autographed stuff on ebay

there's a guy who's now selling autographed Gaslight items (magazines, album covers, cds...) for $49.00 each (and more)... it's not the first time, won't be the last one.

there were a couple of guys after the show in Brussels (and i'm sure this happens most of the nights) who were waiting for the guys, i asked them if they liked the show and they said they hadn't even assisted, they were just waiting for the band to sign some items so they could put them on sale on ebay afterwards...

i honestly think this is wrong and dishonest and people shouldn't sell this kind of stuff (unless you're having real money troubles and you have no choice but to sell your collection, although i doubt this is actually what happens in most cases..), but sadly that's the way it is... and as long as there's people buying these items, there will always be people selling them and making profit out of them.

so my point is, let's stop buying these items!... better spend it on some official merchandise or in some other way to support the bands you like instead of giving it away to some random dudes...

what do you guys think?

well said, I see there was an autographed copy of American slang on ebay about 3 weeks ago, for some reason the cover caught my eye, think it sold for about £20, see the same cd turn up recently from another seller but framed for about £100....must be an expensive frame.

Bea - you should see what its like outside a football stadium with ebayers collecting loads of autographs for them to sell. Its mad but it is big business. Robbie Williams from Take That has started selling autographed pictures on his own website for £500 I think which is just madness! There is a market for signed items as some people will never get the chance to meet their hero and get an autograph. More of a concern for me would be fake autographs of the band starting to appear at inflated prices which is really fleecing the fans.

yeah you're absolutely right but that's the point: Gaslight is not a huge band who sells millions of albums or a football team. i know how a huge business it is, but i don't really care about what 'big stars' like Robbie Williams and thousands of other artists do to win more money (apparently selling millions of albums is not enough) and where their fans spend their money =P
all i'm trying to do is to raise a bit of awareness on this forum so Gaslight fans won't go around wasting their money. i'd understand how hard it would be to get a signed CD from Gaslight if they were big rockstars, but they're not and it's pretty easy to get these signed yourself (as many people already know )

I'm in agreement with you Bea - just not sure what we can do outside of our ever growing community. For example there are over 1100 members on this forum but nearly 15,000 followers on twitter and over 65,000 fans on facebook so there are plenty of people clearly willing to buy these inflated items from the band who will never have seen them live or get to meet them.

there's probably not much we can do but still it's something that pisses me off and so i find it to be a good subject of discussion to know everybody's opinion on the boards, that's all

Its a good subject and would be interesting to hear how many people on the forum have already purchased a signed GLA item from ebay?

Honestly Gaslight should just put generic signed stuff up for sale themselves, and then when they sign stuff in person throw in a message like "Happy listening CluckyB'.

That way, it becomes even more valuable for the signee, and less valuable for everyone else. You still have the incentive to get stuff signed by the band, but only for yourself / a friend.

Speaking of getting stuff signed, whats the best way to actually go about doing that? I don't want to have to worry about keeping my le America Slang record safe during a concert but it would be really awesome if I could get it signed somehow.

Have never bought signed Gaslight stuff but did take a gamble on a couple of signed Springsteen and a signed Bowie dvd, all came with COA but that means nothing, I guess i will never know if they are genuine.
I have signed cds and an LP cover by Gaslight, but my own photos signed by the band make them so much more personal .I think i would say an autograph is worth nothing unless you get it yourself.

Many thanks, Bea, for raising this issue.

I think Brian has caught onto the fact that not all is right about some autograph collectors, but I don't know how he means to tackle it.

Signed copies of American Slang (vinyl and CD) were available at Hammersmith at unsigned prices. I did post about this at the time, as I saw someone buy several (I wonder why?).

I usually ask the guys to write my name as well, simply because I like it better that way. If ebay selling ever did become a problem, they could simply insist to always dedicate signed items.

However, there are fans who may never get to see them live, and those fans may well be tempted to buy signed stuff on ebay. If TGA offerred those items themselves, they would still be resold on ebay, unless the supply was constant.

It's worth raising when they next start touring.

CluckyB wrote:

Speaking of getting stuff signed, whats the best way to actually go about doing that? I don't want to have to worry about keeping my le America Slang record safe during a concert but it would be really awesome if I could get it signed somehow.

there's a 'lockers area' (i don't know the exact word in English) or someplace where you can leave your coats and bags in every venue. i brought my AS poster and lp with me, left it in a locker during the show and got them signed afterwards

btw found this a few days ago:
http://vimeo.com/16547169
go to 4:00

Bea wrote:

btw found this a few days ago:
http://vimeo.com/16547169
go to 4:00

Benny: "it kinda sucks"

you wont be finding this anywhere near ebay .

brucesboots wrote:

you wont be finding this anywhere near ebay .

great stuff and thanks for sharing (even if I now have a pain in my neck)

I think the guys appreciated the effort you made in putting this together (did you get it done via some online print service or is it a collage?) and they (Benny at least) can obviously tell the difference between a fan and a mere autograph hunter (though they may not want to say 'no' in case they do offend a real fan)

the bigger they get, the more special signed stuff becomes, especially if it is dated (I think); I am cross I did not get my 'TD/SLY' cover dated (16 Nov. 2010), as it is the first one ever that they signed (you heard it here first!)

Quote :

it is the first one ever that they signed (you heard it here first!)

Alexander, i was standing next to you at the time ! You have a witness that it was the first one


Had the poster made from photos I had taken at gigs early on this tour, i have another one ( a bit smaller ) from 2008/09 but thats for another time.Had poster (montage made by snapfish.com.) chuffed with it.

Brians message reads.

to Steve,thankyou for all the shows you"ve come to and support for all our music
20-11-10 Brian Fallon
" maybe we can cut some place of our own with these drums and these guitars "

Brian took the time to explain why that line means so much to him and the band, our chat will stay with me and my wife forever, blown away !!!

that looks amazing!

brucesboots wrote:

Brian took the time to explain why that line means so much to him and the band, our chat will stay with me and my wife forever, blown away !!!

and he explained something about this in an interview too, although hearing the story in person with probably more details is so much better, lucky you

the following is currently on ebay UK at £130

the CD appears to be one of the ones signed for HMV for the UK fall tour and which I saw for sale at an HMV stall at Hammersmith (I remember the green sharpie)

the CDs were being sold there for £7 (seven!) and I was told they had signed almost 200

and that frame may be complete crap; some off the shelf job

it should be illegal (as well as the fake gold/platinum discs)

Looks like that signed CD has sold already or has been taken down!

nop, it's still there

Down by the Mersey wrote:

Bea - you should see what its like outside a football stadium with ebayers collecting loads of autographs for them to sell. Its mad but it is big business. Robbie Williams from Take That has started selling autographed pictures on his own website for £500 I think which is just madness! There is a market for signed items as some people will never get the chance to meet their hero and get an autograph. More of a concern for me would be fake autographs of the band starting to appear at inflated prices which is really fleecing the fans.

Well Robbie Williams is a genius.

Bea wrote:

there's a guy who's now selling autographed Gaslight items (magazines, album covers, cds...) for $49.00 each (and more)... it's not the first time, won't be the last one.

there were a couple of guys after the show in Brussels (and i'm sure this happens most of the nights) who were waiting for the guys, i asked them if they liked the show and they said they hadn't even assisted, they were just waiting for the band to sign some items so they could put them on sale on ebay afterwards...

i honestly think this is wrong and dishonest and people shouldn't sell this kind of stuff (unless you're having real money troubles and you have no choice but to sell your collection, although i doubt this is actually what happens in most cases..), but sadly that's the way it is... and as long as there's people buying these items, there will always be people selling them and making profit out of them.

so my point is, let's stop buying these items!... better spend it on some official merchandise or in some other way to support the bands you like instead of giving it away to some random dudes...

what do you guys think?

I've been to this show aswell. I saw these guys... They were starring at the doors for them to come out and looking at their watch every ten seconds. That's just kinda rude/dumb I think.

Bea wrote:

that looks amazing!

brucesboots wrote:

Brian took the time to explain why that line means so much to him and the band, our chat will stay with me and my wife forever, blown away !!!

and he explained something about this in an interview too, although hearing the story in person with probably more details is so much better, lucky you

Any chance that you remember which interview? I'd love to see it!

I could never justify buying an autograph. For me, an autograph I didn't get on my own in next to meaningless. The meaning comes from the memory of being with the person and having a story to tell. Ink on an object, in itself, carries no emotion. I want to get that ink there myself.

fullcollapse wrote:

Any chance that you remember which interview? I'd love to see it!

i can't find it. now i'm starting to think i dreamt it xD maybe it was a radio interview or something... i remember it had something to do about him singing the line "i hear your sister's voice calling us home accross the open yard / but maybe we can cut some place of our own with these drums and these guitars"

Bea wrote:

i can't find it. now i'm starting to think i dreamt it xD maybe it was a radio interview or something... i remember it had something to do about him singing the line "i hear your sister's voice calling us home accross the open yard / but maybe we can cut some place of our own with these drums and these guitars"

ugh, bummer! I might have to start meticulously studying interviews anyway, as it is, so maybe I'll come across it.