Convention Fans:
Did eBay Ruin Autograph Collecting?

I'm one of those people who has been collecting autographs for years. I didn't intend to. I know lots of people don't. I even know some people who look down on people who do. I never intended to start, honest.

I became an autograph collector inadvertently. When I was in my mid-teens, my mom took me to Kennedy Space Center's Star Trek day. It was a chance to meet some stars from the franchise, which was a first for me, because I hadn't started attending conventions yet. Part of the deal was that you could get an autograph for free when you met them. I thought this was pretty cool, so I got an autograph from Garrett Wang, Rene Auberjonois, and Walter Koenig.

When I got home, I immediately framed them and put them by my computer desk. It was a way to show that I had actually met those guys in person. It was a trophy of sorts, one that my young self was pretty happy to show off.

I soon after started attending conventions. Back then, most of the stars signed autographs for free, as part of their contract with the conventions. I ended up attending a lot of conventions, and ended up with a lot of autographs as a result. I mean, it was included, so why not right?

But then everything changed. Many conventions stopped offering the autographs as part of the entry price. The guests started charging. First it was just $10. Then it was $20. Then $35. Then some starts started asking for as much as $60 - $100. (Some of the celebrities guilty of such astonishing prices include Mark Hamill of Star Wars fame, Edward James Olmos of BSG, Patrick Stewart, Leonard Nimoy, and William Shatner of Star Trek.)

What happened exactly? Why the change?

One of my theories is that eBay shares some of the blame for the trend. Note that I said some, not all. But prior to eBay's existence, the only way to buy a celebrity's autograph was through conventions, tradeshows, and the like. But the internet and eBay changed all that.

eBay suddenly made the selling of autographs incredibly easy and incredibly profitable. Someone could go to a convention, get a few signed for free, and then turn around and make hundreds on eBay (and people still do this). And with that, of course, came fraud. After all, anyone can make a certificate of authenticity and claim that the autographs are legit. And unless you have the real thing to compare it to, how would you even know?