Should Celebrities Charge for their Autograph?

I have a friend who is into collecting celebrity autographs? She gets a crazy-eyed thrill out of receiving a signed photo or memorabilia item. For years she's tried to get me into the hobby, but to me it just seems pointless. But she was persistent and after years of poking and prodding (yes literally poking me while saying, "Hey you should try to get an autograph"), I finally agreed to give it a try. So I wrote a simple little request letter to a celebrity who I wouldn't mind having in my scrapbook, and about 3 months later I got 2 photos back autographed. Now I wasn't nearly as excited as my friend, who was so eager that she grabbed the envelope from my hand and tore it open like it was the last Hersey bar on the planet. But I suppose it was cool to get something back from a celebrity after all the money I've spent on rising theater & DVD prices.

She and I made our way to Comic Con this year and she was so excited to get an autograph from her favorite Sci Fi celebrity... ugh, sometimes she can be embarrassing at these, one year we dressed up as Jedi knights and she kept trying to do a Jedi Choke Hold on every DC superhero we'd run into. Yet this time it was me who was embarrassing her, as I kept complaining about the long line we were waiting in for this guys autograph, only to find out that she had to pay for it. So when we reached him, I asked this celebrity why he was charging for his autograph, shouldn't it be free? I half expected him to tell me to Bugger Off, but in true Canadian fashion, he was polite and took a moment to explain his reasoning. Which frankly wasn't unreasonable & I found myself agreeing with him.

So what did he say about his charging for his autograph.. well that's between him, me, and the crowd of people standing around us giving me dirty looks. But after chatting with him, I have a definite opinion on the age ole question... should celebrities charge for there autograph? And its an astounding.... depends on the situation. Ha ha, you didn't think it would be easy did you?

This is how I see it, you can get autographs 4 different ways. And this is what I think about whether each one should be charged for.

1) You can literally buy them from Ebay or a Memorabilia shop... and of course they're NOT free, expect to pay through he nose.

2) You run into a celebrity on the street or other public place and ask for an autograph or photo with them. You definitely should not be charged for an autograph in this situation. It would be tacky for a celebrity to ask for money from you in this situation. They either want to give you an autograph or they don't, they are free to say no, for any number of legitimate reasons and SHOULD NOT affect your view of them as an entertainer. Remember, they have lives outside of Hollywood and should be allowed to walk down the street without being bombarded by autograph requests every few feet.. they have places to go and things to do just like you and me.

3) Conventions and public signings. Not all celebrities charge for there autographs, but the one place they all should is at public gatherings such as Comic Cons and signing events. Before you all go ape-shit and leave negative comments, look at it this way. At these type of events, they are there specifically for YOU... the fan. So that YOU can interact with them, even if for only a few moments. In many cases these celebrities are supplying the photo to be signed, willing to write a specific sentiment, happy to speak with you for a few moments or even pose with you in a photo, so you can go bragging to all your Facebook friends that you met this amazing celebrity. To me that's worth $10, $20, $40, even $50 dollars, to get a chance to shake hands with someone who inspires or just really entertains you. Lets face it, politicians have been doing it for decades.. what do you think political fundraisers are. For politicians we'll give them thousands of dollars to sit in the same dining room, shake there hand or have a photo taken with them, yet we whine like unruly children if a celebrity dare charges $30 dollars for there time to sign our photo or DVD cover... and make no mistake, it is there time we're paying for in those situations. Just because you, me and Master Chief like to dress up like our favorite TV/Movie character and trudge around a crowded convention hall on our day off from work, doesn't mean that our favorite celebrity shares that particular interest. To them its part of there job, whether its interacting with fans, being on a panel, or autographs.. so why shouldn't they get a little something for their time. The ONLY EXCEPTION  would be if the convention committee that is running the event or the entertainers agent or production company is paying the celebrity a handsome wage for their appearance. Then perhaps the autographs should be free

4) Sending a fan mail autograph request. If you just send a fan mail letter with a request and a couple photos for the celebrity to autograph, then you shouldn't be charged. You also shouldn't expect to EVER see those photos again. In this situation, there are no guarantees, if they have the time they'll do.. or not. I look at it this way, if a celebrity chooses to read your fan mail, then decides to autograph and return your photos, then that's a gift to you. That's the celebrity saying, "Hey thank you for the nice letter, thank you for being a fan, here's my autograph that you requested." Its their choice to read, autograph and reply to you, so money should NEVER be requested in that situation. Also you shouldn't expect them to pay postage... despite what we all believe, celebrities don't wipe there butts with $20 bills. So if you want a photo autographed, you provide the photo and a stamped envelope to return it in.

Exception to #4) Some celebrities will have a special request section on their websites. It'll say something like send your photo, memorabilia item, or what ever to them and they'll autograph it for $10 or some other amount. In this case, if your sending it to a specific address like that, too me its the same as if they were at a convention. They are guaranteeing you a moment of their time to give you an autograph. If you don't want to pay for it, that's your choice...

Well those are my thoughts on the autographs thing.. I'm still not really into this as a hobby, but I have sent out a couple more autograph requests... again at the literal poking of my friend. If I get an autograph back, she'll probably open those too.. LOL!