www.autografica.co.uk

www.autografica.co.uk  Our new website has over 700 signed items listed, and almost all are different from those here on eBay. Included are several Ali items, De Niro, Lewis Hamilton etc.

Me! I had been a collector of autographs since i was 12, but in the late 80's i started to collect more seriously and looked at turning the hobby into a business. At the time i owned a couple of model shops, but the recession (and those damn distributors!) were killing them, so by the early 90's i had sold the shops and made the move full time into autographs.

By 1999 i had established myself and was making a reasonable living from the new business, and looked at branching out. By now I had visited all the UK shows, and some in the US too, and decided that i could do better. I started 'Autographica' with another UK dealer and 'The Worlds Largest Autograph Show' was born. After 10 shows, i decided to call it a day, and sold my share to my partners, and left them to it.The event has had some great guests, including Sir John Mills, Val Kilmer, Richard Todd, Buzz Aldrin, Alexei Leonov, Sir Norman Wisdom, Ursula Andress, Honor Blackman and many more.

As a result of creating and running the show, it put me in a unique position to know all the best of the UK dealers, and its always interesting to read the list of dealers attending, as it shows just who are the real dealers, and who are the ones are claim to be the 'UK's leading autograph seller' etc, as those 'Leading Sellers' names never appear at our shows as either buyers or sellers, so i think that tells you a lot about just how good those dealers are! The same dealers are never seen at any of the known autograph auctions either, and only seem to appear on eBay! Check out the website at www.autographica.co.uk and come along and meet some real honest dealers face to face!

Autographs. When looking for autographs, look out for UACC Registered Dealers (they have a 3 figure number, not a 4 figure number. Those with a 4 figure number are members only, and anyone can become a member!). You can now also find a number of excellent dealers on the AFTAL website (just google AFTAL) all of which are based in the UK, and all have been checked out by the AFTAL board. Look also for IPDA members, there are not too many of these about, but they can be trusted. All these people take their autographs seriously, and are mostly full time. Avoid those sellers who are only a member of the Manuscript Society (again anyone can join, and mebership means nothing) as they have often joined them because they have been thrown out of the UACC!

Avoid anyone using Private feedback or bidding, they are trying to trick you in some way, and these dealers should never be trusted. eBay has now realised this, and is slowly phasing out Private bidding and feedback, the UACC banned members from using it last year.

Avoid also any dealer selling loads of the same famous names, Beckham for instance, a very forged signature, and all the sellers with Madonna and other in demand top names every week. And if they tell you they have contacts on the inside, or work in the film business, they are lying! If it sounds too good to be true, then on eBay you can be sure it is! Signed photos of Elvis are worth a lot more than £14.99 !

I am also the UACC ethics board man here in the UK, i was voted UACC Dealer of the year in 2000 and won the presidents award for Quality in 2006. I also work alongside Police and Trading Standards in various fraud cases, have had numerous articles published in  magazines, and have advised TV's The Real Hustle and BBC's 'Inside Out' programs on fake autographs and memorabilia, and just recently was heard on the Chris Evans Drivetime show, where Chris introduced me as 'the King of autographs'   

Be sure to read my eBay Autograph Guide via the link below, its an essential read for any collector, and is now the number one guide to autographs on eBay, and don't forget to vote!

Tuition. I have recently been trained by eBay as an Education Specialist to their University standards, and can now offer tuition to both individuals and groups of all levels.

Tuition starts at £79 for a full 3 hour course, which is aimed at the complete eBay beginner. The course includes a 200 page official eBay manual, minumum 3 hours instruction, 30 days telephone support, and my own 50 page handbook of tips based on my own 15000+ sales and over 8 years experience on ebay.

You can find out more about my tuition at my official eBay Education Specialist website here...  http://www.espunitedkingdom.com/ebay/student/insView.asp?id=54139782