great experience as usual! I’ll definitely be getting more autographs in the future!!
As good as it gets
Smooth transaction
The process was smooth and easy as always.
Awesome!
The color match ink auto looks great! Thanks!
A fantastic addition to the set. Bosh's autograph really pops on this one. Thanks!
This might be the only autograph of this card that has his whole auto on it. Great addition to the collection!
The COA wasn't close to where I asked for it to be placed. I'm not sure how this was missed but it was a bummer when I saw that.
This came back amazing! The autograph was very clean! Thanks!
This completes my set of sketch cards. It's been fun doing this.
This was just the COA. Thanks!
It's awesome to get this one back! Another added to the Collection.
Great job by Powers Sports once again! They were able to secure a great signature from Andy Reid on my trading card, using the exact type pen and the exact location that I requested. Accuracy and quality are their top priority!
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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.