Expert: Pattie - 1/6/2009

Question
QUESTION: I have a "Introducing the Beatles, Englands No. 1 Vocal Group" album cover (no album inside) autographed by Paul McCartney. He stayed at the hotel I worked in in 1989 and 1990.
Is there any value to it at all?
Just wondering.
Thanks for your time.
Toni

ANSWER: Hi Toni!

Yes, there absolutely is a value to it. The good thing about the Beatles is that everything they seemed to touch turned to gold. It was true then and it's still true today. Autographs, when authentic, are some of the most valuable things you can own by any celebrity, especially one of the Fab Four. Because they are no longer on this plane of existence, signatures by both John Lennon and George Harrison are sought after the most and bring the highest price. Now that Ringo Starr has announced that he would no longer be signing autographs, both his and Paul McCartney's have gone up in value. Depending on what was signed and when, autographed items can be worth many thousands of dollars. Because you got your autograph directly FROM Paul and not from another source, that is the provenance you need to authenticate the sig. If you're really interested in selling it, you can go via eBay or any other sites like "itsonlyrockandroll.com". If I were you though, I'd save it. Make it an heirloom, something you can hand down to your kids or grand-kids. Make sure you store it properly, because ink denigrates over time. My advice is to have it professionally framed, in archival glass with museum quality, archival matting. Don't let even the glass touch the ink itself. That's what I've done with my autographs from both Lennon and Harrison. Also, make sure you have it insured. You could safely put a current value of at least $3000 on it. It will only go up from there. Hope this helps. Thanks for the question!

Peace,
Pattie
8^)





---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for such a quick response Pattie! Now, how can I go about selling it?? At a fair price, of course. I'd appreciate your insight/guidance once more, please!
Toni

Answer
***UPDATE***

Hi Toni...

I've just been contacted by someone who has an interest in purchasing your signed album. If you are still interested in selling it, please contact me at my band site which is pattie@luvmedeux.com and I'll put the two of you together...

Peace,
Pattie
8^)

Hi again, Toni!

Well, if you'd really like to sell it, you have several options available to you. First would be to take it to a reputable dealer in your area to see if they would be interested in purchasing it. I have no idea where you live, so I can't really give you names or numbers that way. Look online to see if there is a dealer in memorabilia or rare records, that where you'll find your dealer. Keep in mind though that you won't get as much money going to a dealer as you would selling it on your own. The dealer is in the business of making money, so he's got to figure out how much he thinks he can get for it and then make an offer to you of far less than it's actual worth. You can also sell it on eBay. I've been dealing with eBay for years and the biggest problem with it is that there have been so many people trying to sell fake autographs as genuine that the market got glutted and now a lot of people are gun shy. HOWEVER...because YOU are the one who got the signature from Paul himself, that's what you put in your auction listing. Most people want a certificate of authenticity. Those can be expensive. In your case, you KNOW the graph is real because you got it yourself. I truly believe that honesty is the best policy. If you go the eBay route, take LOTS of pictures, make sure you watermark them so that nobody can copy your graph and tell the entire story of how you got it. I'd say you could probably start the bidding low, but put a reserve on it of at least 1K. Other than that, you can try Craigs List. There's a guy in my town right now who has a signed Beatles LP for sale on there as we speak. I wish I had the money to buy it LOL. If you need any help, give me a shout and I'll see what I can do for you. Good luck!

Peace,
Pattie
8^)