I recently asked someone “How do you find these artists of cards to get your cards signed? What events? Where do I look?”
I never bothered to even think of getting any of my cards signed, but then it popped in my head, are signed cards a small niche thing?
The thing is, getting a card signed would seem to make it more valuable, but then I keep thinking about someone using permanent marker on a beautiful card, & I wonder if most people would actually like the card to be untouched?
I think the discussion in these two threads should answer your query.
Cheers!
Ah ok, thanks!
If you’re looking for a way to just make your cards more valuable, its not a great way.
First, when an artist signs, they treat it like a gift or a present to a fan. They perceive selling as extremely disrespectful. The westerner counter-argument is that it is not up to them what you do with your card. It’s definitely a cultural difference, there’s no right answer here but the reality is that if you’re signing to sell you need to accept that you are basically deceiving them.
Secondly, the premiums associated with signed cards are appropriate. It takes a huge investment in both time and money (and luck) to attend these scarce events. Flights and hotels cost me close to 1k per event I’ve attended in the past year. You are also sacrificing 3-5 days.
Finally, the number of signed cards you can get per event is limited. There are a lot of people who went to events and left with nothing. The average person at the Ariga event left with 2 cards. Once you get into this side if the hobby, you really get into it too. I doubt any serious collector could be ok selling both copies. In the end you are lucky if you break even.
And as a bonus point, at least for the last two events held by Overload Events, if you get caught selling you are risking your ability to attend future events
In other words, trying to make money by getting autographs is hard, unreliable and potentially reputation damaging to some degree
I think these are definitely the biggest points to autographing in general. When I’ve worked with English and Japanese voice actors and artists, they genuinely do love and want to interact with all of their fans (if time and energy allowed). Down the line, however, they do run into the occasional flipper. I think that’s where the second point to charge a premium per signature is appropriate.
The other alternative practice to charging a premium that I’ve seen more and more of is personalizing autographs with the name of the fan. Much harder to flip a dozen copies of an item personalized to “Bradley” on eBay to a general audience. But also at the same time, after something is personalized like that in front of one’s eyes and in-person, wouldn’t one want to treasure that item even more?
I agree too, I would definitely want it out to my name if I’m keeping it… unless the card would go for hundreds of thousands, then… I’m a flipper. I’ll be flipping my flippers on the coast of Greece with a martini & communicating with the dolphins near the ancient pillars of fjhffvhhv after that sale. 
I made the exact same thought when George Romero came to my place for an event and I asked him if he could sign my night of the living dead DVD insert (I ain’t anything better at that time) on the back to not ruin the art in the front.
He ended up smiling while I was dying inside thinking the marker he used would vanish from the lucid card. Knowing the subject it was predictable (he hated that kind of stuff).
Long story short, my advice is to make the artist sign the back of the card so he can’t ruin the front.
Joking aside, it’s very subjective, to like the card more with or without the autograph, you can have the artist sign wherever you want afterall