Tips & Hints - Celebrity Scribbles

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Tips & Hints - Celebrity Scribbles

Tips & Hints

Good Guy v Bad Guy

Buying an autograph from someone you trust can feel like a minefield, especially if you've never bought one before. There’s a lot of non-genuine signatures out there and we've supplied some information below so you have sufficient knowledge to help you make an informed decision.

Genuine Memorabilia collects its own signatures and our main collector is Dave Sherwood. We sometimes use other trusted sources such as AFTAL members along with those people close to us whom we trust. Our 'About Us' page tells you more. We've applied for AFTAL membership which takes several months to complete but we're hoping to have it sorted by March 2012.

It's our number one priority to ensure all our signatures are genuine, after all, it’s what our reputation and credibility is built on. AFTAL members have been open to scrutiny and their reputation is important to them like ours is to us, but when you're dealing with the world in general, here's a few things to be mindful of . . .

Offers of Valuation - A site or shop may seem credible with claims of 'reputable sources' and 'authenticated products' but beware when, at the same time, they offer valuations and seek to buy from people other than their 'reputable sources'. These claims are in direct conflict with each other.

Prints - Prints are photos that have been signed by a celebrity and then copied through a machine. These autographed photos have no significant resale value since they are not genuine signed memorabilia items. The best way to distinguish these photos from the real ones is to hold the photo up to the light as pre-print photos are blurry and original photos are not. Duo-print photos have a separate signature printed on top so that they look original but these photos are also considered fake. Duo print photos can be identified in the same way as pre print photos.

Proxy of Secretary Signature - Some celebrities ask proxies or their secretaries to sign their photos for them. The best way to identify fake autographs is to check the signature with a real one. Real signatures of a celebrity can be found on the internet as many websites display the real signatures to distinguish them from fake signatures. At times, proxy signatures are very close to the real signature so you may need to use a magnifying glass to help you see the difference.

Rubber Stamp Signature - A photo that has a rubber stamp signature is very easy to identify. The rubber stamp signature is usually very messy and at times the signature can be faded. Although rubber stamp photographs are easy to identify, there are many such fake photos about.

Forgery - A forged autographed photo may or may not be easy to detect because some people who forge signatures are very good at what they do. The best way to try to identify this fraud is to do your best to compare the signature in the photo with the real signature on the internet but it's often extremely difficult for the average person to know one way or the other.

Protecting Your Interests - If you believe you have been sold a fake photo you should complain to the relevant authority or company, ie Trading Standards, eBay etc, however, you may find it very difficult and time-consuming to get any recourse. If you know you have a fake photo you should not sell the photo as anything other than what it is.

Our Advice - Deal with established websites or shops as you have a much better chance of addressing anything you're unhappy about. Look for information that reassures you about who you're dealing with. Browse in order to build up your confidence by looking for the company’s contact details and address, read about the people and how they go about their business, check their policies, ethics, procedures, commitments to customers, delivery and returns policy etc.

We have not included Certificates of Authenticity in the checklist because, although we issue these certificates with all our items because they're reassuring, unscrupulous traders can easily generate these certificates and they are, of course, completely worthless.

We hope this article is helpful. Your comments and feedback is welcomed at info@celebrityscribbles.co.uk

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Kerry Dixon

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