# can you really send a brick "no postage necessary"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [December 25, 2009, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-send-a-brick-no-postage-necessary/522510 "2009-12-25T02:16:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![code\_grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@code\_grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/code_grey)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2009, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-send-a-brick-no-postage-necessary/522510/1 "2009-12-25T02:16:57Z")
I find this suggestion pretty exciting [http://officeofstrategicinfluence.com/bulkmailer/](http://officeofstrategicinfluence.com/bulkmailer/) . Will this really work? Should the Post Office introduce regulations to specifically prevent this situation? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2009, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-send-a-brick-no-postage-necessary/522510/2 "2009-12-25T02:52:46Z")
Cecil Adams on: [Can I mail a brick back to a junk-mail firm using the business reply envelope?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/566/can-i-mail-a-brick-back-to-a-junk-mail-firm-using-the-business-reply-envelope) ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2009, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-send-a-brick-no-postage-necessary/522510/3 "2009-12-25T18:23:28Z")
Prepaid postage envelopes only cover first class postage and most only cover up to 1 ounce, 13 ounces at the most. Bulk mailers caught on to this years ago and have taken measures to prevent it from happening. My BIL is a postmaster, last time I visited he had a stack of about 40 different bricks and rocks that were intercepted from idiots trying what the OP’s site suggests. Getting caught can result in charges. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Weird\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@The\_Weird\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Weird_One)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-send-a-brick-no-postage-necessary/522510/4 "2009-12-25T18:41:54Z")
I guess the post office sometimes slips up and lets a brick through, because I used to work in the mailing room of a company that did some bulk mailing, and we received a brick once. I took it home and used it as a weight around the house - pressing art projects flat, holding doors open, etc. I like that it was all taped up, because it didn’t leave brick dust around. ---
**Author:** ![firstname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7ab992/32.png) [@firstname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/firstname)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2009, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-send-a-brick-no-postage-necessary/522510/5 "2009-12-26T06:38:22Z")
> [@racer72](#): > > Getting caught can result in charges. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![dragonlady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@dragonlady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragonlady)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2009, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-send-a-brick-no-postage-necessary/522510/6 "2009-12-26T14:06:10Z")
No brick, but you can definitely shove all the crap that came in the original envelope into the prepaid return envelope. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2009, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-send-a-brick-no-postage-necessary/522510/7 "2009-12-26T15:13:20Z")
> [@firstname](#): > > Cite? The link I gave above mentions the potential for being charged with “abuse of the mails.” ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2009, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-send-a-brick-no-postage-necessary/522510/8 "2009-12-26T15:45:14Z")
Moved MPSIMS --\> Comments on Cecil’s Columns. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2009, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-send-a-brick-no-postage-necessary/522510/9 "2009-12-26T15:46:38Z")
> [@dragonlady](#): > > No brick, but you can definitely shove all the crap that came in the original envelope into the prepaid return envelope. Be creative-mix it with the crap from _other_ junk mailers. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2009, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-really-send-a-brick-no-postage-necessary/522510/10 "2009-12-26T17:01:25Z")
I once filled the return envelope with lead tire weights - I never received anything again from that company.