I just got an email about stuffing envelopes at home for extra cash. Most of what I’ve seen about this seems to be a little shady, but the recent email I’ve received looks pretty legit. The question I have is, what’s the catch? Does anyone know? Has anyone here tried this?
The email I received offers $2.00 an envelope.
Do you have to pay for postage?
If so, are the packages expensive to send?
Are there any websites that expose this as a scam?
It’s a scam. Rule of thumb…if you have to pay them money upfront…it’s a scam. If it sounds to good to be true…it’s a scam.
Professional mailing services charge about a dime per envelope, so if someone is willing to pay you 2000 percent mark-up, someone is supposed to be a chump.
And don’t do any money holding for Nigerians either.
For the one I’m talking about, They ask for $10.00 to cover the cost of sending you start up material, but they say there are no further charges after that.
One question I have is this…Machines can automate this process, how could it be cheaper to hire people?
Please give me hard facts to convince me if this is a scam or not.
It’s almost always a scam. Having said that, though, my wife and I (in our youth) stuffed envelopes a few times and made some money. This wasn’t through a mail order scam, but from a parent’s friend’s local home-based bulk-mailing company.
After a few hours (and some wax-like tacky stuff you put on your fingers to help pick up paper), we got pretty fast at it. I don’t recall the pay per envelope, but at top speed we were making the equivalent of just over minimum wage, so it wasn’t quite a get-rich-quick scheme 
As Reeder points out, if you have to pay them money up front, it’s a scam. I didn’t pay anything to stuff the envelopes- I just drove over to pick them up (along with the inserts), and drove back with them stuffed, and picked up a check.
Arjuna34
Doggus:
Okay, send in your $10 (last you will see of that) and give us some hard facts about who it is and exactly what they want you to do. If it is legit, I’ll give up the practice of law and send out envelopes for $2 each and make a lot more money. In fact, I’ll hire people at minimum wage to do it for me.
Here’s one website about the scam:[
Stuffing Envelopes Information Site
A pertinent quote from it:
Arjuna34
No need to get hot, DP
I told you…$2.00 per stuffed envelope.
I’ll copy the email to my next post and leave compnay info out.
I just don’t want hundereds of people telling me it sounds like a scam. I know it does. But is there any proof that anyone knows about? I admit… I don’t even know where to look to find it, hence my GENERAL QUESTION.
Doggus: do a search in GQ with the keywords being “stuffing” “envelopes” “money” and it’ll spit out a bunch of threads about this very subject… and they’re all compelling.
Basically, from what I understand now, you pay your money and they send you instructions. The instructions say to make x amount of copies of the instructions and mail them away to a certain list… like a pyramid scheme. How they could promise $2/envelope is unfathomable… I still haven’t figured that part out yet.
Gotta admit, the option of writing down the applicaton on a piece of notebook paper seems a little suspect. But please, read and respond.
HOME-MAILERS NEEDED!
$300-$1000 PLUS WEEKLY
Simple, pleasant work…you do at home.
Dear Friend,
Are you seeking a rewarding second income? Would
you like to set your own work schedule? Work the
hours you choose? Earn extra income for your
family? If so, then we may have the answer.
Current statistics show that by the year 2010,
40-60% of the American work-force will be working
from home. Get a jump on your future and secure a
job through us. Our company provides a service to
thousands of people and businesses across the
United States. With your help, we can reach and
provide a better service to more of these people
and businesses, faster and at a lower cost than
our competitors. We handle a marketing program
called the xxxxxxxxxxxxxx, which consists
of envelope processing and mailing. These
positions require no special skills or
experience, just a sincere desire to GET STARTED,
and EARN MONEY!
YOU CAN EARN GOOD MONEY!!!
Potential incomes range from $300 to $1000 weekly
or more. Pay rate is based on a $2.00 per
envelope basis. The average home-mailer stuffs
anywhere from 150 to 500 envelopes a week,
depending on the amount of free time they have
available. The envelopes you process can make
you a substantial income. You’ll find this work,
done easily and quickly, can double or even
triple your income. With just one or two hours
per day you will be excitedly surprised at how
easy we’ve made it and how profitable this work
actually is. You can earn enough money working in
your spare time to purchase that new car or boat
you’ve been wanting, pay off credit cards, bills,
or even take a vacation. Maybe just add more
financial security for yourself or your family.
Whatever the reason, you can’t go wrong.
ALL BUSINESS CAN BE DONE RIGHT FROM YOUR OWN HOME
You can start the same day you receive our
materials and begin receiving money within a
matter of days. These positions require no prior
experience or special skills. We’ll get you up
and running as fast as possible. Checks are
mailed out every two weeks on the 1st and 16th of
the month.
HELP SOLVE YOUR MONEY PROBLEMS
If you are looking for an excellent extra income
to relieve financial pressures, you owe it to
yourself to investigate our program. Naturally,
no company can afford to send out costly
materials to everyone who writes in asking for
it. Therefore, we must ask each applicant for a
one time application processing fee of $10.00.
This fee covers processing and the materials you
will receive upon your acceptance and is returned
to you with your first check. It also assures
us that you are serious about working with our
company as a home-mailer. We will not ask or
require you to pay us for any additional
information, instructions, or materials to stay
with us, and stay with us as long as you desire.
If for any reason you are not accepted into our
home-mailers program, your processing fee will be
sent directly back to you. There is no hassle.
However, you must act promptly. At this time we
are in need of dependable home-mailers in your
area, of whom may start in the very near future.
There are only a limited number of positions
needed for each region of the country and as soon
as we have enough people to complete the
needs in your area we will not be offering any
more applications. We need your help now! So, if
you’re a productive, positive person, we’re
looking forward to working with you.
SIMPLE, EASY, AND PROFITABLE, THIS PROGRAM IS THE
BEST WAY TO MAKE AN EXCELLENT INCOME AT HOME.
If this sounds like something you might be
interested in, read on. If not, thank you for
your time. We hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely Yours,
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxx Division Manager
Start earning now. Here’s what you need to do.
(1) Read, complete, and return the attached
application.
(2) Enclose your one time application processing
fee of $10.00.
(3) All correspondence and materials will be
addressed to you. Please open on day of arrival.
(4) Follow all instructions when processing and
mailing.
(5) If you find yourself pressed for time, you
can stop work with us and come back at a later
date, but we must insist you maintain a high
level of quality when processing and mailing.
OUR STEP-BY-STEP SYSTEM OF MAILING IS SIMPLE, AND
OUR INSTRUCTIONS ARE WRITTEN IN AN EASY TO FOLLOW
LANGUAGE.
There is a way to earn a substantial income at
home…
The xxxxxxxxxxxxx program.
YOUR SERVICES ARE NEEDED NOW.
Please Respond Today! Positions are limited and
time can affect your acceptance for desired
positions.
FILL OUT APPLICATION AND RETURN TO OUR ADDRESS
BELOW
Last Name:_______________________
First Name:______________________
Mailing Address:_________________________________
City:____________________________
State:_______________________
Zip Code:______________________
Home Tel.#: ()-
Age:
Date of Birth://______
E-mail Address:______________________________
Do you work more than 40 hours per week?YesNo
(READ AND SIGN BELOW) By signing, I state that I
am seriously interested in becoming a home-mailer
for your company and not just out to satisfy my
curiosity. I wish to have the necessary materials
and instructions sent to me at the above address.
I understand that xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx is
not a get-rich-quick scheme and that the fee I am
enclosing is an application processing fee which
will be returned to me with my first check.
Signature____________________________
Date://_____
Code # JDA915
**PLEASE NOTE: We are currently over-staffed in
the state of Indiana and are no longer offering
positions there until further notice.
**Processing fee must be in US FUNDS ONLY please.
*If applicant is under 18 have a guardian sign
above and indicate age of applicant.
*If you don’t have access to a printer, you may
copy the application onto regular notebook paper.
Please use pen. (NOTE: Please be sure to include
the Code # on your application. Applications
without a Code # can not be processed.)
*All fees are one time fees. You will not be
required, asked, or need to pay us any other fees
to stay with us and stay as long as you like. All
potential pay rates are Guaranteed!
*Please note that personal checks may be held up
to 30 days for bank clearance. If you are eager
to get started, you should use a Money Order for
your processing fee.
Send Application and a $10.00 Check or Money
Order (US FUNDS ONLY) made payable to xxxxxxxxxxxxx.
Send to:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
USA
Because we are a company recruiting people from
the public we must assure you that we are the
BEST company to work with and that we provide the
MOST PROFITABLE income. Because we require an
initial fee to get started, many people are
skeptical, and miss out on a great opportunity.
This fee covers our expenses for materials,
postage, processing, and assures us that you are
serious about working with xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
We know that current home-mailers are
happy and making an excellent income just from
reading their testimonials. This makes us happy
and enables us to succeed and continue our
success together. Here are just a couple of the
many testimonials received from home-mailers:
I want to thank you for giving me this
opportunity to work for your company. It couldn’t
have come along at a better time. The work is so
simple and the pay is incredible. My wife and I
have been stuffing envelopes together part-time
and are exceeding what either of us make at our
full-time jobs. Thanks again!
J. Thomas ------ Miami, FL
Thanks for everything, Ron! I was having trouble
making ends meet at my present employment. But
thanks to you and your home-mailers program, I
was able to pay off some old bills and put money
in the bank. Now I’m looking forward to taking a
well deserved vacation.
M. Daniels ----- Seattle, WA
Why do we need home-mailers? The cost of
supplying an office is more expensive than most
people may think. The cost of office space per
square foot, taxes employing mailing staff,
taxes employing supervisors, taxes, medical
insurance, dental insurance, and office liability
insurance, multiplied by each region we cover,
all involving paperwork, accountants and more
taxes. WE NEED YOUR SERVICES TO SAVE TIME AND
MONEY! Your role in our company is as an
Independent Commission Mailer, not an employee.
We will not take taxes from your checks and we
cannot offer medical or dental insurance. As a
home-mailer, your residence and many other
aspects of everyday living can be declared
business expenses. Receive cash-back on your
taxes! You may request copies of personal
materials at any time at no charge to yourself.
You can start the same day you receive our
materials and begin receiving money within days
and have a steady income as long as you desire.
These positions require no prior experience or
special skills. There are many distribution
companies who want to expand their businesses,
but do not want to pay the higher expenses. It is
much easier to have independent home-mailers earn
money doing this work themselves. This program is
designed to help people cash in with a company
who needs home-mailers. The home-mailers program
has been perfected so that it has become one of
the most successful and profitable programs ever
and is supplying people around the world with
excellent primary and secondary incomes. We
invite you to take part in our success. The money
you earn is up to you. We do not require that you
mail a certain number of envelopes each week. You
can take on whatever amount of business that fits
your schedule and you can stop whenever you want.
There are no obligations. There is no need to do
any door to door selling or phone soliciting. You
may work in the comfort of your own home, choose
your own hours and set your own pace. No need to
leave your present job. Form workshops with your
friends or get the whole family to join in. The
possibilities are UNLIMITED!
DUE TO COMPANY EXPANSION YOUR SERVICES ARE NEEDED
NOW.
Thank you, and we’re looking forward to working
with you, together in the future.
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We can’t prove your particular offer is a scam without knowing more about it, besides the mathematical impossibility of anyone being able to pay $2/envelope. However, as my previous post suggested, the fine print of their legal disclaimer may well tell you what you need to know. THAT’s where I’d start looking.
Arjuna34
Well, having read the email, it looks like you have to pay $10 just to see the agreement.
You’ve blanked out the address (probably a good idea. If you hadn’t, the moderators would have), but I’m going to guess that they are based in Indiana.
That’s because they specifically say they don’t want anyone from that state. I’m guessing this is not due to overstaffing, but to avoid some legal issue. Perhaps what they’re doing is illegal in-state, but is allowed inter-state.
Anyway, I don’t think anyone can offer proof whether this particular one is a scam or not, based on this info. It just seems likely. It’s really hard to see what you’d be doing that would be worth $2 per envelope.
maybe it’s a bonus for all the licking…
Wouldn’t it be nice if it weren’t a scam though?
I like the way they discourage curious inquiries.
I take this to mean that the ridiculous claims of $300-$1000 per week is based on getting $2.00 per envelope, not that they’re paying you $2.00 per envelope. Notice that nowhere in the email does it say “you will earn $2.00 per envelope”. You probably have to find your own customers, which you then convince (yeah, right) to pay you to stuff envelopes at the rate of $2.00 per…
150 to 500 envelopes a week. Hmmm.
In my old office, we’d send out very small batches of mail, say 40-60 at a time. I got to the point where I could stuff two envelopes a minute (that includes sticking on the label, sealing it and running it through the postage meter.) Our office manager could easily do three a minute.
If I could get $2 for stuffing each envelope, that means I could earn $120 an hour, and someone who’s good at it could easily earn $180 dollars an hour. Why on earth would anyone stop at 500 envelopes a week if you could work only 20 hours a week and earn $2,400.
I can’t check it right now, but I believe Cecil once did a column on this, wherein he noted that what you’re doing is sending out the “license agreement” and making your money from people who pay you the $10 to get copies of the license agreement that they send to other people.
As for Indiana. . . they’ve probably already agreed to the concent order or have been served an injunction there.
kunilou, you’re right, Cecil DID have a column on this:
Can you make big money stuffing envelopes at home?
Arjuna34
Almost all internet-based (or snail-mail based) envelope-stuffing opportunities are scams. Here’s a good article on the subject.
Thanks for the links. I am enlightened.
Knew that there was a catch. Just wanted to know what the catch was.
The things people will do to others to make money…it makes me sad for the world.
Well, I gotta get back to ripping off my own company.
Thanks everyone.
All the information you could want about the envelope stuffing scam, and more, is here:
http://www.friendsinbusiness.com/scams/catalog.shtml
Hope this helps.