Wow! (Help from Germany?)

[goldmar]

I've just found this site (by google) and I'm truly astonished... I've seen such services only for money untill now. A big THANKS at this point. Really cool website and forum!

I am from Germany and I'd like to get some autographs by my favorite actors. I've read some topics in the "Collecting Help" forum but it has made me rather confused... maybe someone from Germany could help me? Two questions:

First, do you really suggest only to write a short notice about the autograph and nothing else? - I am used to writing long and descriptive letters, and this advice seems just very unpersonal and strange to me... still, I'm not keen on wasting my time on letters which are not going to be read anyway.

Second, how do I send an IRC?! It appears very difficult to me since you have to get this coupon (hard to get in Germany), get some stamps on it, and only few stamps are accepted by the U.S. postal service... very confusing. Can someone help out?

Well, if there is someone from Germany with a little experience, please contact me - I'll really appreciate your help. If you are not from Germany but still willing to help me, write me anyway.

Thanks in advance!

[dancingirl]

Welcome to the board!!

I can only answer your first question, because I don't really use IRCs & am not all that familiar with them.

When it comes to writing letters, write them anyway you want. Celebrities will only probably skim the letters, because they are very busy. So thats why you have most likely read to only write a letter under a page or so. But if you don't feel comfortable writing short letters, write long letters. Some people have gotten replies with long letters, its not impossible. So write however you feel comfortable writing!

[nowandagain]

Hi goldmar

Welcome to the forum!! I hope you have a great time here and receive many autographs ...

Anyway, to answer your questions:

First, do you really suggest only to write a short notice about the autograph and nothing else? - I am used to writing long and descriptive letters, and this advice seems just very unpersonal and strange to me... still, I'm not keen on wasting my time on letters which are not going to be read anyway.

Since celebrities do not have a lot of time and receive many requests, it's best to include a short letter no longer than one page with any request you send out. They may not have a lot of time to read every single letter, so by sending a short one it saves them time and they do not get bored reading through your letter. Plus, they'll be more than happy to send you an autograph

Second, how do I send an IRC?! It appears very difficult to me since you have to get this coupon (hard to get in Germany), get some stamps on it, and only few stamps are accepted by the U.S. postal service... very confusing. Can someone help out?

An IRC is a postcard sized coupon which you include with your letter and SAE (self addressed envelope) when you send a request to someone outside of Germany (in your case). The celebrity will use this coupon to exchange at their post office for stamps to stick on your SAE so he/she can post something back to you. You should be able to get them at your post office - but it's best to try some of the larger ones. They look like this:



If you can't get IRC's, you should try getting stamps for the country you are sending to (e.g. if you write to someone in the US, try to get US stamps instead). Stick these on your SAE - which now called a SASE (self addressed, stamped envelope). In this case, all the celebrity has to do is put something in your SASE, seal and post!

The point of sending a SAE & IRC/SASE is to make it easy for the celebrity to send something back to you - as you pay for postage costs. This can increase your chance of receiving a reply from a celebrity.

I hope this helps. If you have any more queries, please do not hesitate to ask!

nowandagain [rockon]

[goldmar]

Hey, thanks a lot for the fast and detailed response! I guess I'll try it as soon as I get some spare time. IRCs are really expensive in Germany... you can only buy them at the German postal service's website ("because of low demand") and they cost EUR 1.80 (~ $2.30) each - for a 20g letter. Maybe I can get US stamps cheaper some way; I'll look around.

I can use any European Union stamps while I'm sending something within the EU, can't I? Is this strange law only valid for the USA?

And the last question... can you sign on any kind of photo - or has the picture to be printed on regular paper..?

[EugeneE]

And the last question... can you sign on any kind of photo - or has the picture to be printed on regular paper..?

You can send anything that you want to for a celebrity to sign. You can even print up your own photo's to send to celebrities.

One thing to remember though, is to not send anything to a celebrity which you wouldn't want to loose because eople have sent things such as photo's, action figures, magazines, et al & never got them back.

If you want to be safe, I would suggest finding a good picture online & then printing the picture onto photo paper. For example, if you send a photo which you printed up yourself, most celebrities will sign it for you.

[ollixtc]

hi...

hab grad dein beitrag gelesen bei fanmail.biz

ich hab noch ne ladung US breifmarken über, wenn du interesse hast... kann noch etwa 30 stück abgeben, sind selbstklebende .39c 2006er marken von der 100er rolle...

hab die erfahrung gemacht dass es damit besser und günstiger funktioniert als mit IRCs....

brauch die marken jetz nicht mehr, hab noch einige fertige antwortumschläge auf vorrat und im moment eh keine zeit für.... oder wenn du sonsch was wissen willsch.... mail mir

[*Tasha*]

I can use any European Union stamps while I'm sending something within the EU, can't I? Is this strange law only valid for the USA?

I live in the UK, I can use Royal Mail stamps to send to the US, however someone in the US can not put royal Mail stamps on the envolope as they are in another country now.

So to answer your question you can use EU stamps to send to the US, but cannot use them to send from the US. A person in the US can only send a letter with US stamps on.