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10-09-2020, 06:27 PM #1
Paid TTM Etiquette
I have recently started sending a few TTM requests to players who charge.
What things do each of you do differently when paying? Do you spend as much time on your request letter?
I find myself self a bit frustrated with the delay on getting back requests. If I am sending someone who signs for free, then they can sign at their leisure. If they require a signing fee and I pay it, shouldn't they send back within a week of receiving?
I am am also curious about how you handle payment requests after the fact. I recently got back a signed card and the player sent back a note requesting a $20 fee. In this case, it is not necessarily someone I would have mailed at that amount.
I am also curious about when you send payment and recieve nothing. I mailed a player with $5, then later found out his rate had changed to $10. I never got the card or the payment back. There is a separate instance where I sent a retired player $20 who asks a lot but signs for $20 all of the time. I have not gotten the card or funds back.
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10-09-2020, 06:42 PM #2
I write a shorter letter when I'm paying, half a page tops.
As for the delay, I figure if my cheap self is willing to pay to get them, then so are a lot of other collectors. I can wait my turn.
Payment after the fact-- Palmeiro, I assume? I don't pay. They chose to sign on their own. Now had they mailed back unsigned with a note, that's one thing. But to sign and THEN ask for money is like going to a restaurant and not being allowed to see the prices on the menu. The worst are the ones who sign and hold your item hostage until you pay (Danny Tartabull, anyone?).
I have yet to pay and get nothing, aside from a few where I sent to Europe with like $3 enclosed to cover return postage and never got anything. I'd try to contact them and ask what's going on. Maybe they signed and it got lost/destroyed in the mail. Maybe it never got to them at all. For the first example, I'd figure the player would mail back with the updated price. For the latter (taking a guess, Brooks Robinson?) that's on you: it's a risk to mail without paying a player's full requested fee and it would appear that unfortunately you lost on this one.
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10-09-2020, 08:53 PM #3
The worst is when you include an already high fee for a player, then they change the fee after you've already sent it. So you get it back unsigned with your money and a note saying send more money. I think Roger Clemens did this.
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10-09-2020, 09:33 PM #4
The $5 guy that went to $10 was Al Oliver. Five years no response.
The card signed and returned with a request for $20 after was All-Pro NFL safety Ken Houston.
The $20 that is normally enough but no response is Ferguson Jenkins.
Palmeiro made me sad. He had been signing for free and then then returned my card unsigned with a note asking for $30
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10-09-2020, 09:35 PM #5
I just mailed Steve Carlton. I am glad I checked his website as he had just gone up to $40 from his old rate of $35.
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