Where to Sell Autographs: Things to Keep an Eye On April 07 2021
Looking forward to selling an autograph and getting the best
deal?
Here’s everything you need to know about how to sell autographs and find the best offer depending on your situation.
This article is geared towards those interested in selling their collections or an autograph find, not to those who want to make money professionally - that requires an entire different perspective and analysis that we will not cover here.
This works for all entertainment memorabilia, including, of course, celebrity autographs and any historical manuscripts and photos. Our article provides a simplified but short and quick ideas to the key to this question.
CONSIDER THIS FIRST
Try to answer the following questions yourself:
Would you sell autographed pictures or other autographed items individually or as a collection only.
Is it all or nothing, or would you sell one piece from the autograph collection at a time?
Because if you decide to sell all or nothing, things are easier but you have fewer options. Collectors would unlikely be your buyers, they like to pick and choose what they buy and they can be extremely selective. The almost never buy entire lots or collections. You need to aim to sell it only to dealers or auction houses, see below.
How quickly you want to do it, and how much time you are willing to put into doing your sale.
Some ways of selling mentioned right below are faster than others, and require less of your time than other methods. It really helps if you know the answer to this question as well.
It will also help if you know your asking price, and if you want to maximize the money you can get for your autographs, because then your choice should probably be the slower paths, with more work and time from you.
So, let´s dig into it!
Here below is a summary on where to sell your autographs:
1. WORK WITH A PROFESSIONAL DEALER
You can do it in 2 main different ways:
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Sell autographs to a dealer
You need to find professional autograph dealers, not necessarily in your area, who would be interested in.
You should surf the internet around and find those who offer the category your autographs belong to (sports, music, film, Americana, historical personalities, etc), and contact them asking whether they are interested or not. Don´t bother to contact dealers who obviously don´t sell sport autographs and offer them sports autographs.
Expect to be paid up to two-thirds of the market price for top pieces, maybe less for other items. Also, be ready to take some quick photos and email them if you are not in the same city than the dealer. After an agreement on price is reached via the internet or phone, expect to ship your items to the dealer for inspection, nobody will send you money in advance and trust you will then ship the items.
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Consign your autographs to a dealer
An alternative to selling to a dealer. You give your autographed items to a dealer who doesn´t buy from you but keeps the items in inventory and offers them to potential buyers (private collectors and institutions). You get paid whenever the item sells, minus a commission agreed in advance between you and the dealer.
Not all dealers accept autographs or memorabilia in consignment. Tamino Autographs takes consignments of high priced items.
Nothing can beat selling to a trusted, knowledgeable buyer who is professional, honest in valuations and opinions. A professional dealer with a respectable reputation is a great choice since they absolutely have to maintain ethical values and pay a fair price.
You are most welcome to offer your autographs to us!. Email us, or see HERE.
2. SELL AUTOGRAPHS ONLINE BY YOURSELF
You would use digital markets for collectibles, such as eBay,
Etsy and other online platforms that allow you to sell directly to collectors, and/or auction online your items. This will probably give you a near-market price for your collection, if you are lucky, but most likely less since those buyers that are not very knowledgeable in autographs won´t be so sure to acquire autographs from a non-professional and not well-established seller with an eBay listing under a nickname, and without a reputation to defend - such could be your case.
This option demands quite more work and time from your side than option 1), but it can have a higher reward - although that will not necessarily be the case every time.
Be ready to calculate price, scan, write a description condition and everything, and then ship all by yourself.
3. SELL DIRECTLY TO AUTOGRAPH COLLECTORS
This option will give you the most return, but you need the
appropriate contacts in order to do this. It demands some of your time and the right connections, plus, you will need to build a bit of reputation for a number of years to make things much easier.
Unfortunately, many collector buyers of autographs tend to offer and pay less for autographed items coming from other collectors than for those coming from a professional dealer. They know the other party does not need a profit and make a living out of the material sold, it may not be as experienced in signature authentication as a professional dealer, nor have a reputation to protect - and will not provide documentation such as a Certificate of Authenticity or even a letterhead invoice. So many times, this is a great opportunity for them to get cheaper entertainment memorabilia at prices below the autograph market.
You can also aim to sell your autographs to institutional buyers (libraries, archives, museums, etc), but that is rather complicated when you are an individual and not incorporated as a dealer. Celebrity autographs of artists still around, for example, are generally not of interest for institutions.
Donating your autograph collection to an institution is an alternative to selling, you get some form of tax credit for your donation, but in reality, it will be for a small portion of the value, institutions tend to be very selective and they don't just take everything, your autographs will be out of the market forever, most likely kept outside the public appreciation, never again in the hands of collectors nor anyone else for the beautiful fun of collecting. It is also not so straightforward and easy to do - we do not recommend to go in this direction with autographs, they tend to be very rarely or never exhibited, it goes against the beautiful art of collecting and it is usually a dead end for your collectible pieces.
4. SELL VIA AUCTION HOUSES
You consign your autograph collection to an auction house, and they sell them in auctions. Autograph collections sold this way get mixed results, depending on your choices and the right timing to have it auctioned. No one can predict for sure it will sell nor at what price. Their commissions vary from 10 to 20%, plus, buyers pay a premium of 18-25%, and they know before they bid that they will have to pay that commission on their bids, so they bid less than what they want to pay in order to cover the premium and still be in the amount they are willing to buy something for.
So in the end, all 40-45% cost falls on your item, and you will have to wait 2 months or more after the auction ends to get paid by the auction house for your items.
The upside of this option is that sometimes items can reach unrealistic, high prices in auctions, but it can also happen that the items won't sell if the reserve (minimum price) you set is not met, so you will have the item back.
TAGS: Pawn shops that buy autographs near me, Places that buy autographs, places to sell autographs.
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