AUTOGRAPHS

[Brian1701]

I'm new here so, i'm sorry if this topic has already been done. But since i started going to the ShowMasters conventions i've always wondered....why do we get charged? I understand on the photo side of it but, on the signing i don't. Also it could range from just £10 - £25 depending on who's signing. It's not been a problem, meaning i've not gone " paying for a autograph! why should i do that?" I've just wondered why? . So many of us spend so much of our money to see, met and get a autograph from our favourite stars - it's just, why?

 

Now don't think i'm trying say we shouldn't have to pay, i'm just asking a smiple question and i would like to see your views on this subject, and also an answer to a question.

[DavidB]

From their side, we pay to cover costs of getting guests over here, plus however much profit for them and the agents and the guests etc. It is a business after all, and a lot of costs are involved, and so it wouldn't be possible to have no charge really. Especially with the calibre of non-UK guests we get.

 

From our side, we get the chance to meet our favourite stars from TV and film mainly. Something that you wouldn't get a chance to do with a store signing or whatever. Plus there's the guaranteed authenticity of an autograph IN PERSON which is arguably worth the money, so it has the benefits over a through the mail autograph or off some dealers etc. And it's all about the memories, the conversations, the photos. We all get different things from it.

[Brian1701]

Yep i get it. Thanks

[DavidB]

Plus you have to think that with store signings (as an example) it'll always be related to a product, which you have to purchase, and then the signature is "free" but a lot of people don't even want the product itself, but rather just to meet the guest, so it's not all that different

 

And at least at these events you can get whatever you want signed (usually!) and there's a lot of guests you'd never get signing elsewhere.

 

Sure, going to hang around outside theatres and during premieres is "cheaper" in terms of autograph fees, but then there's travel costs all the time, and the unreliability, and it's more time consuming etc etc. So these pay events do have their benefits

[Brian1701]

I've never been to one of these premieres as you rightly said "unreliabilty". The very first convention i went to was in Birmingham back in the late 90's, also the first time i met J.C.B she was singing - cheap to only £10!

 

I recognized her almost straight away. I walked up to her and we talked about Babylon 5 and what she had been working on recently. While this was going on, i happen to notice a girl sitting next to her but carried on talking. Spotting some photo's on the table, i picked one up and gave it to J.C.B to sign. All of a sudden a hand appeared. I looked at the girl a little embarrassed - she wanted money! " Do i have to pay something?" i said " Yes £10 please." After i got the photo signed i turned to my brother-in-Law and said "You have to pay. I thought it was free, i didn't see a sign telling us you payed for autographs!"

 

It didn't stop me from seeing another Guest but, i was (back then) a little put out by the fact you had to pay.

Now i'm not so green around the gills but, i always wondered why we need to pay. Now i've seen DavidB's reply it all makes sense.

Edited November 16, 2006 by datalore

[nicky]

Guests charge us cos they can.

[dazzlerjames]

I have often been asked this question myself - why do you pay for them? After my brief meeting with Carrie Fisher at C6 I too wondered why I had bothered!!

 

I know what people are saying but book signings etc are cheaper, as I've mentioned before I got a Pele Auto for £10 yet his "mates" are charging £25 at another show and that doesn't include an autobiography.

As a Spurs fan I wait by the bus at games and have a fully signed shirt yet the club are charging £250 for the same thing.

 

Both Kenny Baker and Jeremy Bulloch sign through the post for free as does Brian Blessed and Ewan McGregor.

 

Some celebs such as David Walliams and Matt Lucas have said they will sign anything so people DON'T charge for their auto's on ebay as there are so many of them they are worthless!!

 

Maybe if they were all personalised at these shows then the cost would go down as then dealers / sellers couldn't sell them at inflated prices to **** the celeb off.

 

This is why Natalie Portman doesn't sign star wars stuff and David Beckham no longer signs anything.

 

At the end of the day we are prepared to pay for them, does anyone remember the way the press jumped on it when Ray Park was the first person to sell auto's at £15 each - until then £5 was about the going price and that paid for the photo really.

 

Until we refuse and say actually that's too expensive - how dare you blank me and then demand £20 for a scribble then we are defenceless against the cost of celebrity.

 

I'm not saying its right or wrong as I was quite prepared to pay £40 for Christopher Lee's auto but couldn't believe that Buzz Aldrins was £90. I believe Mark Hamil charges a similar amount yet Frank Oz who is more successful in his own right as a pupeteer, actor and director will sign for free through the mail.

 

Curse ebay and autograph dealers for the prices we pay, Darren

[nicky]

Curse ebay and autograph dealers for the prices we pay, Darren

eBay are not auctioneers, they are merely a venue...with policies but they do not influence price.

[Brian1701]

Curse ebay and autograph dealers for the prices we pay, Darren

 

Well i can't say about ebay as i've never brought anything off it, but the dealers...well that's something i can. Back at C10 i met Alice Krige. I got a normal 10x8 and a larger picture, or print i should say, an artists' impression of the Borg Queen with the Borg sphere escaping from the cube ship. Now in front of me in the queue was this guy waiting to met Alice as well. He got the artists' impression print £15 he had a breif chat with her and went. in-between signings i checked out some of the dealers stalls, and low - and - behold there was that guy! He was a dealer and what did i see.... the print he had signed earlier up for £15.

 

I asked him if that was the same print he replied "No i got that at another convention."

I didn't believe him and he knew i didn't, but what can you do?!

[dazzlerjames]

I wasn't blaming ebay itself just blaming the amount of fakes and over inflated prices on there. Also the fact that ebay along with other auction sites make things more available than ever before and this can often lead to false prices for example I saw an item a while back (forget what it was) which was readily available in the shops yet people on ebay were bidding at double the price!! (Why?).

 

I have no problem with ebay just some of the people that use it!!!

[RainbowDisney]

 

I'm not saying its right or wrong as I was quite prepared to pay £40 for Christopher Lee's auto but couldn't believe that Buzz Aldrins was £90. I believe Mark Hamil charges a similar amount yet Frank Oz who is more successful in his own right as a pupeteer, actor and director will sign for free through the mail.

 

Simply put..Christopher Lee is an actor that will just fade away in later years. Buzz Aldrin is set in history for life hence the high price tag

[dazzlerjames]

I'm aware of the difference between an actor and somebody who has acheived something really big and he deserves his place in history - I just find £90 for an auto offensive!!

 

These sort of prices set the boundaries for everyone else - I say about Christopher Lee but thats because there wasn't really anyone else at LFCC that I was really desperate to see - if there was then I would not have been prepared to spend £40 on an auto.

 

I would however pay these sort of prices if you got to chat with the guest properly (or maybe a dinner), have a photo taken (by a proper photographer not a crew member!) and get a limited signed print that was only available at that place at that time.

 

It's all about as individuals what we are prepared to pay and we all have different limits. I have 2 kids and a mortgage whereas someone else may still go to school, live at home and have a part time job - if that's how you want to spend your money then fairplay to you.

[TommyT]

I'm new here so, i'm sorry if this topic has already been done. But since i started going to the ShowMasters conventions i've always wondered....why do we get charged? I understand on the photo side of it but, on the signing i don't. Also it could range from just £10 - £25 depending on who's signing. It's not been a problem, meaning i've not gone " paying for a autograph! why should i do that?" I've just wondered why? . So many of us spend so much of our money to see, met and get a autograph from our favourite stars - it's just, why?

I'm not sure whether your question is addressing the financial or the philosophical side of things.

Financially, if you're going to "drag" an actor hundreds or thousands of miles, and get them to sit in a large room for a couple of days talking to people, perhaps mugging for the camera, and signing autographs, then you're going to have to pay them. At the very least you're going to have to pay their travel costs, food costs and accommodation costs. And given that you're asking them to do something, as well as giving up their free time, then that sounds like work, for which they're going to perhaps expect remuneration. So yea, financially, getting a guest over from the States is going to cost several hundred pounds minimum (because one suspects they'd like to fly club class rather than cattle class), a few hundred pounds to feed and water them at something more upscale than Mrs Miggins B&B, and whatever they thing a couple of days of their time is worth, which won't be tuppence either.

As to why do people pay to get their squiggle and however many words they exchange? Why do people pay to watch football games? Why do people pay to drink beer? Presumably because it's an experience they enjoy, they have pleasant memories, and sometimes a permanent memento of the occasion. After that, prices are just a matter of market forces. Asking why Buzz Aldrin's signature costs £90 is like asking why you can pay £100k for a Ferrari; because people are willing to pay it. If nobody was prepared to pay £90 for Mr Aldrin's signature, no doubt he would either stop signing or drop his price. Similarly, Ferrari would either go bust or change their pricing. If you don't like the prices then pretty much your only course of action is to hope that enough of the rest of the market agrees with you. It's the way of the world. DVDs are the price they are purely because enough people will pay that price that the film/video companies don't need to think about selling them any cheaper because it won't make them any more money. At the end of the day, meeting somebody and getting their signature is a commodity, an item, a thing for sale, like a tin of beans.

[showmasters]

...getting a guest over from the States is going to cost several hundred pounds minimum...

 

Oh, if only it did!

 

Andrea

[Alx]

...getting a guest over from the States is going to cost several hundred pounds minimum...

 

Oh, if only it did!

 

Andrea

 

 

*smirks to self*

[Brian1701]

...getting a guest over from the States is going to cost several hundred pounds minimum...

 

HOW MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!

[TommyT]

...getting a guest over from the States is going to cost several hundred pounds minimum...

 

HOW MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!

What? You thought a return flight from say LA to London was perhaps 80 quid?

Even cattle class you're talking about £300 if you're lucky and shop around.

If you want specific dates (and in some cases specific times), are often going to have to buy at only a few weeks notice, and presumably the minimum guests will travel is club/business class, then you'll be lucky to avoid four figures. With those sort of constraints on your booking it's quite likely to be over a thousand, and possibly considerably so. And if it's somebody who has to fly first class, you're looking at edging up towards five figures.

Go to an airline site and see what a return flight from LAX to LHR costs you, first class, for a long weekend. (If you think several hundred pounds is a lot of money, you may need smelling salts).

[Brian1701]

...getting a guest over from the States is going to cost several hundred pounds minimum...

 

HOW MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!

What? You thought a return flight from say LA to London was perhaps 80 quid?

Even cattle class you're talking about £300 if you're lucky and shop around.

If you want specific dates (and in some cases specific times), are often going to have to buy at only a few weeks notice, and presumably the minimum guests will travel is club/business class, then you'll be lucky to avoid four figures. With those sort of constraints on your booking it's quite likely to be over a thousand, and possibly considerably so. And if it's somebody who has to fly first class, you're looking at edging up towards five figures.

Go to an airline site and see what a return flight from LAX to LHR costs you, first class, for a long weekend. (If you think several hundred pounds is a lot of money, you may need smelling salts).

 

 

Tommy you may be someone who's got a few bob, but some of us haven't. I don't get the chance to do the traveling i want to do because of that. And yes, some people do think a few hundred pounds is a lot of money. Some people never get that kind of cash so what planet are you living on?

 

I, on the other hand, have been fortunate but, not fortunate enough to have the money to keep flying round the would in first class or in "cattle class" as you put it.

 

I started this thread to get input not to have someone look down on me like i'm idiot. And i'm not that stupid to realize that no-one can get a return flight for £80 to that part of the world

[theoden_of_rohan]

...getting a guest over from the States is going to cost several hundred pounds minimum...

 

HOW MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!

What? You thought a return flight from say LA to London was perhaps 80 quid?

Even cattle class you're talking about £300 if you're lucky and shop around.

If you want specific dates (and in some cases specific times), are often going to have to buy at only a few weeks notice, and presumably the minimum guests will travel is club/business class, then you'll be lucky to avoid four figures. With those sort of constraints on your booking it's quite likely to be over a thousand, and possibly considerably so. And if it's somebody who has to fly first class, you're looking at edging up towards five figures.

Go to an airline site and see what a return flight from LAX to LHR costs you, first class, for a long weekend. (If you think several hundred pounds is a lot of money, you may need smelling salts).

 

 

Tommy you may be someone who's got a few bob, but some of us haven't. I don't get the chance to do the traveling i want to do because of that. And yes, some people do think a few hundred pounds is a lot of money. Some people never get that kind of cash so what planet are you living on?

 

 

 

You've missed Tommy's point completely. He was suggesting that you "might need smelling salts" because the cost would probably be a shock to the system, i.e. very high. He wasn't suggesting that "several hundred pounds" was a small amount of money!

[TommyT]

...getting a guest over from the States is going to cost several hundred pounds minimum...

 

HOW MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!

What? You thought a return flight from say LA to London was perhaps 80 quid?

Even cattle class you're talking about £300 if you're lucky and shop around.

If you want specific dates (and in some cases specific times), are often going to have to buy at only a few weeks notice, and presumably the minimum guests will travel is club/business class, then you'll be lucky to avoid four figures. With those sort of constraints on your booking it's quite likely to be over a thousand, and possibly considerably so. And if it's somebody who has to fly first class, you're looking at edging up towards five figures.

Go to an airline site and see what a return flight from LAX to LHR costs you, first class, for a long weekend. (If you think several hundred pounds is a lot of money, you may need smelling salts).

Tommy you may be someone who's got a few bob, but some of us haven't. I don't get the chance to do the traveling i want to do because of that. And yes, some people do think a few hundred pounds is a lot of money. Some people never get that kind of cash so what planet are you living on?

You've missed Tommy's point completely. He was suggesting that you "might need smelling salts" because the cost would probably be a shock to the system, i.e. very high. He wasn't suggesting that "several hundred pounds" was a small amount of money!

Thank you sir. You have interpreted my post perfectly.

Whilst I can't plead absolute poverty, and I do make numerous flights per year, the only time I fly anything other than cattle/economy class, is when some of the more generous clients of my employer pay for it, or when I get bumped upwards (again, I claim no great ability or insight on this - sometimes it happens because the previous flight was screwed about, sometimes just because they like the look of me, I guess). And I use the phrase cattle class because that's how *we're* treated (and an airline employee acquaintance of mine hipped me to it as an insider term) rather than out of arrogance. When *I'm* paying, I certainly don't pay any more than basic economy, because I can't afford to. I too count "several hundred pounds" as a considerable sum.

My post was generated out of the "blink" smiley in response to when I'd posted that a flight across the Atlantic would cost several hundred pounds minimum. I took this to be an expression of surprise, and presumed that the author thought that such a flight only cost seventeen shillings and sixpence or something. similar. I apologise if I misread datalore's post.

For the record, if I had the money, I might fly business class to the West Coast for the comfort, space and convenience, the difference between £400 and £1800 being worth it when you have very long legs like mine and also take into account the "extras and the pampering.

But I don't have the money, so I'm up the back of the plane with the rest of us. And even if I owned all the tea in China I wouldn't pay seven and a half grand for first class - oh you may have even more legroom and in fact a bed, and a nicer lounge at the airport etc, but I can't help feeling that for that step up from business to first it feels like you're paying about four grand for a nicer class of airline food.

Anyway datalore, again, no sneering intended.

[Brian1701]

Thanks Tommy. I was just, at the time, was a little surprised when getting a singing being asked for money at the convention in Birmingham. Like most of us, i too have bumped into the odd celeb in my travels as i drive for a living. Got the odd freebie even went to a Radio 1 roadshow and got Simon Meyo's sig! My sister back in the mid '80's liked EastEnders so much she started writting to the cast for their Autographs. She also has a sig from one of the Female dynasty stars and the late Sir Laurence Olivier. All these were free and thru the mail.

 

So going to my first convention was a big shock to find you had to pay for the Autograph. It was more surprise than anything else as i'd never done anything like this before, and didn't know you had to pay. Although it was, if i remember rightly, free entry! As with these events there is nothing to say for new people you need to pay for the signings. The only way your told about this is the web site. And if you don't know the site, you don't know you have to pay until your there and in the queue.

 

I know it was a bit stupid of me not to realize the cost of getting these people over here and, the hotel to stay in.

 

So it does make sense to me why we're charged.

Edited November 23, 2006 by datalore