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Thanks for dropping by to take a look at our autograph signings' Frequently Asked Questions listing. We're hopeful that you'll find all the answers you're seeking about how we conduct our signings. If it's not answered here, please send us an email and ask away!Table of Contents
How do your signings work?Wattographs is the online leader in Star Wars autograph collecting. We've been online since 1996 and doing in-person signings with Star Wars actors since 1997. We've held countless signings with cast and crew from the Star Wars films several times each year since 1997. In 2005, we had nearly 60 different Star Wars names sign autographs for us. Generally, we obtain autographs in a few ways. First, we work with the individual actors or their recognized management to set up a signing. Most of the time, we will have contact with and send send items directly to the actor themselves or -- less frequently -- via their management. During the other times, we will meet the actor at a convention and arrange for items to be signed there. We also have a couple of collectors who sometimes help with the harder names by getting them in-person at specific events, such as a movie premiere. When we go this route, it's people we know and trust implicitly -- people who we've personally worked with and who share our same values regarding authenticity. We value our spotless reputation for authenticity and would never do anything knowingly to damage it. In any case, we don't use third-party autograph services. If we are unsure to the authenticity of an item or signer, we will not offer them for sale. Period. We're often imitated by other sites. But, rest assured, we have set the precedent and everyone else has tried to copy it. Back to TopAre the autographs real?Without question. Because we work so closely with the actors directly or actually attend events in person, our reputation for authenticity is second to none. This is one of the main reasons people deal with Wattographs for their autographs. If we have ANY doubts about an item whatsoever, we won't sell it. Back to TopI can get Star Wars autographs cheaper on eBay, why should I purchase from you? Take a look at the following photo:
While prices may be cheaper on eBay, authenticity is definitely a joke in MOST instances. The FBI estimates that upwards of 50%-90% of autographs offered online are FAKE. Consider the photo we show above, which came from an eBay auction. Natalie Portman is well-known for not signing Star Wars items, except for charity. How can this person get all the hard signatures (Portman, Jackson, Christensen, Smits and McGregor), while the two EASIEST signatures in the Star Wars galaxy (Kenny Baker and Peter Mayhew -- who both do TONS of conventions each year) aren't even on this photograph? Since Natalie Portman doesn't sign Star Wars items, except in extreme rare cases for charity, the chances of you obtaining her autograph for what amounts to a pittance is slim-to-none. And, keep in mind, that it costs money to chase down autographs. Even an in-person collector who'd obtain Natalie somewhere has to pay for gas, photos, pens, food and many other costs. Thus, for a true in-person collector to sell autographs for $10-$15 one should IMMEDIATELY raise a red flag. Additionally, at conventions, the going rate is mostly now $20 per signature, whether on YOUR item or the CELEBRITY-PROVIDED item. Many actors even charge more than this. This trend really started making itself shown in mid-2005. Lucasfilm's own Steve Sansweet said the
following about autographs on eBay, in issue #87 of the Star Wars
Insider: Finally, Wattographs' Gary Price is a recognized expert on authenticity of Star Wars autographs. He is currently writing a reference book about collecting Star Wars autographs. Back to TopDo you offer Certificates of Authenticity? Yes. While most COAs can be created easily by anyone who has a computer, they are generally considered to be worthless. Wattographs has our own proprietary certificate of authenticity called Authentic Autograph Registered Certification (AARC). Our certificates are professionally-printed -- we've gone to the expense of making something more than just a laser copy. The certificates themselves are full-color with anti-copying measures built into the piece. This system uses two custom holographic security labels with identical serial numbers on them. One label goes on the item (on the back, so as not to distract from your photo and autograph) and the identical label goes on the professionally printed full-color AARC certificate itself. Your item is already logged to a specific signing date and range which can only be changed by us. You, however, can register your item online so that it's tied to you. Should you ever decide to sell or trade it, the online database will keep track of all owners who register the item, thus establishing provenance for your piece. Any items obtained via Wattographs can be easily tracked for provenance and authenticity, as provenance is the only way to establish rarity of an item. We also create special COAs for our Connoisseur Series. They also feature anti-copying features built into the certificate, which would make it very difficult for someone to copy. Back to TopOur pricing is based on what the actor charges us for signatures. Many times, this price is influenced by currency differences. The British Pound (£) is much stronger than the U.S. Dollar ($), so if we have to pay in Pounds, that difference is nearly double the dollar. Of course, we do have some mark-up on autographs because we have to ensure a profit when setting up the signings. We do often have travel expenses, convention admission, photo cost, hotel rooms, food, etc. Consider all the costs you'd have to pay to attend a convention to get an autograph. At shows, many actors now charge a minimum of $20.00 to sign your item or their provided photo. So, this is the base price -- at cost -- that we will often have to work from, if we can't work out a discount with the actor for purchasing multiple items. The glory days of $5.00 autographs and $10.00 signed photos are long behind us. Even signings where we have to mail items directly to the actor require postage, insurance and tracking costs. We have to factor all expenses into prices for autographs offered on the site. Thus, prices can vary tremendously based on what we are required to pay, expenses. currency fluctuations and difficulty in obtaining the signatures. However, Wattographs is often MUCH better priced than other places that offer Star Wars autographs. Back to TopWhy do autographs cost so much more on my personal items? Wattographs was the first to allow people to send in their own personal items to get autographed. This is very risky for us because we are then saddled with responsibility. We have extra packaging and postage costs when sending the items to and from the celebrity for autographing. Or, if we're hand-carrying your items to a convention or to a private signing, these items add weight and bulk to items carried on airplanes, often resulting in higher fees for additional baggage. Thus, we've instituted a surcharge to cover these additional expenses. It's the only fair way we can think of that allows you the option of having your personal items signed by the celebrity, without incurring costs for ourselves, which could rapidly drain any profitability for a signing -- which would then end us doing signings altogether. Back to TopHow can I pay you for autographs? Generally, when we have signings, we provide a payment link using PayPal. We prefer this, because it gives both Wattographs and you an electronic "paper trail" for tracking payments. You can use a credit card with PayPal, as well as an electronic check. We also realize that some people still don't trust "all this electronic stuff." We will accept check or money orders for payments, but unless it's noted, you must contact us. Checks must clear our bank before your items will ship. There will usually be a link on the signing page for check and money order payments. Back to TopUnfortunately, we're not set up to allow phone-in orders. Wattographs is not a "brick and mortar" business with a physical location. No overhead for a physical store means less prices charged for autographs! Back to TopWe try and have a flat rate for shipping. Most of the time, it's $8.00 for shipping. We use USPS Priority Mail for United States addresses and USPS Air Mail for non-U.S. customers. If you desire insurance, we recommend including that amount with your payments. We are not responsible for any packages mailed which have not had insurance included in the payment. We've recently built the cost of the shipping into the overall cost of the autographs offered via our private signings. Your shipping includes the cost of postage, as well as a hard plastic "top loader" for your photograph. For bulkier items, like posters and action figures, shipping is sometimes more to reflect the added cost of sending more than just an envelope. Items from our on-hand store inventory usually have the shipping charge already added to the item. Back to TopAbsolutely! We have many customers literally all over the planet and we're happy to ship anywhere the post office will deliver. As mentioned above, international shipping rates are often the same as domestic U.S. shipping. Back to TopItems sent to U.S. addresses can be insured. The post office doesn't offer insurance for non-U.S. addresses. Back to TopAs mentioned above, we use USPS Priority Mail in the United States and USPS Air Mail for non-U.S. addresses. If you have a different preferred method, such as DHL or FedEx, please contact us. Higher shipping rates will apply for anything other than the U.S. Postal Service. Back to TopHow long will it take to receive my order? This will depend on the event or signing. For private signings, as soon as the items arrive to us from the actor, we start shipping immediately. We usually begin shipping the following day after items arrive. If we have a representative attend a convention, the items are usually sent the Monday after the convention or as soon as possible after being sent from a convention. Once they arrive with us, we begin shipping the next day. Generally, you should expect your items 2-3 weeks after the date of the signing. This may sometimes be shorter or in more rare instances, can take longer. We will usually send out emails if the wait will be longer than we expect. Back to TopHow can I track the status of a signing? We regularly update the status of each signing on our STATUS page. The most current information can be found there once a signing has completed the ordering phase. Can I get bulk/wholesale rates? If you are looking for multiple pieces of the same image or have lots of your own items that need signing, please contact us. We are sometimes able to offer bulk/wholesale rates on signatures with low or reasonable minimum orders. Back to TopMost of the time, you'll have some choice of which image you'd like signed. This happens most often when we schedule a private signing, rather than a convention signing. In fall of 2005, we started working closely with Official Pix, the company who has the official license from Lucasfilm to create and sell authorized Star Wars images. We plan to work with them in order to get first generation, professionally printed photos, rather than copies of copies of photos as often is the case that you'll find at conventions. Official Pix has provided us with great -- sometimes new -- images of our signers and, in some instances, never-before-seen or rare pictures! If we aren't able to arrange photographs ahead of time, like picking them up at a show, please rest assured that we will choose the best image of the person and it will ALWAYS be of their Star Wars character. We're collectors ourselves, so we are careful to choose only choice images that will benefit an autograph collection. All images we offer in "regular" signings are 8-inches (20 cm) x 10-inches (25 cm), the standard size in the United States. Our Connoisseur Series -- for the serious Star Wars autograph collector -- features larger-sized photos and offers true gems that will form the centerpiece of any Star Wars autograph collection. Back to TopHow come you only have a studio image of the signer, versus a movie image? Because we deal with Official Pix, who get their images directly from the Lucasfilm Archives, we're limited to what's available at the time we put the signing online. Oftentimes, there may not be a particular photograph of a specific scene. More often than not, the studio shots are "reference" photographs of a character, so they're more readily available. In the event of specific shots from a particular movie, we'd incur additional costs for having that image being researched inn the Archives, then sent to Lucas Licensing for approval -- we have to pay all costs associated with getting that particular image if it's not already in Official Pix's inventory. We would also be subject to specific minimum orders which we don't always get. And, to get wholesale pricing on photographs, we also have to buy a specific amount. Thus, if we offer several photographs for a signing, it spreads out amount of photos being ordered, which affects our minimums. We also have a time-frame which affects getting images. If we choose to request an image from Official Pix and not have a "rush" applied on it, it can take up to six months for them to add it to their "regular" inventory (or we incur enough fees to make it cost prohibitive). Many times we don't have a lot of lead time on signers, so we have to balance taking advantage of a signing window or not having them or their images available at all. In the case of some characters, they were only filmed/shot against a blue screen background and Lucasfilm isn't keen on releasing these types of photographs. All of this would result in higher costs of autographs, which we try to avoid. With regards to quality, in the original Star Wars trilogy photographs weren't taken in many instances or the photograph that was taken isn't of the highest quality -- this is due to the limitations of film, versus today's high-resolution digital cameras. Rather than giving you a choice of an image which has questionable quality, we'd prefer to go with studio shots which are specifically designed for a better quality shot. How clear are the images used for autographs? The images we get with Official Pix are the clearest you will ever be able to get, as they are taken directly from images in the Lucasfilm archives. If we are unable to get images this way, we will do our utmost to get the best reproducible images as possible. We try to avoid "collage" photos or other images which are of a poor quality. We understand it's important to have an image from the film of the character the celebrity played, versus some "artsy" wannabe image that leaves a lot to be desired both in composition and quality. Since all of our photos are the same size, you won't have to worry about odd-sized images and having to display or store them. Back to TopCan I send in my own items for autographs? Wattographs was the first to allow you to send in your own personal items for signing. Something that others -- again -- have copied. We realize that many people have specific items of their own that they'd like to send in to get autographs. So, when we do private signings, we try and accommodate any personal items you may have that you want signed. We may impose a surcharge for larger items like posters and action figures, as these require special handling and often have to be hand-carried to signing events. The extra fees cover increased postage costs, as well as airline baggage fees which may increase when we are taking a LOT of items. When we take items, they are personally escorted by whoever we have going to that convention or if they are being sent to the signer, they are catalogued and inventoried personally by us before sending. Back to TopAre there any items I can't get signed? We prefer not to take very large action figures (12-inch) or multi-packs of figures (like the "Cantina Showdown") -- they're bulky and easily damaged. We generally don't like to take other large items like stand-ups and/or helmets as, again, they are very easily damaged. We will not take any items which might be considered tasteless or offensive, including nude photos and the like. Some actors may have problem signing non-licensed items or photos and will not sign them. Wattographs will try and make this known when possible. Larger items might be accommodated on a per-show basis. You may assume that we will charge a surcharge to carry these items. Please contact us with any questions. Back to TopCan I get my items personalized? Wattographs the first to do so and we offer personalization whenever possible. Once we instituted this, nearly every other person offering Star Wars autographs copied what we did. However, it is up the individual celebrity as to whether or not they will personalize. Some celebrities won't write their character name or any movie quotes. There are a number of factors which could result in a celebrity not personalizing your item, including time constraints and personal policies. But, please rest assured that when you do request personalization, we do everything we can to obtain it for you. Back to TopCan I choose a specific ink color for my autographs? You may request an specific ink color and we'll do our best to get it for you. Generally, we use blue Sharpie™ brand markers on photos, unless it's a dark photo, in which case we use a metallic silver or gold paint marker. On previously-signed items that you send in for autographs, we will try and match the ink color that's already on there in order to keep your item consistent. You may indicate ink color, as applicable, in the "Optional Instructions" box on the PayPal payment check-out page. Back to TopCan I get a picture of my item being signed? Due to the large amount of items we get, it's not usually possible to get a picture of your item being signed. We are able to arrange this for a special occasion, but as a general rule, we don't photograph each and every item being signed. It's just not feasible given the amount of items we get signed and the amount of time we have to do so. Back to TopHow are items packaged to be sent to me? We use standard Priority Mail envelopes, padded envelopes or standard 9x12 envelopes to send photos. For action figures, we ship them well-packed in boxes. If you order a poster, it will be sent in a stiff poster tube. Back to TopDo you offer a money-back guarantee? The only reason we can think of that would warrant a money-back guarantee would be in the case of provable non-authenticity. Since we deal directly with those who autograph for Wattographs, this has never been an issue in all the years we've been doing signings. All items are paid for directly upon purchase from the celebrity and aren't offered on consignment or to see if the signature is good. So, the only time we will refund money is if you were able to prove to us that the item we got signed isn't authentic. Back to TopDo you have a customer loyalty program? As of October, 2005, we do not have a customer loyalty program in effect. However, oftentimes we get last-minute signings that we can only offer in extreme limited quantities. We offer these items FIRST to the people who subscribe to our newsletter. In addition, we sometimes offer free or reduced-cost shipping, and/or additional bonus items for those who purchase from us. The bonus items have ranged in everything from movie studio promotional items to autographed Star Wars items. We may look into a more formalized customer loyalty program in the future. Back to TopYes! In January 2006, we added framing to our services. You can read more about our framing services HERE. Back to Top |
