"Autograph" story...icky to say the least.

[Anton Phibes]

So---everyone knwos I am a huge fan of Psycho. Always looking for something that might catch my eye. This caught my eye:




The seller offers a money back guarantee if not delighted. So--despite my better judgment, I decide to go for it. It was cheap enough, I thought  that, if it were authentic,I got a bargain.

The item arrives, with no sender address on exterior envelope. Bent to hades. So--off to a bad start right away.

Item inspected.

1. Printed off of a computer....recently. Despite Anthony Perkins having died in 1992. Red flag #1.
2. "autograph" , when slanted in light, appears to be a pre-print... and is part of the photo
3. Coa comes from a company who will authorize a signed item via an email scan. Yup. You heard me right. You dont even have to let them see the actual item in order to authenticate it.
4. After getting a red flag and failing the light contrast test....its time for the old dry erase marker test. This test consists of this: find a part of the photo  where there is sharpie writing. Put dry erase over the sharpie. if the dry erase marker removes the sharpie...its written and not pre-printed. It failed.

So--I complain. The response I receive is a refund, and I am told to simply "keep the item". As the item is worthless....it went to the trash can.

But...if you had an item, that you were convinced was real: wouldn't you want it back to see what the buyer on the other end was complaining about?  The fella is selling fakes...and knows it in my opinion.

just remember; if it seems too good to be true: it probably is. I got my money back. But man, oh man, I was extremely angry and more than a tad disappointed. 

The ironic part: the next day, some other seller puts 2 more on....for the same price as the fake I bought. they look hinky too. I guess they got a pretty good seance going on if Mr. Perkins is able to whip these out like this in the afterlife,lol. Buyer beware.

[Mike Scott]

Never buy an autograph from eBay, unless you've previously dealt with the seller and can trust him. And money back guarantee is a must. I'll bet the % of fake autos on eBay is high!

[the_last_gunslinger]

Never buy an autograph from eBay, unless you've previously dealt with the seller and can trust him. And money back guarantee is a must. I'll bet the % of fake autos on eBay is high!

Good advice. You'd be surprised at the sheer number of obviously fake Stephen King autographs on there. The only way I buy anything signed is if its a limited edition book from a company that I am familiar with.

[jimm]

Autos today I'd guesstimate the majority are fake that come to market... If I find something for nothing that's about the most ID psy

[Rockshasa]

I can't imagine getting into autograph collecting. It's way too easy to fake. IMHO, the only way of getting an autograph that you know is 100% real is to get the autograph yourself. Now I know this can't be done with folks like Anthony Perkins, considering he is dead now, but sometimes you can write to the estate, and they will send you an autographed photo, as many a movie star has left reams of old signed photos for fans, conventions, etc. As far as living stars, you can often write them and they will send you an autographed photo. I, myself, have done that before with good results. I've also attended a number of horror conventions and gotten things signed there as well. The only problem is proving to someone else that it's genuine. Many autograph hounds will actually take pics of themselves with the star, while their photo is being signed. But yeah, the odds of buying fake autographs are so high. There are alot of very dishonest people in this world who will stop at nothing to make a buck.

[Radioactive Rod Whitenack]

A lot of celebrities no longer allow you to take pictures at the table, even for proof of authenticity, because there is so much money to be made in photo opportunities, and the convention can't allow people to snap photos for free at the table when they're selling photo ops for hundreds of dollars.

[Rockshasa]

A lot of celebrities no longer allow you to take pictures at the table, even for proof of authenticity, because there is so much money to be made in photo opportunities, and the convention can't allow people to snap photos for free at the table when they're selling photo ops for hundreds of dollars.

I can see that at conventions. But I've seen autograph hounds on Ebay that will actually wait outside apartment buildings or on movie sets, getting autographs and having a friend snap the pic while their photo is being signed. Where there's a will, there's a way!

[Radioactive Rod Whitenack]

True enough. If that's the case, you're paying for all the waiting, hassle and time the seller has put into getting the autograph. Seems like a hard way to make a few bucks.