Help me define Fan Mail terms!

[KingstonFan]

I'm new to this site and do not know the definitions of the following:

LOR, SAE, SASE, PP

and can you send mail internationally without an IRC or any payment for the return postage?
Thanks in advance for helping a newbie!

[kimmylee]

LOR= Letter of Request
SAE= Self addressed envelope (sometimes stamped addressed envelope)
SASE= Self addressed stamped envelope
PP: Pre-print (a print of a signature, not a real autograph).

You can send an international request without any return postage if you want, but you run a greater risk of not getting a reply. Sending return postage will double your chances.

There are lots of topics about how to obtain international postage so please do browse them IRC's have been withdrawn from sale in alot of countries now including the UK & US.

PS I your avatar

[KingstonFan]

I live in Canada so I send internationally to pretty much everyone I want autographs from, so I'll ask at the post office today if they have any IRCs. Do you include one in each LOR?

EDIT: Goodness gracious, Canada post charges $5.50CAN for one IRC. It says you only need to enclose one IRC but still, they are very expensive. It only costs $2.20CAN to send a letter internationally, but it costs $5.50CAN to get an IRC for them to send it back. :/ this will turn out to be an expensive hobby.

[kimmylee]

In most cases it's actually better to send 2-3 IRC's with each request. Each IRC is worth the minimum value for an airmal letter, and sometimes the weight of the return envelope means it goes up into the next price band.

You can always get stamps of the country the letter is coming back from. US stamps and UK stamps are often sold via the Autograph Exchange/Sale section of the forum.

And for European countries that have the EURO as their currency you could send a 5EURO note.

[KingstonFan]

Thanks for the help. One last question, what does RTS stand for?

[kimmylee]

Return to Sender Envelopes are marked RTS and then delivered back to the sender. Happens when a celeb can't be reached at the address sent to.

[KingstonFan]

Thank you so much for all your help. The help is very much appreciated.

[mashka]

I live in Canada so I send internationally to pretty much everyone I want autographs from, so I'll ask at the post office today if they have any IRCs. Do you include one in each LOR?

EDIT: Goodness gracious, Canada post charges $5.50CAN for one IRC. It says you only need to enclose one IRC but still, they are very expensive. It only costs $2.20CAN to send a letter internationally, but it costs $5.50CAN to get an IRC for them to send it back. :/ this will turn out to be an expensive hobby.

I live in Canada as well, personally I don't put the IRCs because I cant afford to, but I send mainly to the UK and I get replies from almost everyone I send to!

[KingstonFan]

That's great I used 2 IRCs but I don't think I can afford to put them in all my letters.