Average Write-Off Numbers?

[toddgreen]

At what point do you all decide the cards aren't coming back? And how many of you experience your cards going out to the same address other people are succeeding at, and yet you never get your card back, signed or otherwise? \

I just recently got back into TTM and I'm amazed that I've gotten over 35 back since January, but some TTMS are outstanding for 100+ days now and I've noticed others have gotten signed cards back from these players and from the same addresses too.

Thanks!

[OC22]

I never really write anything off...I just send and forget it. I do track all my returns, but I've gotten cards back in as little as three days and as long as something like eight years.

You'll see people get successes from guys you won't have any luck with. I've sent to Joe Panik four times over the past 2.5 years from three different addresses at times when he was returning cards, and I've still never received anything back (only sending one card at a time, so not asking for doubles). It happens sometimes.

[toddgreen]

Eight years!!! Oh man... that's crazy. I guess My next question for you is whether you've ever moved and successfully received an old SASE via the USPS forwarding service and/or filing a lost mail claim to retrieve the SASEs sent to old addresses?

[adiddle]

I have never written anything off. Like OC22 said you just never know when you thing something is either lost in the mail or trashed by the signer it comes in the mail and yes 8 -10 years has happened . Sometimes I go and procure an auto of someone and the card comes in the mail after the fact.
Like now quite a few of us sent to Ron Guidry during spring training and he usually sends back end of March or beginning of April. We have not received anything back but you just have to wait and see.

[toddgreen]

Amazing. I sent to Guidry too. Eight to ten years sounds so crazy, but I'll sit back and not let 100+ days freak me out anymore haha Thanks for the peace of mind. I recently unloaded most of childhood collection and only kept 2 to 3 cards of each player I liked, went from 100,000 plus cards to like 400, with the plan to mail a card to each of them. Had been freaking out that I hadn't kept enough.

[Oxxon]

I have had a few that took a couple of years to get back. About a month ago or longer I got one back that I sent out around 2009.

[toddgreen]

Wow. 2009. I can't imagine what it was like to get that back haha

[Musclebeech]

When I send TTMs out, I usually do big groupings at a time. Periodically I’ll go back to some of the groupings and clear them out as write-offs (usually 6 months to a year depending on the average expected success time for others’ attempts).

One cool thing about the TTMM is that you can always go back and edit the entry if you get it in at a later time.

[OC22]

Eight years!!! Oh man... that's crazy. I guess My next question for you is whether you've ever moved and successfully received an old SASE via the USPS forwarding service and/or filing a lost mail claim to retrieve the SASEs sent to old addresses?

Having moved around a lot, the USPS seems to be very good about forwarding everything as long as it's within a year of when you open the forward request. I've never tried to file a lost claim on anything. If I want to get the guy's signature bad enough, I'll just resend.

[toddgreen]

That makes sense!