Want a max scherzer card signed

Max and the nationals are doing a fundraiser. Send in a check or money order for $25 and your card and he will sign it.

At the end of the season max will match the donation.

http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/was/community/cards.jsp

Cool deal, good to see him doing something good with that money

Ignoring the charity part and apparent non-tax deductibility of the donation, this is another case that amuses me in the hobby because you can get a cert auto of the athlete (Scherzer in this case) for less than the donation amount to have a card signed by an athlete.

rsmath said:

Ignoring the charity part and apparent non-tax deductibility of the donation, this is another case that amuses me in the hobby because you can get a cert auto of the athlete (Scherzer in this case) for less than the donation amount to have a card signed by an athlete.

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Not an auto of any card.

WCTYSON said:

Not an auto of any card.

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then again there are very few cards he'll sign.

I suppose Scherzer or the Nats don't want to deal with legal trouble for signing a custom that may contain a image for which none of the proper permissions or legal use was obtained.

WCTYSON said:

Not an auto of any card.

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This. I collect IP and TTM autos, and I try to get entire sets signed, namely Allen and Ginter. I've paid $125 to get one signed for my 2008 set that has 88 signed cards. Granted, it was Ichiro, but still that gives you the idea. The Tigers do an autographs for a cause program with some players and Miguel Cabrera us one of those players. Last year he was $40. This year he is $120. I contemplated at $40, but I will be passing at $120 right now

clarkzac said:

This. I collect IP and TTM autos, and I try to get entire sets signed, namely Allen and Ginter. I've paid $125 to get one signed for my 2008 set that has 88 signed cards. Granted, it was Ichiro, but still that gives you the idea.

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Ichiro makes sense - $125 for ichiro on a supplied item is cheaper than an ichiro cert auto.

Paying $25 for Scherzer or $120 for Miggy means one badly wants to support a charity without being able to claim it as a charity donation on tax returns or there is someone like you that has a hobby niche to get fulfilled as those two are ones whose cert autos can be had for less.

rsmath said:

Ichiro makes sense - $125 for ichiro on a supplied item is cheaper than an ichiro cert auto.

Paying $25 for Scherzer or $120 for Miggy means one badly wants to support a charity without being able to claim it as a charity donation on tax returns or there is someone like you that has a hobby niche to get fulfilled as those two are ones whose cert autos can be had for less.

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Not being able to claim the 25 on your taxes along with others you put on your taxes is not going to break the bank for you for the amount you may owe or the amount your getting back.

Not everything I support is allowed for me to take off on taxes but I'll make the donation anyway if I think it is a worth while cause.

Pine Tar said:

Not everything I support is allowed for me to take off on taxes but I'll make the donation anyway if I think it is a worth while cause.

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Finally, I saw the most important part of charity mentioned. Its about the cause, not tax deductions, the amount or whatever u want to argue. Just giving is the satisfaction, not what you u get out of it

AnthonyCorona said:

Finally, I saw the most important part of charity mentioned. Its about the cause, not tax deductions, the amount or whatever u want to argue. Just giving is the satisfaction, not what you u get out of it

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I agree, to me its no different than paying the upcharge of buying form your local shop. at least this money is going to charity.

Let me get this out of the way first...this thread bummed me out. Here we have a guy trying to help a charitable cause (with some benefit to his own image and tax situation) and it turns into a read about tax implications and charitable giving.

How about kudos to Max and any other player who participates and similar kudos to those sending in the money and cards?

By my read of this, this IS a deductible event. This is because 1) The Washington Nationals Dream Foundation is a 501(c)3 charitable organization and 2) the autograph is a thank you gift in exchange for the donation (the word donation is important here and explicitly used in the press release). This is no different from a thank you gift when you donate to NPR, St. Jude's or the Red Cross and receive an umbrella, T shirt or something else as a thank you in exchange for your donation. You are NOT buying the autograph. Moreover, you can make your check out to The Washington Nationals Dream Foundation and then will have it for your tax purposes.

Finally, really? It is $25. I cannot count the times I give small amounts of cash out of pocket to various charitable collections without a second thought about the taxes. If you believe in a cause, support it. If you don't, don't.

Deducting $25 from your income on your tax returns really does not add up to much.

clarkzac said:

This. I collect IP and TTM autos, and I try to get entire sets signed, namely Allen and Ginter. I've paid $125 to get one signed for my 2008 set that has 88 signed cards. Granted, it was Ichiro, but still that gives you the idea. The Tigers do an autographs for a cause program with some players and Miguel Cabrera us one of those players. Last year he was $40. This year he is $120. I contemplated at $40, but I will be passing at $120 right now

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I did Cabrera a few years ago, I think he may have been $20 at that time. Got three of them done over the course of the year. Sent them in to PSA/DNA to fill out a sub and they all came back questionable authenticity. On that same sub, I got questionable authenticity on about 15 other cards that I myself got signed in person right in front of me. So maybe I just had a tough authenticator assigned to my sub.

With that said, I do think he probably signed them. I can't figure out why him, the Tigers, or the Tigers Foundation would have a ghost signer for this cause. If it were to ever come out and get proven, they all would lose so much in PR and support of their Foundation that it wouldn't be worth the risk. Also, Miggy is one of the best signers in person in the game of baseball and is known for always giving his time for various charities and events.