What is the general consensus on eBay?

[Justin]

eBay has pretty much killed the autograph hobby. Hobbyists are confused for dealers...we're all one group now and the "personal connection" between the celebrity and fan is completely erased. Ringo's ban is a perfect example....he stopped purely because of eBay.

I think autographs should not be sold on eBay. Dealers can create their own site to sell but keep it off eBay. Do you think that would change the mayhem to get autographs from stars?

[rachael]

I just think something else would spring up. It's a big business on Ebay, mostly because people don't do their research and buy loads of fakes. I don't think the problem is selling autos on Ebay, the problem is the way Ebay deals with sellers.

[CubsFanKEC1982]

Too many fakes on ebay to buy from anyone other than those that run trade shows/certified cards.

That's my take on it.

I think it's hurt the hobby because it's a great cop out for stars not wanting to sign and not wanting to look rude.

[rittdk01]

People dont sign autographs because they are too lazy or dont understand why someone collects them. They use Ebay as an excuse for not being fan friendly. Even someone who never signs autographs has thousands up for auction on Ebay. U really think those hundreds of Michael Jordan in person autographs on Ebay are real? Yeah right.

Ironically the celeb would be better off signing a bunch of autographs for fans and make their autograph worthless to a dealer. I think higher of a celeb that signs for fans and some celebs are old school and realize this. Way back when signing autographs was part of the job and in all honestly is not real freakin hard.

[dobie516]

As a long-time collector I find Ebay to be a curse and a wonder to the autograph hobby.

Yes, many people who were good signers for years stopped because of Ebay. This is very unfortunate. This was a very fun hobby before Ebay when celebrities would actually write notes or letters back and interact with the collectors. This has also slowed down because the older stars who really appreciated their fans more are mostly gone now.

So much of my collection now is of vintage Hollywood. Without Ebay I couldn't add such pieces to my collection. Many of the actors/actresses that I purchase had died before I was even born. There are no other way to obtain them but through the secondary market.

Ebay is a site of "buyer beware". Do your homework before buying anything! There are days that I spend hours researching a signature before buying it. Last week I bought a Bert Lahr (the lion in the Wizard Of Oz). Not only did I research it, but sent the link to Dana and a few other experienced collectors for their opinion too. There are good deals to be found on Ebay. Like anywhere else in life, there are good and bad people selling items.

[nickmoore777]

Although I agree, I do buy some from ebay because the person is either not alive anymore or doesn't sign often. A celebrity may only sign for charity, they are then sold on ebay.

[goswannies]

I've had some bad eBay experiences - bought Mark Hamill & Carrie Fisher photos but the seller wouldn't give me payment details, so I couldn't pay and never got the photos (think my winning bid was too cheap for him)
But then again I was wanting the autograph of a Aussie football player from the 1940s and it came up on a page of an autograph book being sold. This page had a dozen other players signatures - a couple of which I already had - and they matched nicely so I was confident they weren't fakes). Got it at what I consider a reasonable price to.

For Star Wars / LotR autographs, I tend to restrict my buying to the official/authentic signed Topps insert cards. I don't think you can go wrong there (correct me if I'm wrong though) - they are still mostly pretty pricy, but I have scored some bargains.

[Sledge]

Isn't most of the fun in actually getting the autograph youself. Not just buying it. I like the surprise of getting a little (Or big) envelope in the mail.

[goswannies]

Isn't most of the fun in actually getting the autograph youself. Not just buying it. I like the surprise of getting a little (Or big) envelope in the mail.

Yeah, but if the person doesn't sign, or will only sign for $ (and there some like that) or is very difficult to locate or, worse still, deceased, buying the signature might be the only way you'll ever get it. Part of the fun is also expanding or completing your collection.
Problem with eBay is you might just end up buying a fake anyway