by Madame_Malfoy » Thu Jan 13, 2011 12:33 am
I'm not so sure there's a simple answer to this..
I would say that the actors who attend events such as Collectormania or any of the other autograph conventions are first approached the the organisers of the events. The organisers want certain stars to attend so that they will get more fans paying to get in and to get autographs. Some celebrities probably agree thinking: wow, this company will fly me to them, pay for my food/hotel/other travel bills and then pay me more money to sign autographs for some of my fans, what a great deal?!

I don't think it's always outright greed because to my knowledge, the celebs don't approach convention organisers, asking to attend events, it's the other way around.. The reason that individual autographs are charged for, I believe is well.. These organisers create these events to 1) make money and 2) give fans an opportunity to meet the people they admire.. And I think the organisers recognise that not every single person attending the events will go to every single celebrity, therefore there is something of a cover charge to get in and then individual signing prices for each celebrity..
To my knowledge, authors/singers sign for free because they are promoting their books/CDs and if you've spent money purchasing their books/CDs, then they're happy to add their autograph to them free of charge to encourage you to maybe buy another in the future. Some sports stars are contractually obligated to only sign certain items or to only sign at organised events where their sponcers can get a percentage of the money.
I'm not saying that I agree with any of this, just my thoughts as to why..
Olivia
I'm not so sure there's a simple answer to this..
I would say that the actors who attend events such as Collectormania or any of the other autograph conventions are first approached the the organisers of the events. The organisers want certain stars to attend so that they will get more fans paying to get in and to get autographs. Some celebrities probably agree thinking: wow, this company will fly me to them, pay for my food/hotel/other travel bills and then pay me more money to sign autographs for some of my fans, what a great deal?! :) I don't think it's always outright greed because to my knowledge, the celebs don't approach convention organisers, asking to attend events, it's the other way around.. The reason that individual autographs are charged for, I believe is well.. These organisers create these events to 1) make money and 2) give fans an opportunity to meet the people they admire.. And I think the organisers recognise that not every single person attending the events will go to every single celebrity, therefore there is something of a cover charge to get in and then individual signing prices for each celebrity..
To my knowledge, authors/singers sign for free because they are promoting their books/CDs and if you've spent money purchasing their books/CDs, then they're happy to add their autograph to them free of charge to encourage you to maybe buy another in the future. Some sports stars are contractually obligated to only sign certain items or to only sign at organised events where their sponcers can get a percentage of the money.
I'm not saying that I agree with any of this, just my thoughts as to why.. 8)
Olivia