This guide is intended to help those who are not familiar with the autograph program on the etopps website

Etopps has given its members the opportunity to purchase an autographed etopps card on its website.



Each card is available for only a limited time.  More times than not the card that is offered sells out.  Sometimes within two minutes!

Autographed cards were made available in the past sporadically.  Then it became once a month.  And recently, as of February 2007, once or more per week!

To purchase an autograph, one has to meet the following criteria:

1. You have to be a registered member of etopps
2. You must have the card that will become available for autograph already in your online portfolio

Once you've met these two requirements, you can purchase the autograph...but you have to move fast. 

Why?

Sometimes the autograph is announced ahead of time (few days in advance) on the etopps home page and if you don't have the card, you may have to pay an inflated price because the demand for the card goes up to have it in one's online portfolio in time before the autographed card is offered.  (Please read my guides how to claim an online etopps card after paying for it and how does the etopps on-line program work for additional help on this topic).

Recently, for example, there was an online article on Beckett's site that mentioned a few upcoming autographed cards.  This article was posted on the etopps message board.  Some etopps members bought these cards ahead of time while others didn't see this article or see the posting on the etopps message board. 

Once you place your order, the card will be removed from your online portfolio and the signed card will be shipped to your provided mailing address via UPS anywhere between 2-5 weeks.

You will receive the autographed card in a bubble-lined envelope along with a separate eTopps certificate of authenticity that will provide the day of the signing as well as the serial number that is on the back of the card already.


Etopps maintains a registry of all of their autographed cards which you can look up to verify the card's authenticity.

What's great about these autographs is the player signs the autograph on the card.  It is not a sticker that is placed on the card (as you can see in the above photos I included in this guide).

There are third-party companies that offer etopps cards that are not offered on the etopps website.  One of them is ecardautographs.  They have offered many etopps cards that have sold out and have great customer service.  The only downside to these third-party companies is Beckett Grading Services will not grade autographs from them but will if the COA is from eTopps.