Your thoughts on Celebrity Fee's for Sigs

[stanley1883]

You cannot have signatures for free. It won't work. If that was the case, as I mentioned, there would be feminine hygiene product resellers taking advantage. You'd had some jerk with hundreds of issues that he will resell, and the average fan get's shafted again because the celeb stops signing. You have to charge for limiting people at the least, I just want it to be reasonable prices, and I have expressed what reasonable means to me.

[slym2none]

Limit two sigs per "customer" in any case. People who come with 50 things to sign are self-centered self-absorbed pukes. Even if they were willing to pay for each sig separately, that takes time away from everyone else trying to get sigs.

 

 

 

-slym

[bb8]

You cannot have signatures for free. It won't work. If that was the case, as I mentioned, there would be feminine hygiene product resellers taking advantage. You'd had some jerk with hundreds of issues that he will resell, and the average fan get's shafted again because the celeb stops signing. You have to charge for limiting people at the least, I just want it to be reasonable prices, and I have expressed what reasonable means to me.

 

Well as has been stated, reasonable to you and reasonable to the market can be two entirely different things. Many of these celebrities' time is a premium commodity. What else could they be doing to generate income? If they decide to sign for free or give the money to charity, great, that is up to them. But if they pocket the money, who am I to say they should not? After all, I get paid for my time as well. Reap while they day lasts, for soon the night cometh in which no man can work.

[Psithyrus]

You cannot have signatures for free. It won't work. If that was the case, as I mentioned, there would be feminine hygiene product resellers taking advantage. You'd had some jerk with hundreds of issues that he will resell, and the average fan get's shafted again because the celeb stops signing. You have to charge for limiting people at the least, I just want it to be reasonable prices, and I have expressed what reasonable means to me.

 

Well as has been stated, reasonable to you and reasonable to the market can be two entirely different things. Many of these celebrities' time is a premium commodity. What else could they be doing to generate income? If they decide to sign for free or give the money to charity, great, that is up to them. But if they pocket the money, who am I to say they should not? After all, I get paid for my time as well. Reap while they day lasts, for soon the night cometh in which no man can work.

 

The "market" dictated $80 for Nathan Fillion this past weekend, to the tune of them having to cap his line in Dallas at something like 800 (which I believe was just Saturday and Sunday, but don't quote me) for just the time he spent signing... the numbers spoke volumes to me. Take away the time at the panels, the photo sessions, lunch, etc., and that's a pretty good total.

 

He had a full line up until they announced the 15 minute last call. The guy was cranking out autographs at that price, and if he can get it, then he should try and get it.

[Prince Namor]

I remember for example Adam West was charging $50 for autographs at SuperMegaFest 6 yrs ago and inscribed on personal paraphernalia to the sadness of some of his fans. He was not the nicest of people and dealers thought his signing prices were overly expensive then.

 

Now he wants $100? I have to say the Canada wide comicons have jacked up prices for autographs. I can get photos from reputable dealers at a fraction of what they want at a show. To me there is some gouging going on there for sure.

 

 

And the $7 bottles of water are from polar ice flown in and bottled by Tibetan monks. Price gouging a captive audience? Never heard that before.

 

Heck, we charge $7 for bottled water at the club I work at, and it's trucked in from Jersey.

[Prince Namor]

Limit two sigs per "customer" in any case. People who come with 50 things to sign are self-centered self-absorbed pukes. Even if they were willing to pay for each sig separately, that takes time away from everyone else trying to get sigs.

 

-slym

 

Doesn't work. There are ways around it.

There's a reason they charge and it has more to do with the greed of the consumer than it does their own....

[slym2none]

There's a reason they charge and it has more to do with the greed of the consumer than it does their own....

 

I believe it. Sad that it has to come to that, too.

 

 

 

-slym

[makeminemego]

Horror cons have celebrities with shorter lines and cheaper prices compared to what I see at comic cons. People like David Naughton and Kane Hodder charge about $25 for a signature and will talk your leg off. Kane Hodder in particular has a rep for being about the nicest guy out there. He's usually eating a slice of pizza and drinking a bottle of beer, and actually seems to like to hang out with his fans. Granted, they might not be the biggest names, but people really have an appreciation for their work. Those guys, I'm assuming, charge that amount to sustain a comfortable lifestyle and because that's just what the market dictates. I have no issue with that, or paying a bit of a premium if a charity is in play.

 

Some of the prices are pretty crazy though. Anything over $30 or $40 bucks, and I'm out.

 

Ditto on George Perez. Terrific guy who represents himself and our hobby in the best way.

[stroszek]

 

Ditto on George Perez. Terrific guy who represents himself and our hobby in the best way.

 

There's got to be somebody somewhere who has a bad thing to say about George Perez. I just haven't heard one yet.

 

 

[shadroch]

Times may have changed, but when I ran shows that featured ballplayers or stars, I charged for an autograph and kept the money, not the stars. I paid them a flat appearance fee and transportation. As an example, I had David Cone at a show. His fee was $1,000 plus a limo from his hotel to the show, and then after the show to Yankee Stadium. He agreed to sign up to 200 autographs at the show, and two dozen balls in the car for me to sell later. Knowing that he would bring people into my show, I didn't gouge the ticket prices and charged $8 a ticket or 3 for $20. If I sold them all, I made a profit. If I sold half, I took a bath.

A guy like Stallone might be getting fifty grand to show up, and any money exchanged for his autographs goes to the promoter, not to him. A guy like Haywood Nelson might pay for a table and pocket whatever he collects for himself.

[Drakeprimeone]

I was at a small "pop" con last year and there were some B/C list celebrities there:

 

Margot Kidder (Lois Lane)

Ernie Hudson (Winston from Ghostbusters)

Sophia from the Walking Dead

The mom from E.T.

 

Most were charging between $15-$25 for a pic/sig, which is fine by me.

 

I went around the corner and ran into another celebrity.... Michael Biehn. You know, Terminator, Aliens, Tombstone.... That guy. I felt kinda bad he was there doing sigs for $20. These guys do depend on this money for there income, so as long as it's in that $15-$25 range I'm cool with it.

 

 

 

Good Guy Michael Biehn.

[stanley1883]

Limit two sigs per "customer" in any case. People who come with 50 things to sign are self-centered self-absorbed pukes. Even if they were willing to pay for each sig separately, that takes time away from everyone else trying to get sigs.

 

 

 

-slym

 

(thumbs u

 

Exactly!

[miraclemet]

Im not a signature collector (have a few SS by artists/writers, but nothing of the "pop culture" variety)... do any celebrities have two prices one for personalized and one for not?

 

I'd love to see it.

 

"True" fans who want something would be able to get something signed for a lower price and it would be personalized (thus making it far less flippable) and they'd get their experience/memory.

 

Dealers/Flippers who are looking for signed product to sell would have the option to pay more for a non-personalized (and therefore more flippable) item.

 

everyone wins, or at least they win as they should. The celeb doesnt have to worry about alienating fans with high prices, but still can make $$ (for self or charity), Dealers can get product (vs the celebs who ONLY personalize and thus make it hard to get signed flippable product)

 

anyone do this?

[F For Fake]

Michael Biehn is great, I've met him at two shows and he was always super nice, as is his wife.

 

As a younger collector, I thought paying for autographs was gross. Then the eBay era hit, and people started turning a profit on autographs that they got for free. So, I no longer begrudge the "star" for asking for a fee, especially as most of the folks I'm interested in are no longer in the spotlight, so to speak. I do think personalizations should be free, because that mostly kills the resale value, but again, I don't begrudge anyone for charging. It's up to me whether or not I want to pay.

 

Paying $20 to Lance Henriksen to sign a copy of his book, while I get to chat with him for a few minutes and have a genuine conversation and feel like we both enjoyed the experience? Sure, that's worth every penny. Some former starlet that wants $50 to sign the cover of a Playboy? I'll pass on that. It's all relative to how much I care.

[stanley1883]

Good point on the promoter setting the the signature fee's. Is that whats common or is it still vary? I know bigger celebs, like a Hemsworth get an appearance fee. Either the Convention pays them or Marvel/Disney has certain appearances built into the contract to promote the movie, none of the show up out of kindness to the fans. I would still think some of the celebs pocket some of the signature fees, that's on top of the appearance :shrug:

 

Ultimately were are approaching the same argument that is around with CGC. While we don't like the prices/turn around time, whatever, we cannot change it simply because there are people who don't care or have the disposable income to pay $200 a pop for a sig.

 

What I find interesting is that the celebs who "live" off of conventions have much more reasonable prices than those who don't need it. So Adam West for example, yes he works but as it has been mentioned, no royalties from Batman, so the $85 he's charging (while still too much for my taste) is still much more reasonable than these A-listers where it is triple digits.

 

Personally, I'd rather have no mega celebs at a convention. I'm not going to be in their line so their price doesn't affect me, but I think they draw much larger crowds and while thats what the Convention organizer wants/needs, I'm not a big fan of barely being able to move at conventions. Sometimes they're too crowded. I'm sure vendors will disagree, just my

[stanley1883]

Im not a signature collector (have a few SS by artists/writers, but nothing of the "pop culture" variety)... do any celebrities have two prices one for personalized and one for not?

 

I'd love to see it.

 

"True" fans who want something would be able to get something signed for a lower price and it would be personalized (thus making it far less flippable) and they'd get their experience/memory.

 

Dealers/Flippers who are looking for signed product to sell would have the option to pay more for a non-personalized (and therefore more flippable) item.

 

everyone wins, or at least they win as they should. The celeb doesnt have to worry about alienating fans with high prices, but still can make $$ (for self or charity), Dealers can get product (vs the celebs who ONLY personalize and thus make it hard to get signed flippable product)

 

anyone do this?

 

I've heard Adam West almost always personalizes and to get just a blank sig, that would cost extra.

[N/A]

I forgot what it was I was watching but it was some show back in the 90s. A kid had a baseball card or something of a person he idolized and he finally got to meet this person and asked for the item to be signed. The guy then told the kid he charges something like $50 for his signature and the kid just looked at him with disdain and "you're a feminine hygiene product". When I saw that, I felt so bad for the kid.

 

I never…EVER…pay someone for their signature. You should not be charging money just because you are a celebrity. Your job is to act, sing, play sports, or even read the news in front of a camera.

 

I do have some Signature Series slabs but luckily I didn't pay for the signature. Sure I bought the slab for a higher premium than one not signed but I did not actually pay the celeb, and I'm okay with that.

 

Ok then. The alternative is they never sign anything. Work for you?

 

Honestly? I'd rather have a picture with them. A photo of the celeb and me, I feel, is cooler than them signing their name.

 

Now, if it is a comic artist…I'd probably take the signature on a piece of their art. So losing out on that would suck.

 

Do you pay for photos?

 

No, all the celebs I've met I've gotten the photos for free.

 

Then you should be very thankful and complain less. We all have 24 hours in a day and these celebs used some of that so you could take a picture. They owed you nothing.

[DigsUT]

From what I understand and this may not be the case with all shows or celebs, the Cons offer a guarantee to said celeb. The agents/handlers/whoeverelseisinthepot, determine the autograph/photo op pricing with the Con. If that guarantee is not met, due to whatever reason, there is usually a condition that the celeb has to agree to. For example, they will sign 8x10s or whatever to make up the guarantee money that was not made in sales.

 

It is very likely that most celebs do not dictate what they are charging. They just show up, sign and take pictures, get their guarantee and then go home. That being said, auto pricing is directly affected by the guarantee. If you bring Hemsworth and he costs a 250,000 appearance guarantee, then you as a Con promoter, have to charge hundreds to make that guarantee. Sure, you could charge $50, but could you take the chance that 5,000 people will line up and get his autograph? That is assuming that he is there every day of the Con. I agree that $200 for a signature is ridiculous, but there are plenty of people that will be more than happy to pay that, given the opportunity.

[romanheart]

I collected Autographs before I started collecting comics in a big way again.

 

Adam West's 8x10 signed photo is about $50 obtainable by reputable dealers without inscription.

 

Considering all the stuff he has signed in his life it will take a very long time for it to be worth even $100.

 

The only bonus of cons and getting them to autograph it is that you know it's genuine because you were there, and hopefully they are kind to you.

 

There has been a large uptick in costs per autograph with the conventions in Canada. I don't know if it has changed in the USA. I think Chiller Theatre prices are still reasonable the last time I saw.

 

[joe_collector]

Was wondering where you all stand with regards to Celebrity fee's. Whats too much? Don't care, etc?

 

I think celebs are free to charge whatever they want, but I also think fanboys who pay these fees are totally batsheit crazy.