When sending Fan mail...

[lithium]

I'm a newbie at this but I've noticed that quite a few successes where celebs dont use the SAE and that they send back the stamps. Should I bother sending it? It's quite costly for me to send a SASE cause I live in Canada. Also do the celebs provided a photo themselves that they sign or do you always have to provide something for them to sign?

Thanks!

[lithium]

ya I wouldnt mind doing SASE except it basically costs me $5CAD (which is on par with the US dollar now) for each letter I send out which includes an envelope and a International Reply Coupon which is $3.50 each.

[jdp3577]

ya I wouldnt mind doing SASE except it basically costs me $5CAD (which is on par with the US dollar now) for each letter I send out which includes an envelope and a International Reply Coupon which is $3.50 each.

That seems kind of high, all the request Ive sent to canada only took $1.78 canadian to come back to me, and if you can get american stamps, you would only need to put $1 on your SASE

[lithium]

Im thinking next time I go to the States Ill just buy a bunch of US stamps

[lizane]

Hello! ;)

Most celebrities have photos to send but you can send your own too. Unfortunately some celebrities send your photo back unsigned or they don't return it at all. I've never send a photo and I've had great successes so far, not one problem!

I almost always include at least a SAE... I trade with other members on this site for US stamps and IRC's as it's not available in South Africa. If you can't afford to send stamps or IRC's, try sending just a SAE. ;) I know IRC's can be very expensive! Good luck!!

Regards,
Lizanne

[TheCollector]

Hi guys

Using an SASE does have an amazing positive effect on the success rate

I know people post all kinds of experiences with including / not including return postage, but for the sake of repeating myself (again ) I have a little story to illustrate this . . . .

A couple of years ago I carried out an experiment where I sent out 50 requests with no paid reply envelope, and I got back next-to-nothing, about 5 or 6 from memory. I then mailed out to the same 50 celebs some 6 months later, and got back 40+ of my requests.

Sending an SASE makes ALL THE DIFFERENCE

What I would suggest is that if the postage costs are a bit too high for you, then try to be a little more selective as to who you request from. It is better to send out 5 requests with the return postage paid, to people who you really, really want to receive a success from - than send out double that number without enclosing the postage. Not to enclose it is a real false-economy

I know there will be some who disagree with me, but after gaining near to 1,000 successes - I think I have tested my theory now However, whatever you decide - best of luck

Cheers,
Ian

[lithium]

SASE I guess lol

how much does it cost to send an envelope to Canada from the States?

I'll just buy a roll of those stamps when I go south

[jdp3577]

it takes $1 to ship a photo in a large envelope from US to Canada, It may be more if you add cardboard

[jdp3577]

heres the chart

To mail FROM the USA TO Canada:
A First-Class Mail® International - Large Envelope

$0.86 10g (.35 oz)
$0.86 20g (.70 oz)
$1.00 40g (1.40 oz)
$1.31 60g (2.10 oz)
$1.31 80g (2.80 oz)
$1.62 100g (3.50 oz)

[BABii_ANG3L]

Yeah it's best if you send a SAE or SASE. If they use their own envelope and send it back, they probably know you're trying or something. (lol whatever that means)