Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - Tamino Autographs
What does Tamino Autographs sell?
Founded in 2006, and with an impeccable reputation, Tamino Autographs offer signed photos, handwritten and typed letters with signature, signed books and other autograph material to collectors and institutions, small and large. Read more here.
Is this a physical store? Can I pick up my purchase in person?
We essentially are entirely online business. However, you can still visit us in person to see and/or pick up your purchase yet this is done by appointment only.
Please kindly be aware that there is a minimum $200 purchase for visits and only purchases of $200 or more in total can be picked up. All smaller purchases do not qualify for pickups and will only be shipped. You can return any unsatisfactory items within 14 days of receipt to get a full refund.
Our address is listed in our About Us page, under "Our Location".
You can also visit us in our booth in April every year, at the New York Antiquarian Book Fair at the Park Avenue Armory, and other important events and shows in the US and Europe.
How do you source these autographed items?
We purchase collections by direct sale to us of private collections, estate sales and auctions, other dealers, as well as signings in person. The exact provenance (names, contact information) of our sources is kept private to protect their privacy and our commercial interests.
How do I know it is authentic / Do you guarantee authenticity?
We guarantee 100% authenticity in all items we sell. We are members of the most important dealer associations and have an excellent, long standing reputation to defend.
Tamino Autographs is a provider of autographs to several famous institutions and opera houses, as well as very important collections, museums and archives. We are members in good standing of BBB, The Manuscript Society, AFTAL and other dealer associations and business entities.
The processes we use and the parameters we consider when determining authenticity will be explained in more detail in an extensive article about this topic on our blog: How to Know When an Autograph is Authentic.
Do you Provide a Certificate of Authenticity (CoA)?
Yes, a Certificate of Authenticity (CoA) is provided at no extra charge if you request one after your purchase and before items were shipped. An invoice with a photograph of the item you purchase is provided with all purchases, this invoice certifies authenticity, making the CoA unnecessary, but if you still want a CoA besides the invoice, please ask and we will include one.
It is important that you know that CoAs are only issued for items priced above $100, while invoices are issued including all items in your purchase. Invoices specify items and guarantee authenticity, so CoAs are not necessary. For this reason, we only create CoAs upon request as a courtesy and at no extra cost, but only for higher-priced autographs.
Printed invoices are shipped with orders only for domestic orders. By default, international orders do not include printed invoices inside the shipment - you will receive one via email as PDF - unless otherwise requested by the customer.
How do I see the full description of what I already purchased?
The email confirming your order has the list of what you purchased, and they are all clickable. They open the corresponding pages with their full description. Those links do not expire.
That email also contains a link to open the final invoice in PDF format. Also, printed invoices are shipped with all domestic shipments.
If I send my purchase to 3rd party authenticator, can I return it if it fails their certification?
Yes, is the shortest answer, however, we don´t accept just any authenticator services you may choose. We authenticate everything we sell, and authenticity of the items we sell is guaranteed for the lifetime of the item, never expires.
The vast majority of our customers never even think of going and paying a 3rd party authenticator since it is certainly not necessary. Still, if you want to do that, you need to know that cheap, quick authentication services are not acceptable by most dealers for after-purchase returns, including us.
First, we strongly suggest that if you trust certain 3rd party authenticators more than us, do any quick authentication/s with them BEFORE you place an order, by sending them the URL of the item of interest - and then buy only if you get satisfactory results.
For items already purchased, you will need letters from 2 out of 3 of these authentication services: JSA (James Spence Authentication), Pieceofthepast and AutographCoA, in order to file a return claim to us based on this point.
We no longer accept the opinion of opinion companies such as PSA, Beckett and others. We do not accept returns based on only one authenticator - Nobody does, in this business.
Important to mention is that claims due to this are exceedingly rare for our company.
Keep in mind that - according to research published in professional autograph collecting magazines - autograph authentication companies offer, at best, up to 60% accuracy in their results.
You also have a 14-day return policy, no questions asked, on your side.
I found some autographs, and I just want to identify whose autograph/s these are and/or know their value. Can you help me?
If you just need to know the value, we suggest you buy an autograph value estimate or appraisal letter.
As for identification of things you found and want to know more about (identify signatures, etc) - sorry but no. We have a fair amount of requests with pain and no gain for us, and they are usually to go and sell the items on eBay or somewhere else. We apologize for not being able to offer signature identifications nor offer free valuations.
Both autograph identification and autograph appraisal are quite more complicated and time consuming than most people think. We only carefully look into material that you want to sell to us, and if we want to buy it, we will simply give you a fair offer - not a free valuation or information about your items.
Does TaminoAutographs.com have any other associated / adjacent / sister sites?
No, we only sell directly via TaminoAutographs.com - or on eBay, as Tamino Autographs. Any other site/s using our name are illegal and should not be trusted, most especially if they offer the same autographs we sell. Any other websites are not us.
What are the shipping costs?
Shipping costs largely depend on the amount of your purchase, the distance to destination (we are located in New York, USA), and your shipping choice at checkout (there are several services available, with different speed).
You can see our shipping rates HERE.
At checkout, you will be given the exact amount of your shipping costs and several options.
We ship within 3 business days. WE SHIP WORLDWIDE.
What courier services do you use?
Currently, most shipments are sent with FedEx.
Shipping costs are listed in our Shipping & Privacy Page.
USPS or UPS will only be used if for some reason FedEx is not possible.
All orders to PO boxes can only go with USPS.
We will not ship items with other shipping companies, be them your own courier or not. No exceptions.
How do I know payments on your site are safe, and my information is kept private?
Our website has secured/encrypted pages for the entire checkout process, guaranteed by Shopify checkout, and your financial information is only seen by you - never by us - nor stored with us.
Buying from us is 100% safe and guaranteed safe. We will never share your email information with anyone. Link to our privacy policy can be read on this page.
Can I pay with PayPal or bank transfer?
You can pay via bank transfer, please contact us. We accept all major credit cards via encrypted, guaranteed secure pages, we guarantee we do not see your card number or any financial information.
PayPal is currently not accepted by our website, sorry. Just like any 3rd party payment system, PayPal requires to exit the encrypted checkout pages in order to login to PayPal, and then come back to our site - which necessarily creates a less-safe checkout. Our checkout pages are fully encrypted and entirely handled and guaranteed by Shopify, a company larger and more reliable than PayPal.
We also guarantee the safety and privacy of your financial information at checkout on our site, and guarantee we never see your card information if you add to cart and complete checkout with us.
Bank transfers can be accepted, please contact us.
How do I properly store / keep my autograph collection?
This requires a rather long answer, a great way to learn more about these topics is to read our blog articles about this:
The Ultimate Guide on How to Store Autographed Photos
Autograph Framing Done Right - How to Frame Your Autographs Properly
I want to sell an autograph / autograph collection. What do I need to do?
Contact us. We recommend you take photographs with your cell phone and/or scans of the items you want to sell, and measure their size.
A good guide on how to proceed is explained in our page dedicated to this topic:
What does it mean that your prices are final?
It means that we publish prices that are firm, not subject to negotiations or discounts unless, of course, we are currently running a sale, offering coupons or discounts for a category or certain items. We offer no discounts upon request via email or call to us.
Our prices are very reasonable and competitive, at the market or even below, and unlike other dealers we do not publish artificially inflated prices in order to then give fake discounts to our customers.
What is your return policy?
You may return items within 14 days from receipt, and get a credit store or a full refund. Please see our return policy here. A survey on our services can be completed here.
How can I be sure that my privacy is safe with your company?
Our website has secured/encrypted pages for the entire checkout process and your financial information is only seen by you and our credit card processor company, never shared nor stored with us. You can buy from us in a totally safe way. Please see our privacy policy here.
I need to buy a gift, not sure what item. Can I buy a gift card?
Yes, we sell gift cards for many different values, from $25 to $1000, to be used online by the recipient. Visit our gift cards page.
I have other questions. How do I get in touch with your company?
Please use the contact information at the very top of this page, or use the contact us page.