Why do celebs charge for autographs

[Heyheyyou]

I know some baseball stars and Football stars charge for autographs. Why?? Don't they have enough money?? Like my friend went to a baseball game once and wanted Pete Rose autograph and he was charging for autographs and my friend went to fan convention and even though you paid to get in celebs were charging. That makes no sense why charge for an autograph when you just spent how much to get in. Can someone explain?

[SimonaMusik]

I agree. I went to a convention and actors charged $20 per autograph. They weren't even personallized even though they signed it in front of us.

[kimmylee]

But surely going to such a show like Collectormania you knew ahead of time that you pay to get in and pay for autographs?

[Heyheyyou]

It still doesn't answer my question. Why?? They make enough money. Like people come to do cd signings do they charge no. Do authors charge at a book signing? No. I just want to know why there must be a reason

[Madame_Malfoy]

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

[HIHIHI]

excellent reply! Even though I don't like paying for autos!

[Madame_Malfoy]

excellent reply! Even though I don't like paying for autos!

Thanks! :razz:

I don't like it much either but at least that way you know they're real and you get to meet your favourite celebrities! If it weren't for conventions, I don't think I'd ever get to meet certain people and I guess that's worth paying for, well to me it is..

Olivia

[Heyheyyou]

Makes sense I guess. I just always wondered thanks

[SimonaMusik]

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

Good logic
Most of the people i've met are in person when i've attended concerts. It's just a chance that you take and sometimes you end up waiting for hours but that person never comes.
I guess when you pay you are guaranteed to meet that person and get an autograph.

[johnnylightning]

It is pretty simple actually.The people at the conventions have to sell the autographs as part of their deal to be at the conventions. And some of the hasbin type actors probably need the money too. As far as rich celebs go i think they mostly just charge money to keep dealers from getting free ones and selling them because they know if you pay you are a real fan. I know it sucks for real fans who are poor but with so many dealers ruining this hobby for real fans what can you do. You can mainly blame all the annoying autograph hounds who just want to make money!