How to SUBMIT your items CORRECTLY to be AUTOGRAPHED at next SIGNING!

So autograph signings are ones that we do a ton of, probably 40 to 50 a year, so I see a lot of customer items being sent in to me and most of them are done and labeled incorrectly. Don't worry I always double-check your work, but I want to make sure it's a little bit easier for you to understand exactly what the requirements are so you make sure that your item is done perfectly, you get it back the exact way that you want it done, and there's no confusion on exactly how you want your item to be signed by the athlete. So let's go through some steps real quickly to make sure that that happens for you.

Number one, you want to clearly mark your item with either painters tape or a post-it note, with instructions for the athlete. Dummy proof it. Just imagine somebody's seeing your item for the first time, which an athlete is, what would you want to tell them about your item to make sure that it's gonna be done correctly? So you want to label the item where you want the athlete to sign. Draw some arrows “hey sign here”. You also want to list what kind of pen color you want. If you're gonna have any inscriptions on there. So if you want something like their Hall of Fame year, you got to write that on there and draw arrows exactly where you want that to be. You also want to make sure that you label where you want the authenticity Holograms to go, if you want those on there, and then I would also make sure that you have something on your item that says your name. I would also put my name on there, so Powers, and then also put your order number on there too. That way we make sure that items sticks with you, it's your item, there's no confusion about it, and that just makes sure that we know exactly whose is what.

So let's talk about this marking of these items here. First off let's go through a full sized helmet, which is typically a very popular item that people send in. This one here is for the upcoming Joe Berle autograph signing. So again, it’s got the name right here, Powers, put the customers last name right there. Want to make sure that you have some painters tape on there. This particular one says orange paint pen and make sure you sign from the bottom to top. That's just for these Bangles helmets, Bangles have these weird stripes on there so that's why it's like that, but again inscription goes here, “2020 number one pick” and on the back here it says where to put the hologram. Real simple stuff, don't overcomplicate it, but again I would put your name and your order number on there too. Again, just tell the athlete where you want them to sign, what pen color, and where that inscription is gonna go.

Another good item to do are basketballs. Painters tape is fine. You can put that on, it's no problem just like the helmet, the painters tape will come right off. It's no big deal it won't damage your item. For baseballs do not put painters tape on them. That'll rip some of the leather off. What I would suggest doing is putting a note here on the actual box itself. So put a little post-it note or painters tape saying sign in blue pen on sweet spot, add this inscription, add this hologram, and put your name and all the information on the actual box itself.

Another popular item that we get sent is jerseys. Again, same thing, jerseys are a little bit different. For the stitched ones it's okay to put the painters tape over the actual number, it'll come right off, it's no problem. Real simple stuff. If the Jersey is screen-printed I have actually seen part of the screen print material come off with painters tape a little bit, so what I would suggest doing is put the painters tape off to the side of the number, draw a little arrow where you want it signed, but try not to put it on the actual number itself if you're doing a screen printed jersey.

Bats I found a post-it note works really well with some light painters tape holding the post a note in place. I've seen sometimes with painter’s tape it will stick a little to the bat. It's very rare but again I want to make sure your item is perfect for you. So again just make sure you put a little post-it note and then just tape it down with a little bit of painters tape so it stays in place.

Again with all the instructions that I've already talked about today, photos, tickets, and cards don't put painters tape. A little post-it note will be just fine on the ticket and photos. Use a post-it note with all the instructions. Post-it notes come right off but again don't put painters tape on there! Don't subject yourself to that. Don't risk it okay.

That's pretty much it. Make sure you cover all that. It seems over complicated but just think about, “hey if I were the athlete what sort of instructions would I want to see to make sure that my item gets done correctly?” So after you've done that we have a submission form that you fill out. It's very simple. Basically just fill out your name and all that information and then what you do is basically describe your item, what pen color you want, if you're getting any inscriptions, if you want any authentication, all that kind of fun stuff. Then what you do is then you print this off and you include it with your item when you send it in. I would also make a copy for yourself just so you have a record of the instructions that you gave us and then I would also purchase the autograph on our website and then what you're going to want to do is print that receipt off and include that with your submission form so that way I get your item and it says it's order 10,000 and I can match that up with our system here to make sure you paid. To make sure you're good to go. Make sure your instructions are all good and very simple okay.

Then what you need to do is you need to ship your item to us. Do not include any return postage, the online order system already covers all that for you so you don't need to include any return labels. That's pretty much it. If you guys got questions beforehand and whatnot let me know, but again this should be all pretty self-explanatory. I always tell people you can't screw it up, but I've seen people screw it up all the time so I thought I'd just make this video and make a little bit easier for everybody, but again if you guys have questions let me know. I will always double-check what you sent me to make sure that everything matches up and make sure you didn't screw up and say a black paint pen on a black number, obviously that's not going to be able to be shown so I will always double check it for you.