[Dx-qsl] Reimbursing the Manager (long)

Sun Dec 29 15:34:00 2002

Hi Ron, maybe I see the issue in a different way but as far as I am 
concerned as long as the manager returns it to me directly (not via a 
bureau) I don't care if its mailed in his country, the USA or someone 
knocks on the door and hands it to me.
The time and effort these dedicated managers put into helping us get QSL 
cards should be rewarded with compliments not nit picking about a few 
cents saved on how they return the QSL.
If money was that tight for me I would use the bureau and if a manager 
will not use a bureau look for another station to work.
Just my thoughts-Happy New Year to all,
73, Bob W8GC
Ron Notarius WN3VAW wrote:
> Bear with me as I lay this out; it's been bothering me for awhile now, and
> I'd like to hear some consensus on how to handle it.
>> I'm preparing a bunch of QSL cards to go overseas to various managers.
> Quite a few of these overseas managers are ones that I've dealt with for a
> variety of stations on & off for years.
>> Most managers have, in recent years, requested either 2ドル or two IRC's to
> cover return postage. Fine; no problem there, considering the cost of air
> mail postage overseas.
>> But what I've also noticed is that a certain percentage of the, shall we
> say, "regular" managers who insist on 2ドル/2 IRC's have some method of
> returning my SAE via the US mail. In short, I'm seeing my 2ドル go, not to an
> air mail stamp from overseas, but a $.37 domestic First Class stamp.
>> Since at present, even with the new job, I have to watch my shekels, this
> concerns me.
>> Yes, I know that very often 2ドル or two IRC's is actually more than enough to
> cover return air postage (but one wasn't) and that the excess funds from
> those occurrences go to help pay misc. costs, like printing the cards and
> the bureau packages and maybe paying some of a DXpedition's expenses. Fine,
> that's long been understood. And I understand that sometimes, there is a
> special occasion (such as a relative traveling to the US on vacation, or
> being here for a convention or hamfest like Visalia or Dayton and taking
> advantage of the situation) that permits the manager to take advantage,
> directly or indirectly, of the US mails -- and that in these circumstances,
> some of my funds went to help other transit costs. Fine; no problem there.
>> What I'm wondering about, though is those managers who routinely, every
> month, manage to pull this off? Some use an APO from a US military base
> overseas, and others have some other "regular" method to do so -- what or
> how, I don't know.
>> Understand, as I ask this, I'm not objecting to the manager recovering
> direct postage costs, or indirectly some of the other costs (like card
> printing and maintaining a PO box and such). Nor am I objecting to making a
> donation, at least not when it's my choice.
>> But when I KNOW that the overseas manager is going to somehow return my QSL
> via the US mail system, am I justified in sending an SASE stamped with a US
> first class stamp? And/or sending the SASE plus, at my discretion,
> additional funds as a donation?
>> Remember, every situation is a little different. DXpeditions and other "one
> shot" managers are not what I'm asking about here; very often, they're
> trying to stretch the funding for return QSL postage as much as possible,
> and find all sorts of ways to do so (many of which have been discussed here
> in the past). Nor am I concerned with domestic managers... let's even say
> North American managers; I know that many of the Canadian managers live
> close enough to the border to drive over (amazing how many cards via VE
> managers get mailed from Buffalo NY!), but I also know that some of my 1ドル
> helps cover their gas and trouble; no problem there. I don't mind making a
> donation when I can, but sometimes I can't. And I don't mind helping out
> some of the best managers stateside by buying excess IRC's when I can, or
> sending them extra stamps I sometimes have sitting around (usually when
> postage goes up and I have more $.01 or $.03 "make up" stamps than I need).
>> I sometimes wonder about the "regulars," though. Again, I know that the
> excess $ is being put to good use (I certainly do NOT think that most
> managers are making a living at this! Though there's one or two I wonder
> about...), but am I sending some of them much more than either I have to,
> and/or they expect?
>> This is not meant to be petty or trivial. But I need to know, because
> sometimes (like recently, when work was light at the beginning of the month,
> which meant a meager paycheck yesterday) it makes all the difference between
> sending out 3 or 4 direct requests versus 8 or 10.
>> 73, ron wn3vaw
>> "New Jersey - the most American of all states. It has everything from
> wilderness to the Mafia. All the great things and all the worst, for
> example, Route 22."
> Jean Shepherd K2ORS (SK), Newark Sunday News, 11 January 1970
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