Nice to have a trading card signed by Wade Boggs in his Yankees uniform. Thanks Matt Powers and his team for this signing event.
Make Tom Brady $$, Discover the EASIEST Way To Make MONEY Selling Autographs (hint, it's easy)
Today's we are going to talk about a pretty fun topic, and overall this whole thing should be quite informative as well. So if you're a collector, or even more importantly, a collector that likes to sell autographed items, this is for you!
I'm going to take you all through my step-by-step process of how to easily make money selling autographs. Now, to be clear, I say easy because it's easy to understand, but it isn't always so easy to execute. Big picture, we are basically just looking to buy unauthenticated, autographed items, get them authenticated, and then sell them for a profit. See? It definitely sounds simple enough.
Jumping in at step #1: Start with cheap autographs!
I know, I know. You want to be playing with the big boys right from the beginning by getting that big Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant item and making millions on day one. You can certainly give that a try, but I wouldn't suggest it. Start small. There are so many cheaper and easily affordable items out there that over a little bit of time, you can almost guarantee yourself that you'll make money.
Related to the last point is #2: Buy guys that will sell.
This doesn't mean you should just go buy any unauthenticated items though! You still gotta be smart about it, so look up some recognizable players that do well in the industry. For instance here in Kansas City, Salvador Perez or Eric Hosmer are big names that are recognizable and make sense. You can get some unathenticated autographs from them for like $25 and turn those around for a bit of profit.
Plus, the glory of starting with the smaller names is you are less likely to run into fakes. You don't want to be that person that spends thousands on a Michael Jordan item to find out it's fake, because you WILL NOT be getting that money back.
You can check out the All-Star list for the various leagues throughout the years if you need some ideas of athletes to buy. Fanatics and the sports leagues also consistently publish information about the best selling jerseys as well. So there are tons of ways to figure out who is on the higher performance end in the various sports.
Already half way through the list, we're at #3: Purchase player items that are cheap unauthenticated, but higher in value once authenticated.
Now that just makes sense right? Here's an example to help really make sense out of this. Looking at Mariano Rivera, everyone knows who he is, a former Yankees player, his authenticated baseballs go for around $300. So, if you can get that ball, unauthenticated, for say, $175, you are already off to a good start. Pay another $15 for the COA, and your into the ball for $190. Sure, once you get it sold you'll lost a little profit on shipping and other fees, but still, if you sell for around $300, that is some appreciable profit!
Onto #4: Buy items that sell.
If players matter, you can bet the item matters too. For example, people do like full sized helmets, but when you're just starting out here, it just doesn't make sense. Those helmets are huge and take up a lot of inventory space. You want items that are small so you can have a supply to constantly work with!
That brings us to baseballs, jerseys, and signed photos. Be careful though, a lot of these unauthenticated items will probably come from "Chasers", guys that go to games to get items signed, and a lot of the time these guys will get cheap jerseys from China signed, which definitely don't have the value of an actual MLB jersey for instance.
Lastly, #5: Bulk authenticate your items.
Again, this is a pretty sensible point. It just makes more sense for your wallet and profits if you can get bulk discounts by sending in at least 20 autographed items for authentication at once. Even if it's just a few dollars, that money will add up quickly, so take advantage of whatever deals you can fine!
Who are you bulk sending to? Well, the big choices are JSA, PSA, or Beckett. You can send to them yourself in bulk, find them at trade shows and whatnot, or even use submission groups. These are all great ways to get loads of autographs authenticated cheaply and quickly.
I personally use JSA for the majority of my stuff. They are quick at a 2 - 3 week turnaround, affordable, and just have great customer service. I almost never have issues with them, and if I do they are real quick to get them resolved. That's what you want. You don't want to be sitting on these items for months. You're looking to buy, authenticate, sell. In and out almost as fast as you can go.
So you've followed the 5 steps, now what?
NOW IT'S TIME TO SELL!
So figure out what kinds of online marketplaces you want to use. There are tons of them, eBay of course being a pretty huge example. Just don't forget, you need to sell these items for more than just what you bought them for. Account for all your expenses.
That means the cost of the item, the autograph, authentication, services fees, shipping costs, YOUR TIME! These are all important. Do not sell yourself short on these, because everyone else is accounting for them, so you need to be as well.
There you go, that's what I've got for you today.
I hope this information can help you get started or improve your selling process. Like I said in the beginning, the concept is really rather simple, and that's important, but it is still a fair amount of work, so just stick with it and I'm sure you'll see some results eventually.
Leave a comment
Comments will be approved before showing up.
Customer Reviews
Overall rating: 4.9 / 5 from 4859 reviews.
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
Beautiful
Sweet
Beautiful
Great piece
Awesome
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!
Your Cart
Your cart is empty.