Fake autographs

I am very concerned about the level of fakes that I see on ebay every day, and it quite alarms me to think that some of my customers are buying them, however I have no power to stop them, I merely warn EVERYONE not to buy from auctions that are 'PRIVATE' in anyway, or to buy from the 'fastest shippers on ebay' kind of sellers, who give no indication of their location. As a member of the UACC I have to abide by these rules, which I would anyway, but of course the non members do not, and it appears that ebay have no intention of, or abilityto, police them.

It will be noticed almost immediately that there are many ommissions from my listings, these are the peoplewho will not sign or have not signed for a long time, however I see their autographs for sale day after day.

I did not even have a Scott Bakula in my own collection, until he recently appeared at the 40th anniversary of Star Trek show in Las Vegas, I have only had a couple of Jeri Ryans to sell in three years, and whilst I do have cast shots for sale, they take so long and so much money to collect, that I cannot afford to list them at 29.99, like some I have seen.

I am totally unable to see how sellers can have copious quantities of cast shots of every popular show and sell them for such low money, week after week these items keep appearing, from the same sellers, they are hard enough to get once, and yet they keep turning up with six and seven autographs for less money than a single signature. Even if you have aquired these signatures outside theatres, studios etc, why would you sell them at less money than it must of cost to obtain them in the first place?

I have been trading in autographshere for a little over six years and my field, though expanding, is very small, luckily I have been able to visit almost every major signing show in Europe and the States during that time and have made some very good friends in the business, which has even enabled me to be involved in private signings to help my trade.

This is not my full time job, merely an extension to a hobby, which I very much enjoy.