Getting IP Autos for resale

[sedinfan]

I've got no problems with anyone selling an IP auto... but trying to get a bunch of them and being rude about it ain't cool, and ruins the experience not just for the athlete but any kids (or kids at heart) who are around and actually excited to meet their hero. If someone just wants to meet the athlete and then decides they don't really have room in their PC for the IP auto and moves it to someone else, that's cool, but no need to be a transparent ™™™™™™™ about it.

[subban7677]

No kidding. Handing a player a STACK of 8x10s is ridiculous. Get one thing signed, say thank you, and that's it.

[30ranfordfan]

It's been a long time since I tried to get IP autos (I really have no interest in that anymore... other than for a handful of retired players if they were to do some kind of show / event thing I could attend) but I do still do a few TTM autos.

If I were the athlete, I'd get pretty tired of it. Signing for fans? Sure. As long as the requests stay reasonable. Sign so you can make a buck off my name? Wouldn't be thrilled with it.

Of course I do agree that if you want to try and flip your IP autos for a few bucks, you should go ahead and do it..... but if you're going to ask a player to sign a stack of 8x10s, you should expect him to ignore your requests.

[Drewk86a]

I think getting IP autographs for the sole purpose of trying to make money is disingenuous.

Try this litmus test: When approaching a player do you say
"Will you sign this for me?" or"Can I get your autograph?"

or do you say

"Will you sign this so I can sell it?"

My guess is nobody says the latter because in their heart they know it is less than honorable

[hossa18sens]

When I live in Toronto several years ago there was a guy who asked a player for his auto (don't remember the player) and the player said he didn't sign anymore because he was tired of people making money off his name. The fan said it was just for him and busted out a binder with picks of his man cave. The player smiled and signed an 8x10 for the guy. It was so cool to see lol.

[RGM81]

There's a clip on the Canadiens' TV show, 24CH, that has Carey Price talking about the autographs hounds at the team's practice facility. He knows that for some people a signature makes their day, and some of the people there he makes their day every day.

This stuff is also the reason that some players have an "A" auto and an "IP" auto.

[Sharky94]

The players usually know who the re-sellers are. I was outside the Capitals practice facility once years ago when Adam Oates came out. He signed for a few people, but when one guy walked up to him, he said "No" and continued to sign for others. That guy had a binder full of cards and was asking for multiple autos from every player. So Oates knew exactly who he was. Players could easily cut down on a lot of it if they only gave one auto per person. Re-sellers would not consider that cost-effective.

I very rarely ever ask for more than one auto at a time. And if I do, I try to explain why. I travel to CA to visit my mom every other year for Christmas, so I don't get to many Sharks practices. If I ask one of them for a second auto, I will always try to explain that I only get out there every other year. Since there usually aren't too many people at Sharks practices in December, they are usually pretty good about it.

Where you are and who the player is has a lot to do with whether or not they will sign multiples. If there are 50 people around, they probably wont. I remember catching Jim Palmer outside Camden Yards many, many years ago and asked him for his auto. He immediately looked to see who else was around. Since I was the only person there [I just lucked out and happened to be walking by the door he came out of], he stopped and signed. But I know if there had been even one other person there, he probably would have blown me off. And if the player isn't as popular and doesn't have as many people asking for his auto, he'll be more likely to sign multiples.

All that being said, I have very rarely ever purchased a card that someone else got signed. And when I do, I will not pay much. I figure if a guy can make a living forging $3 autos, then more power to him. But most people will not waste their time doing that. I got a baseball signed by Ray, Bob, and Brett Boone years ago -- the first third generation family in the majors. I had a Brett and Bob signed card to go with it that I got at games. So I wanted to get a Ray Boone auto'd card. Since I was never going to meet him again (got the ball signed when I met him originally), I paid a guy $3 for a signed card at a show. The auto was identical to the one I got myself on the ball, so I was confident it was real, and I figured not many people would waste their time trying to forge a Ray Boone auto for money.

But as others have said, I would not pay more than probably $5 for an IP card from someone else. It just isn't worth it. If you are going to pay a lot of money, you better get an authorized auto. Not worth taking the chance because there will be people who will try to forge autos. And if someone is not willing to give you something for $5 that they got for free, then screw em. Anybody who pays $20 or $30 for an IP auto is just dumb. The purpose of having an IP auto is that YOU got it. If you didn't get it, then it shouldn't be worth much to you.

[KingKuba]

If a player told me he does not want to sign because of possibly someone selling it...then I'd tell him his auto is worth $2 anyway...so no worries..

[canucksfan007]

If a player told me he does not want to sign because of possibly someone selling it...then I'd tell him his auto is worth $2 anyway...so no worries..

And he would tell you your opinion is worth even less ..... some might say worthless

[theboxbreaker96]

And he would tell you your opinion is worth even less ..... some might say worthless

Im one of those guys that say worthless. Great comment