Frequently Asked Questions

Where does The Autograph Shop obtain their autographs?

We take pride in offering ONLY the finest genuine hand signed collectibles. These days we obtain our autographs one way only and that's through private signings directly with the stars themselves through our network of approved companies for whom we hold licences. Every autograph is witnessed in person by a representatives of The Autograph Shop and the celebrity. This way we know that each autograph is a genuine hand signed collectible and with this new policy we can comfortably provide an unconditional Lifetime Authenticity Guarantee on all our products!

Are the autographed photos individually signed by the celebrities or are they mass produced copies?

Every item that The Autograph Shop sells was individually hand signed by the named and featured celebrity. Our products are NOT pre-printed with replica or stamped autographs nor do we use any other method of signing such as secretarial signatures or auto-pen. Our products are the real deal! If an item is a reprint or preprint then it is CLEARLY stated on the rear with a bold sticker and is such advertised and clearly stated in all marketing.

Do your autographed items include a Certificate of Authenticity (COA)?

Please keep in mind when purchasing any autograph that the COA is only as good as the company that provides it. You must trust the company you are doing business with and believe that they are looking out for your best interest. All of our signed items come with an unconditional lifetime authenticity guarantee (to the original purchaser ONLY)! We also offer a 100% money back guarantee on any autographed item proven to be other than as represented on our COA (see our guarantee policy). You will not find a better guarantee or commitment to customer satisfaction in the industry! Our COA is our guarantee to you, the customer, that we stand 100% behind all of our products and appreciate the faith that you have placed in our company. Each item produced is issued with an individually issued and numbered COA from us, not a third party or other party! An electronic image is taken of each item as produced and all items are marked inside the frame for added security. All COA’s that we issue have a photo of the item showing what it looked like on the day it left our premises. That way, when purchasing one of our items from someone else, either one of our distributor’s or private resellers, you may contact us for a copy of that image and see if it has been tampered with in any way! All images are copied and stored in a secure location off premises for added security. Please be careful when buying any autograph, we get contacted often from buyers that have been ripped off or cheated by unscrupulous resellers of autographs. If you are uncertain of an item, don’t buy it! Simple! In this day and age of high-tech processes, it is easy to reprint an autograph and pass it on as a “hand signed” autograph. Anyone with a home computer and printer can these days print a COA. If the person you are buying from is ONLY online, does not have an address you can inspect the item at, won’t deal face to face, and so on, we recommend you DO NOT deal with this person. Only those that have something to hide won’t deal face to face or let you know where they are from. Ask to see their COA first, see if there is an address and contact telephone number on it, check for an ABN when buying in Australia. Do your homework prior to buying any item!

Why is there so much variation in pricing between memorabilia dealers?

Every item that The Autograph Shop sells has been obtained in person, either directly by us or through a network of approved affiliates and is guaranteed to be 100% authentic, if one of our people don’t see it get signed, we don’t sell it! Our reputation is on the line with every autograph we sell, for both quality and authenticity and is unmatched in the industry and we feel that we place a fair value on every item that we offer for sale. All of this comes at a cost though. Some of our competitors operate from home or their garage or back shed. Their overheads are minimal or non existent. They are also generally small operators and sole traders. These people you will find generally sell only on online auctions, and therefore can afford to sell a “genuine hand signed” autograph for next to nothing, the problem is that they are the person that has personally hand signed the photograph. They have no idea or concept of autograph collecting and are usually in it just for a quick buck and disappear as fast as they came into the industry! These people DO NOT pay for their autographs, most of these operators are nothing more than scalpers that attend publicity events and get their autographs for free. Most celebrities these days have multiple styles of signing, for example; when signing on the street for a fan, some celebrities have an abbreviated scribble style autograph, these same celebrities will attend a publicity event and sign autographs in a more similar style to their “real” autograph, and finally, when being paid for their autograph in an exclusive signing session, you will find they sign their full and proper autograph! Keep an eye out for the different styles; each style is worth a different amount of money!

Every item sold by The Autograph Shop directly benefits the team/celebrity in question. When you buy Licensed Autographed Limited Edition Memorabilia from The Autograph Shop be assured that you are supporting your team, favour driver, cricket or other celebrity! We are the ONLY licensed producer of Autographed Limited Edition Memorabilia for the teams as listed on our home page. Anything you see that does not carry our name on it or doesn't come with our COA is NOT LICENSED! Buying from these people you are encouraging pirating, potentially supporting fraudulent acts but most of all, YOU ARE NOT SUPPORTING YOUR TEAM, you are costing them money!

Is there a difference in papers on which photos and prints are produced?

Special moments in history need preserving, with increasing care, science, technological breakthrough’s, this process seems to be winning! These issues are ensuring that the next inning, race, no matter what event, is safely preserved for Our Lifetime and that of Our Children and Grandchildren! Each and every moment in history can be retained by that one special piece of history hanging on your office or home wall ….. the art these days is in the making, the detail and the lengths we go to thus ensuring perfection. It all begins in the paper. We will ONLY stock items that come from reputable suppliers known for archival stock, rated up to 250 years and beyond! This means that our items won’t go yellow, won’t develop mould and they won’t fall apart. These features all come at a cost. But irrelevant when you look at what you are buying. We don’t just use quality stock; we use the best possible product that’s on the market!
A most important factor is the ink used! The offset inks used MUST be colourfast, light fast and non-reactive to bright lights or any lights in fact! Notwithstanding this, purchasers and collectors are advised most clearly that they not hang or display their collections in bright rooms or direct sunlight. We do suggest you take advantage of the stocks and colours in every piece that you do display your pieces with suitable lighting and conditions, including fluorescent or halogen lighting.
The pens used for signing. We only use specially formulated pigmented inks for autographs. Countless tests carried out by us and various pen manufacturers have shown us what pens to use and what not to use. Be careful what you buy and from whom! Unless you are buying from someone reputable, your prized piece of memorabilia may be nothing more than an expensive print with a faded autograph!
The MOST important factor in any memorabilia is the framing. After years in this industry using some of the country’s top framers, we decided that the best way for us to ensure a consistent level of quality we could rely upon was to do all of our framing in-house. We spent months researching materials, tools, machinery to find what we believed was the highest levels of quality that would be something that the purchaser would expect when dealing with The Autograph Shop. Further to this, we then went out and recruited what we believe is one of this country’s most capable Master Framer’s to run and control the quality of memorabilia that is produced! Our items are never mass produced when it comes to framing. Our approach is to produce stock at a Custom Framing level of quality. Each item produced by The Autograph Shop is individually scrutinised by our Master Framer and the Founder of The Autograph Shop, Mr Zoran Lendrec. It we aren’t happy with the item, you will never find it being offered for sale! All components used to manufacture and produce a framed item are 100% acid free! We use ONLY acid free tapes especially designed for such purposes. We have 2 processes we use to hold down prints; most times we use the hinging method where the item is just hinged at the top with acid free tape to hold it in place. This is the RIGHT and preferred method. We will on occasion at the request of a client, use a self adhesive acid free foam backing. The whole idea behind framing though is to preserve the signed item. If the framed item gets dropped or damaged in any way, whether through improper care or purely accidentally, and needs to be reframed or repaired, the autographed item MUST be able to be pulled out without being damaged due to the framing process in pristine condition!

What is the returns policy of The Autograph Shop?

Please choose carefully. Due to increasing instances of fraud and deceit within society, its has become company policy to NOT exchange items or provide refunds once purchased simply because the purchaser has changed their mind! If goods are found to be damaged due to shipping or have any fault which is NOT the doing of the purchaser but is a manufacturing fault, The Autograph Shop will repair or replace the item at its discretion. All costs for such will be carried by The Autograph Shop but are limited to the cost of shipping and the purchaser shall not be entitled to any compensation for loss or suffering due to this defect. Please retain your receipt as proof of purchase and also for insurance purposes. If your insurance company requires a letter of market appraisal, please advise us at time of purchase and we will organise such for you. There will be no charge for this service if requested at time of purchase. WHEN YOU BUY YOU NEED TO CHOOSE CAREFULLY, WE WILL NOT ISSUE A REFUND IF YOU CHANGE YOUR MIND!

What do I do in the case I believe the item I have purchased is a fake or forgery?

We here at The Autograph Shop have no concerns or issues with the authenticity of an autographed memorabilia. We obtain our autographs through an approved network of affiliates, dealers, collectors and directly with celebrities themselves. If one of our people hasn’t seen the item get signed, we don’t sell it! We offer a 100% money back guarantee (limited to the original purchaser ONLY and not any subsequent purchase’s and limited to the original purchase price as shown on sales receipt)! In saying this, if you believe that the item you have purchased is a forgery or not what is stated on the COA, we suggest you contact a licensed and accredited Forensic Handwriting expert and conduct your own tests through him. If this test comes back as saying the autograph is not as stated, please forward a certified copy to our premises, along with the autographed item. We will then have a look to check to see if there has been any tampering with the autographed item and make a decision based upon this. If we believe that the item is not as specified on the COA, we will either replace, repair or refund the original amount the autographed item was sold for (upon presentation of a receipt of purchase). The Autograph Shop’s liability will be limited at refunding the original purchase price, plus a reasonable amount of shipping cost for the autographed item to be returned to our Head Office in Trentham, Melbourne and the first $250 of any forensic test cost. The Autograph Shop will not be held liable for any other costs or damages whether implied or not to the purchaser.