We and our partners share information on your use of this website to help improve your experience. Why do celebrities charge for autographs at conventions? And, Im pickier about which media guests I get autographs from, as minimum prices seem to have risen to $40 (with some tacking on an additional charge for personalization). Signing an autograph takes what, 10 seconds max? By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. I mean you cant be giving stuff away for free when you can make money off of it, right? She was also not willing to sign custom art or home-printed images. Merch sales and meet and greet VIP tickets are critical sources of income. So go ahead and invest in some scratch off lottery tickets and maybe if you get some matching numbers you will winthe 50 smack-a-roos to garner yourself some expensive crumbs to pay for your fandom. To me, it makes them look cheap to expect some additional money for that. Dealing with piles of fan mail is, however, an administrative burden for most celebrities. The New York Comic Con lists an astounding 243 opportunities for fans to get autographs over the four-day convention. Your policy strikes me as being reasonable. Or natural characteristics in certain letters may be missing or unnatural. The athletes demand an appearance fee for their time, which the promoters seek to recoup by charging for autographs. So when I found out he was speaking at a local college there was no way Id miss the chance to actually see him. Alex Rodriguez. Of course, looking back, that was probably a mistake. The results are varied. The autograph fee is definitely frustrating if you are just seeking mementos and not looking for an investment. Overall, however, Cam has the right to charge. Its an exchange, you get an autograph and keepsake, they get some cash. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". It never have to pay for them. They would rather give their autograph out for free. It was an expected part of celebrity and was included in the price of admission. So I guess it all evens out. When I was younger, Id get the autograph out of respect and admiration for the person I was talking with. It is unreasonable to ask someone, even someone well-known to sit for several hours for a couple of days meeting with people without any compensation. The best thing to do is talk to other people who have attended previous conventions to get a sense of who charges for what, and how much. Me, I had a good time playing father-daughter geek reporter team, though I did manage to get in a few of our typical con activities in between, Become a member to support the independent voice of Houston Why you hurt me like this Peter David? It keeps their conscience clear, I guess. If you saw Sylvester Stalloneat New York Comic-Con in 2013 thenthere's a good chance you paidclose to $1,000. That said, the ink from today doesnt look like ink that has aged for several decades. As folks were still settling down in the smallish auditorium I noticed him come in and sit down in the first row. Arnold Schwarzenegger & Taylor Swift Are Pioneering Digital Signatures; Whos Doing it Right, Whos Doing it Wrong? Back then, only one actor ever tried to charge for an autograph, and since it was so uncommon at the time, I balked and never even bothered to try getting it. I remember going to a Star Trek convention some ages ago and getting autographs from several of the cast members. I remember seeing you once at SDCC in the mid-90s when they were cracking down on autographing at any location other than a booth. This explains the silly a la carte pricing chart. Or maybe youll suggest that cancer patients should get autographs for free, in which case wed like for you to draw the line for people who deserve free autographs and those who dont. Now, with comics driving a significant portion of pop culture, they seem to have become sidelined in favor of media guests with ever-increasing autograph fees. I think one could argue that in giving the public whatever they've become famous for (like great movies) they've already made a significant cultural contribution and don't "owe" us anything further. Then I found out tickets were $160, and Im fairly sure you couldnt even bring your own stuff to have signed. How much does it cost to hire a celebrity? As a fan, of course, I prefer it when Im not getting charged. It is very thoughtful of Harry Styles to do things this way because he knows that . Cool if thats how it isthen they can give us back the millions WE put in there pockets brother via supporting them buying there products/going to games etc! The price for Keatons autograph varies depending on the item being signed and ranges from $250 to $275. Really?.I mean Really? I then became much more like Lawrence Taylor, LT, than I identified with JoeThats ridiculous! No way am I paying that. By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. So an autograph that was costing $20, is now at $26. The so-called fan was no fan, just an opportunist who wanted to get some free . If that could become industry standard then it would make everyone happy. Many older athletes didnt earn the same kinds of salaries that they do today, and they actually need the money. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. In recent years, comic-book conventions have become big business for movie and TV stars, who charge their fans top dollar for the opportunity to get a signature or a photograph. They always say they love the fans, and care for them, but have a God complex when their fans show support. That price would have included the autograph as well as grading and encapsulation of their newly signed comic. Purchasing a Robert Downey Jr. autograph would set you back $700. Celebrity Guests set their own pricing for their autographs, photosand merchandise, so we really don't have a way to tell you ahead of time. Batman fans were overjoyed to finally have their masks, posters, and comics signed by Keaton who many consider to be the Batman. A kiss? Then Id show it off, as proof I met my idol. Thats normally far too rich for my blood, but his was the final Firefly cast member whose autograph my wife & I needed to have all 9 on the DVDs. Required fields are marked *. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. For some reason this has become a hot topic of discussion lately. Labor for the event is $1,000. Will Ferrell. Not a member? So they have a reason to show up. The up and coming you can usually get for free. Buthow will you maintain your reputation as an ogre with a reasonable policy like that? However, the price goes up to $295 on larger items like posters. The world we live in, unfortunately. Thats just me, but the athlete does have the right to maximize profits in any way he/she can. Mantle, whose autograph has sold for as much as $30, earned more than $150,000 last year signing on occasional weekends--more than he ever . I wish all comic writers thought about this like you Peter. Create a signNow account (if you haven't registered yet) or log in using your Google or Facebook. A few years later, I told my friends I met Bruce Lee and got his autograph. Its work, after all. It was an expected part of celebrity and was included in the price of admission. On a side note, Mr. David I am SO EXCITED to see that you are coming to the TIDEWATER Comicon in VA, next May. I handed them over to him at that point. Do artists have two different signatures? The last time that Mark Hamill participated in a signing was in 2017 when he charged $295 per autograph. Some may see it as a way to compensate for the inconvenience or the invasion to their privacy. How much do celebrities charge for autographs? They can sell them at conventions, or to collectors . Hmmmand to think I got Johnny Us autograph for free and he was even gracious enough to throw me a pass before he signed the football..SMH! I managed to get up the nerve to approach him and left with personalized autographs in my copies of Pebble in the Sky, I, Robot and The Foundation. Dress as your favorite character and walk around the floor. Happily winding my way through the crowd of vendors and buyers and fans and artistsI reached the photo-op ticket window. The most important factor in valuing a signature is the person who made the autograph the more iconic the individual, the more the autograph can be worth. Can someone hack my PC through online games? The one caveat? Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. 100$ is a good money for middle class ppl come on man! So I thought I would make my own position clear. How soon everyone forgets. Now, it's expected that each scrawl will be worth a set amount of money as a way to defray the cost of bringing the guests down. Then there is the human factor to consider, if people basically refused to pay the prices under protest. Large format items like posters start at $440 while add-ons like character name or an inscription will each cost an additional $145. Photo: $445. Most of the celebrity guests charge for autographs, and depending on the celebrity, they may also charge to take photos with them. Total cost for the event is now at $13,000 (a 30% increase) not even including rent and the cost of the items (helmet, jerseys, etc). So if they can get minor guest for /$500 charge /$10 a throw it doesn't take long to get into profit. I mentioned I had copies I bought for my friend, and you jumped in and said, Let me autograph them for him. I hesitated a moment, then handed them over. Marketing ends up costing $2,000. Now, it's expected that each scrawl will be worth a set amount of money as a way to defray the cost of bringing the guests down. If people dont want to pay Newton to sign stuff, they dont have to. Dont care. In some cases, it is their only source of income for a show they did decades ago. Do celebrities actually sign their own autographs? Some may see it as a way to limit the crowd. Thats fine. As a result, he made the decision to stop signing anything altogether, no matter what. Can you really afford Kim Kardashian? While I had more stuff that I wanted signed, I thought that was fair as well. They were the best of times. Another way of looking at it is if it werent for the fans, there would be no fame. Back in the day, Isaac Asimov (a.k.a. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. And the rest of us are free to think they are greedy for doing so. My firm represents sports and entertainment figures and we have a strong relationship with the NBA Retired Players Association. If you think youre immune from that, we suggest entering the following terms into a Google search: Pete Rose tax evasion autograph. up to 16 by 20 inches; to $599 for autographed . Click here to watch more NBC Sports videos. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. As the star of The Walking Dead, Lincoln probably rakes stacks on stacks in photo money, but hereportedly donates all the proceeds from his convention appearances to charity. But some actors would rather be doing anything else than hanging out with their fans, and some of the smarter celebs know that their fame may not last, so why not make some quick cash for taking photos while they can still charge a ton of money? Amusingly, the only two actor photos from back then that I still have hanging on my wall are two that at the time, I just got because the actors were there but I didnt know who they were, and I only have since then become fans of their work and the show that they were both in: Lalla Ward and Nicola Bryant.