Through the Mail (TTM) autograph collecting really took off during 2020. Without live events to get autographs at, collectors turned to other avenues to add to their collections. For many collectors, TTM is a way to use some cards that they don’t really need for their collection and turn them into something worth keeping.

The major cost associated with TTM (other than the time invested) is postage. With a stamp currently costing $0.55, the average request will cost you a total of $1.10 in postage (one stamp needed to send to the athlete/celebrity and one stamp on the self-addressed stamped envelope to get it back to you). While this is a pretty cheap way to add autographs to your collection, the cost can add up when sending out a high volume of requests.

One way to save on stamps is to buy them on eBay. You can get Forever stamps for way less than the cost at the Post Office. Some sellers have bundles of 100 for as low as $32.75. That’s a savings of around 40% (based on the $55 current value of a forever stamp). You can also maximize the savings when eBay offers bonus eBay Bucks promotions or site-wide coupons.