Any one else received this from Lee Smith?

[BiggioDiogu759]

He made over a million dollars, and still needs money...Thats sad...

 

[whalerfan9]

I've had one "sitting on my stack" for some time; guess I waited too long (much like Boog Powell)...

 

[ben-jammin]

Lee Smith made an average of 1.62 million per year from 1985 to 1997.
Think for a second, half of that or a third went to taxes.
Now Im not much for paying for autographs but, the fact is.. we all
probably buy or have bought auto's on ebay and didnt complain about
doing so.

You all know it takes time to look at mail,read mail and send mail and that
if you do it with care, you do invest time. I think Mr. Smith was good about
his effort to notify TTM seekers that he now must charge.
He couldve just thrown your letter away, atleast he's still willing to sign
but charges to cover his expense and to cope with letters he probably
gets that just say "Sign this" and thats all it says.

Im sure someone went to the well to much and was selling his Auto
for proffit, to make it right, I think Ole Lee is charging more than what
an auto card of his would go for, that way it stops monopolizing
off his name.

Just think a little bit more, some people went to games and waited
all day and probably spent 50 dollars just for a chance to get his
auto.. atleast for 15.00 dollars Your Guarenteed a Lee Smith signature
on what you want it on and have hardly any expense involved except
the fee and postage and return postage.

looks fair to me,

You have to consider inflation of the USD as well. The buying power of making $1.62 million per year from 1985-1997 went a lot farther than $1.62 million goes for these days. Annual inflation between 1985 and 2010 was about 2.91% over the years, so I'd say that $1.62 million per year in 1985 or even 1997 is the equivalent to probably around $3.25 million per year now. Multiply that by 13 seasons and Lee would have made the equivalent of a little over $42 million. I don't care if you take 1/3 or 1/2 for taxes, $21 million over your career is still a ton of money. Again, if this was going to a Foundation or charity, I'm sure people would have an easier time paying $15 per autograph than to just say please make all checks payable to Lee Smith.

Just my .02

 

[deaconblues63]

He made over a million dollars, and still needs money...Thats sad...

You seem to think that you are entitled to whatever you want for free and that someone else owes you something.

That's even sadder.


Michael

 

[Drock]

i think its a fair price. 15 for a ball. rickey henderson charges like 180 on a ball lol. only problem i have is how its worded. i kinda wish he left out that its turned into a business because for alot of us its still just a hobby. i know alot of you may disagree but im just sating that my opinion, again i do however think the price is more then fair.

 

[SLNoble13]

I actually sent to him late last year and got a successful return from him in December. He signed 2 cards for me.

Sorry that you did get him.

 

[NYY1]

I got him a year ago and was planning to send to him again. I wanted to get a Yankee card signed. That stinks but I don't blame him. It's his name, his time and if you look over sites like SCN, it always seems to be the same people who get the same mail. Eventually, they're going to get tired of it. I know I would.

 

[BiggioDiogu759]

Sad that a pro athlete cant take time to autograph a card for free anymore...

 

[OriolesFan8]

After reading all the post and hearing that he was a good TTM'er for a long time, greed doesn't sound like his motive. He probably is getting deludged with request and this is a way of cutting back some of the mail.

Also, he is retired and in my humble opinion, he doesn't owe anyone squat. Like another said, he could have just ignored the mail and thrown it away.

Todd

 

[NYY1]

He did take time. He took years answering tens of thousands of letters. He doesn't owe anyone anything.

 

[BiggioDiogu759]

This reminds me of a quote from the book Honus and Me...

I turned to Honus and said "How much do you charge for autographs"
"Charge?" Honus replied "I think kids should charge us because they are nice enought to come watch us play"

 

[deaconblues63]

This reminds me of a quote from the book Honus and Me...

I turned to Honus and said "How much do you charge for autographs"
"Charge?" Honus replied "I think kids should charge us because they are nice enought to come watch us play"

Craig Biggio disagrees.


Michael

 

[BiggioDiogu759]

I will bet atleast some of the money will be going to a charity like the Sunshine Kids...

 

[Wassdogg]

I agree that it's his perrogative if he wants to charge. Plus $15 is a nominal fee when considering what Biggio charges above and what Randy Johnson is asking ($150 per flat) at a show coming up here in a few days. A small fee (something in the $5-$20 range) is OK by me, plus it is assurance that you'll get your item back.
Its been said many times before, once a player shows a willingness to sign, they are innundated with requests. How many of you started addressing envelopes to Dale Murphy once you saw a success from him yesterday? I know I did.

 

[BiggioDiogu759]

The only reason I would ever pay to get an auto from a player TTM or IP is if some of it is going to a charity.

 

[metsman1986]

Don't some of the ex-athlete's have agents or firms representing them? I bet that cuts into their profits...............

Mike

 

[mort]

Players charging for an auto is such a joke...

They do it because they can. While I do not condone the action, I understand why it happens.

I hope Lee sent one of his little announcement cards to the IRS.

 

[brazin]

Could be he's teaching his grand kids, kids or relative the value of work,
maybe he signs the items and pays them to perform the processing.

It did say

"The numerous request for assistance required to process the large
volume of requests has prompted me to charge a fee for each autograph