The Expense Report

I often have questions regarding the collection of autographs, and one of the most common is "how much does it cost?" And the answer is good news: not much. Last summer I wrote that based on the number of successes I had, each autograph returned to me cost only about $4 in supplies. These days, you can't drive anywhere that cheap, much less pay the price anyone would ask for a sports star's autograph.

So this year I've decided to track each expense I make along the way down to the penny. It's still early in the process, but I did make a recent Wal-Mart run to purchase a five-pack of white legal pads on which I'll write the short request note to each player. That cost me $3.04, tax included. Later on I'll include the cost of envelopes, stamps, printer ink, and other small items and then produce the average cost of each autograph returned for the 2006 season.

2006 EXPENSE REPORT (TO DATE)

- Paper: $3.04
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TOTAL: $3.04