The Autograph Market
This hobby has been around for years and may have grown more than any other in the world. But with popularity and the high demand comes the people that want to make a quick buck and sell fakes. Autographs can be the finest hobby in the world but also the hardest to trust. West Coast Authetic not only wants to help you acquire the pieces you are looking for, we want to educate new collectors and get more people involved. We like nothing more than to see the excitement as a child gets an autograph in person. That is what makes the hobby fun.
Media and auction sites such as eBay have brought a lot of attention and new collectors/dealers to the hobby - both good and bad. When looking at pricing of autographs there are a couple things to keep in mind. For instance, do you really think you can buy an authentic autograph of Michael Jordan or tiger woods for 20 bucks? NO. Unfortunately, if you want real autos you cannot get them for $20.
Learn the players habits. If a player signs exclusively for a company like UDA and their autograph sells for $1000, when someone offers you one for $20, run away.
Be careful of dealers that have lots of stock of hard to get players. Or when you ask a dealer if he has a tiger woods autograph and he says "hell ya, I have 50." -You may want to think twice!.
We doubt there are as many fakes out there as people report. Hockey autograph collecting is the best by far as players are very easy to meet and talk to. Below is a list of autograph types in order from top to bottom, easiest to most difficult to obtain autographs.
- Hockey
- Baseball (spring training is great)
- Football
- Basketball
- Celebrities - the hardest to obtain and many do not do sit down autograph signings.
So if you are looking for that special photo, ball, or jersey to get signed, drop us a line. Our staff would be more then willing to help!
