Buying Autographs?

[prettyinpink1698]

As I've posted once before, I really want Dianna Agron's autograph. Unfortunately, I don't think she does fanmail. On Ebay, I've seen a lot of people post that they have Dianna Agron's authentic autograph. I wanted to know how do I know whether an autograph is for real and not a fake? I've read around that a COA can be printed online and stuck into the mail to make it seem authentic.

[Jennie<3]

A lot of the autographs on eBay are forged and fake. So I would be extremely careful about buying from there. I would check to see if they have a picture of the celebrity signing the same photo they are selling.

[canadagraphs1]

1- Never trust a seller on THEIR word alone.
Ask others for input (including here).

2- If they have a lot of hard to get superstar elite names, and their prices are dirt cheap. Well... you know the answer.
Someone getting autographs at that pace, is doing it as a business, and they would know that a "so & so" autograph can fetch $100+, so why are they selling it for $19.99? Also, how are they managing to get 30+ items from someone who other professionals struggle to get 1 or 2 from?

3- If they have ZERO proof shots, I stay away.
I dont need them to have an exact proof of that item. I dont even need them to have a proof of that celeb. But they SHOULD have a proof gallery of at least 1/2 or more of the people they claim to have got. This isnt 1986 anymore. Everyone has a digital camera. It takes nothing to snap off at least 1 shot of a celeb signing to verify you were AT LEAST there when they were signing. Obviously, an expact proof, preferred. But you probably will only see those maybe 1 in 25 items.

4- If they reply with "I got this from this dealer...I've dealt with him for years".
Unless THAT dealer has a flawless rep, and will vouch for the seller as someone they sell items to all the time, I would avoid... or at least ask a lot of questions.

5- A COA is utter trash. They have no legal value. They can be replaced, or forged as easily as the items they are for. The courts dont acknowledge them as any type of legally binding document. So a seller willing to give a COA out on a fake item doesnt HAVE to live up to any claims the COA says...now MOST sellers (good & bad) will refund anyways, just to cover any trashing of their rep.

6- Get familiar with the autograph you are looking for.
This is a bit harder when you dont know the autograph. But I recommend looking at signatures, not just on ebay, but fan sites, in here, or even from a google search. Especially ones that are personalized. While a TTM/sit down item may differ from an IP rushed red carpet graph, they usually have similar characteristics that you can see which will minimize (nothing is foolproof) your chances of getting a bad one.