Is Autograph Collecting Profitable?

[Cwest]

I am in charge of fund raising for a local non-profit and have been looking into autograph collecting. I don't really see it being that profitable, though. The cost for the envelopes and stamps isn't too expensive, but the autograph pictures I would receive don't seem to have any value. The plan was to sell everything on eBay, and there are a lot of auctions for autographed pictures that end with no bids.

My theory was baseball, basketball, and football autographs would be better since there are a lot of sports memorabilia dealers that would actually collect that stuff. There are a lot of actors and actresses who only starred in one or two TV shows that don't seem to have any collectible value at all. A lot of music groups are the same way.

Even with sports Hall of Famers, I need to guarantee the authenticity. If I go with PSA/DNA or even JSA, that's another $20 per autograph on basic authentication. That seems to kill whatever profit I was going to make, and in the long run, I will be further ahead if I didn't spend the time and money trying to get the autographs.

[AutoHound]

You may receive some negative feedback from your post, seeing as so many of us collect for purely the sentimental value and have no desire to sell pieces of our collection. But I'm assuming that you are trying to sell the autographs for a worthy charity...
Personally I have not sold any autographs for charity fundraiser purposes, although many people on here have, and can probably give you better answers. From what I gather, it can be a good way to raise money if you are holding an auction and need pieces to sell.
Yes, you are right that the stamps and envelopes are cheap. Possibly, when you send your request and explain your purpose, they can enclose some sort of certificate of authenticity?
Long story short, it can be a good way to raise money for a worthy cause, but it does have some drawbacks (length of time to respond-if ever, authenticity, extra costs to frame and mount the photo, etc.)

[Acorns]

I raised about £3000 with my autographs but didnt take any money out for stamps as I just paid that myself, I made over £6000 in total with a fundraising night selling most of them and the rest on ebay that took a year to do and collect everything. At last count it cost me about £80 in stamps and envelopes but as I said i didnt take it out and not everyone replies, I wrote to arount 200 people and about 80 replied - (roughly)

[Cwest]

I sent out 65 letters to athletes asking for their autograph on index cards. I sent 3 index cards hoping that if they sign and each index card sells for $10, we would bring in $30 from every letter we sent, unless we go the PSA/DNA or JSA route.

I still have 102 more addresses of people to send letters to. I would like to send out 35 more index cards to athletes and political figures, and then everyone else just gets a letter of request and a SASE. Hopefully they will provide something to sell.

Another option we are kicking around is, if athletes sign the index cards, sending out balls and baseball bats to get signed. Official game balls are expensive. Baseballs are $12, footballs are $75, and basketballs are $100. We can get Rawlings official league balls (without the MLB logo), and Chinese basketballs and footballs for $2.50 each. The baseballs are nice, but the Chinese stuff looks kinda lame, especially the footballs. Our theory is, an autographed ball will sell more than an autographed index card.

[autographfanno1]

I sent out 65 letters to athletes asking for their autograph on index cards. I sent 3 index cards hoping that if they sign and each index card sells for $10, we would bring in $30 from every letter we sent, unless we go the PSA/DNA or JSA route.

I still have 102 more addresses of people to send letters to. I would like to send out 35 more index cards to athletes and political figures, and then everyone else just gets a letter of request and a SASE. Hopefully they will provide something to sell.

Another option we are kicking around is, if athletes sign the index cards, sending out balls and baseball bats to get signed. Official game balls are expensive. Baseballs are $12, footballs are $75, and basketballs are $100. We can get Rawlings official league balls (without the MLB logo), and Chinese basketballs and footballs for $2.50 each. The baseballs are nice, but the Chinese stuff looks kinda lame, especially the footballs. Our theory is, an autographed ball will sell more than an autographed index card.

You do realise it is this type of thing ruins TTM collecting for all of us. This is the sort of reason Ringo stopped signing, and if you type of scalping sh*ts keep this up then you will ruin autograph collecting for all of us.

[Cwest]

I sent out 65 letters to athletes asking for their autograph on index cards. I sent 3 index cards hoping that if they sign and each index card sells for $10, we would bring in $30 from every letter we sent, unless we go the PSA/DNA or JSA route.

I still have 102 more addresses of people to send letters to. I would like to send out 35 more index cards to athletes and political figures, and then everyone else just gets a letter of request and a SASE. Hopefully they will provide something to sell.

Another option we are kicking around is, if athletes sign the index cards, sending out balls and baseball bats to get signed. Official game balls are expensive. Baseballs are $12, footballs are $75, and basketballs are $100. We can get Rawlings official league balls (without the MLB logo), and Chinese basketballs and footballs for $2.50 each. The baseballs are nice, but the Chinese stuff looks kinda lame, especially the footballs. Our theory is, an autographed ball will sell more than an autographed index card.

You do realise it is this type of thing ruins TTM collecting for all of us. This is the sort of reason Ringo stopped signing, and if you type of scalping sh*ts keep this up then you will ruin autograph collecting for all of us.

You do realize that this is the Charity forum, where I clearly said in my first post that I am in charge of fund raising for a 501(c)(3) non-profit theater group. Every letter sent out includes our brochure and fact sheet about what we do. Our biggest problem is not having the funds up front to afford the items to get signed. Hence, we went with index cards. The cards don't bring in a lot, and we will never get enough to raise the $160,000 for expenses in the 2009-10 season.

Working with disabled kids putting on plays and productions takes money, money we can't get from parents since medical bills use up most of what they have. But it seems that doesn't matter to you. It doesn't matter that the free theatrical shows we put on during the winter sell out every time, mainly by people who just want to sit inside a warm building, even for a couple of hours. Nope, none of that matters. The only thing you seem to care about is making sure celebrities sign your items.

FanMail.biz did a great job picking you to be a trainee moderator.

[autographfanno1]

I sent out 65 letters to athletes asking for their autograph on index cards. I sent 3 index cards hoping that if they sign and each index card sells for $10, we would bring in $30 from every letter we sent, unless we go the PSA/DNA or JSA route.

I still have 102 more addresses of people to send letters to. I would like to send out 35 more index cards to athletes and political figures, and then everyone else just gets a letter of request and a SASE. Hopefully they will provide something to sell.

Another option we are kicking around is, if athletes sign the index cards, sending out balls and baseball bats to get signed. Official game balls are expensive. Baseballs are $12, footballs are $75, and basketballs are $100. We can get Rawlings official league balls (without the MLB logo), and Chinese basketballs and footballs for $2.50 each. The baseballs are nice, but the Chinese stuff looks kinda lame, especially the footballs. Our theory is, an autographed ball will sell more than an autographed index card.

You do realise it is this type of thing ruins TTM collecting for all of us. This is the sort of reason Ringo stopped signing, and if you type of scalping sh*ts keep this up then you will ruin autograph collecting for all of us.

You do realize that this is the Charity forum, where I clearly said in my first post that I am in charge of fund raising for a 501(c)(3) non-profit theater group. Every letter sent out includes our brochure and fact sheet about what we do. Our biggest problem is not having the funds up front to afford the items to get signed. Hence, we went with index cards. The cards don't bring in a lot, and we will never get enough to raise the $160,000 for expenses in the 2009-10 season.

Working with disabled kids putting on plays and productions takes money, money we can't get from parents since medical bills use up most of what they have. But it seems that doesn't matter to you. It doesn't matter that the free theatrical shows we put on during the winter sell out every time, mainly by people who just want to sit inside a warm building, even for a couple of hours. Nope, none of that matters. The only thing you seem to care about is making sure celebrities sign your items.

FanMail.biz did a great job picking you to be a trainee moderator.

Thanks a lot for the sarcasm, I wasn't aware you meant that to be for charity
I never said that warmth and shelter was more important than me getting autographs, I was under the impression that you were doing it for your own personal profit, and it was my fault not to realise this was the charity area.
Some members are so rude

[detroitpistons]

FanMail.biz did a great job picking you to be a trainee moderator.
Thanks a lot for the sarcasm, I wasn't aware you meant that to be for charity
I never said that warmth and shelter was more important than me getting autographs, I was under the impression that you were doing it for your own personal profit, and it was my fault not to realise this was the charity area.
Some members are so rude

Sorry for bumping into this topic, but:
Wait?
You didn't realize it was for charity? So we go off in a rude manner telling him thats why celebs don't sign?
And then, after he clrearly said this is the charity forum, and told you off, you get mad at him? Calling him so rude?
Right...