# "Unsolicited merchandise is yours to keep" - Does this apply to incorrectly addressed items also? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 29, 2011, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolicited-merchandise-is-yours-to-keep-does-this-apply-to-incorrectly-addressed-items-also/607764 "2011-12-29T22:01:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolicited-merchandise-is-yours-to-keep-does-this-apply-to-incorrectly-addressed-items-also/607764/1 "2011-12-29T22:01:11Z")
Another thread re unwanted merchandise being received pointed to this postal regulation below. So, if I’m selling say an iPod via eBay and it accidentally gets posted to the wrong address the recipient has essentially won the lottery? I have no recourse to retrieve the merchandise? [Unsolicited Merchandise](http://about.usps.com/publications/pub300a/pub300a_tech_021.htm) > [@](#): > > Unsolicited Merchandise > > A company sends you a gift in the mail — a tie, a good luck charm, or a key chain. You didn’t order the gift. What do you do? Many people will feel guilty and pay for the gift. But you don’t have to. What you do with the merchandise is entirely up to you. > ■If you have not opened the package, mark it “Return to Sender.” The Postal Service will send it back at no charge to you. > ■If you open the package and don’t like what you find, throw it away. > ■If you open the package and like what you find, keep it — free. This is a rare instance where “finders, keepers” applies unconditionally. > > Whatever you do, don’t pay for it — and don’t get conned if the sender follows up with a phone call or visit. By law, unsolicited merchandise is yours to keep. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolicited-merchandise-is-yours-to-keep-does-this-apply-to-incorrectly-addressed-items-also/607764/2 "2011-12-29T22:10:06Z")
Umm, no not unless you also accidentally address it to that wrong party. In other words, if you mail to John Smith 123 Main street Anytown, CA 90000 And you write John Smith 23 Main street Anytown, CA 90000 So Mary Brown gets it at 23 Main street, then she can not open it, as it’s not addressed to her, she must return it to the PO/USPS. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolicited-merchandise-is-yours-to-keep-does-this-apply-to-incorrectly-addressed-items-also/607764/3 "2011-12-29T22:17:04Z")
Think about it this way: If you ‘incorrectly address’ something to someone and then come after them for the price of what you shipped them, you just took them for a potentially unlimited amount of money while not giving them any possible way to avoid that expense. Even if you claim to be satisfied with just shipping charges, you could still say the item never arrived, or arrived damaged, to get the full amount anyway. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolicited-merchandise-is-yours-to-keep-does-this-apply-to-incorrectly-addressed-items-also/607764/4 "2011-12-29T22:25:31Z")
No one said they have to pay for it, just that they can’t open it or keep it, they must return it to the USPS. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolicited-merchandise-is-yours-to-keep-does-this-apply-to-incorrectly-addressed-items-also/607764/5 "2011-12-29T23:07:36Z")
I’ve heard this before but doubt it is enforceable. How can a requirement to fix someone else’s mistake be imposed? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolicited-merchandise-is-yours-to-keep-does-this-apply-to-incorrectly-addressed-items-also/607764/6 "2011-12-29T23:15:31Z")
There’s no “requirement to fix someone else’s mistake”, it’s just that you are not allowed to open mail not addressed to you. Postal regs say you are supposed to return the item to the USPS. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolicited-merchandise-is-yours-to-keep-does-this-apply-to-incorrectly-addressed-items-also/607764/7 "2011-12-29T23:16:33Z")
You don’t have to fix the mistake. However, if something has been delivered to you by mistake, you have to allow them to fix the mistake, e.g., by calling on you and taking it back. If you don’t, then you are stealing someone else’s property. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolicited-merchandise-is-yours-to-keep-does-this-apply-to-incorrectly-addressed-items-also/607764/8 "2011-12-29T23:19:26Z")
From Title 18 of the U.S. Code: "Section 1701. Obstruction of mail generally Whoever knowingly and willfully obstructs or retards the passage of the mail, or any carrier or conveyance carrying the mail, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both. Section 1702. Obstruction of correspondence Whoever takes any letter, postal card, or package out of any post office or any authorized depository for mail matter, or from any letter or mail carrier, or which has been in any post office or authorized depository, or in the custody of any letter or mail carrier, before it has been delivered to the person to whom it was directed, with design to obstruct the correspondence, or to pry into the business or secrets of another, or opens, secretes, embezzles, or destroys the same, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. …. Whoever, without authority, opens, or destroys any mail or package of newspapers not directed to them, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both." ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolicited-merchandise-is-yours-to-keep-does-this-apply-to-incorrectly-addressed-items-also/607764/9 "2011-12-29T23:24:05Z")
If something is ADDRESSED TO YOU, you have the right to open it and keep it. Otherwise it is an invitation to extortion. If it is not addressed to you, you aren’t. So **DrDeth** ’s example would only work if there is a John Smith at the address it was delivered to (or the package is address to “occupant”). Opening SOMEONE ELSE’S mail, even at your address is mail fraud (according to this [case](http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=17811917603889300733&hl=en&as_sdt=400002&as_vis=1&kqfp=16416556292721133715&kql=180&kqpfp=13756658536134008829)at least, which came from this [thread](http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/deal-discussion/1013973/)) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolicited-merchandise-is-yours-to-keep-does-this-apply-to-incorrectly-addressed-items-also/607764/10 "2011-12-29T23:31:05Z")
Great cite!🆒 ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolicited-merchandise-is-yours-to-keep-does-this-apply-to-incorrectly-addressed-items-also/607764/11 "2011-12-29T23:32:34Z")
I come home, stop by the community mailboxes and get the items in my assigned box. I get to my house and realize I have items not intended for me. How is my requirement to return the items enforced? No authority has factual knowledge of where the item is. Has anyone actually been prosecuted for this? Cases where the item was removed from the postal system to include individual mailboxes are a different case. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolicited-merchandise-is-yours-to-keep-does-this-apply-to-incorrectly-addressed-items-also/607764/12 "2011-12-29T23:36:16Z")
Though I wonder how this interacts with all the other laws that say the opposite (e.g. that finders very much does not mean keepers). e.g. if you bank makes an accounting error and deposits a million dollars into your account, you don’t get to keep that money. If you withdraw it, and spent it, its theft. What if they mail you a million dollars by accident? Which rule applies. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolicited-merchandise-is-yours-to-keep-does-this-apply-to-incorrectly-addressed-items-also/607764/13 "2011-12-29T23:41:23Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > e.g. if you bank makes an accounting error and deposits a million dollars into your account, you don’t get to keep that money. If you withdraw it, and spent it, its theft. > > What if they mail you a million dollars by accident? Which rule applies. You get to keep the physical check, but the person (or organization) which wrote the check can put a stop payment order on the check, i.e. the physically delivered item (the paper check) is yours to keep. But the bank is not fully obligated to let a deposit attempt through. If, however, you deposited it and the deposit went through (which itself can take a couple days, even after you leave the bank), that’s a strong indication that the transaction was valid. This is especially true since any bank would double-check a check deposited for such a large sum. Now, if the bank decided to send you cash or a diamond via mail, it’s yours to keep. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolicited-merchandise-is-yours-to-keep-does-this-apply-to-incorrectly-addressed-items-also/607764/14 "2011-12-29T23:56:49Z")
> [@tim-n-va](#): > > Has anyone actually been prosecuted for this? Cases where the item was removed from the postal system to include individual mailboxes are a different case. Read griffin1977’s cite. Yes. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolicited-merchandise-is-yours-to-keep-does-this-apply-to-incorrectly-addressed-items-also/607764/15 "2011-12-30T00:08:09Z")
Not exactly the same. In the case cited, opening the mail was only detected due to the credit card fraud. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolicited-merchandise-is-yours-to-keep-does-this-apply-to-incorrectly-addressed-items-also/607764/16 "2011-12-30T00:14:22Z")
> [@tim-n-va](#): > > Not exactly the same. In the case cited, opening the mail was only detected due to the credit card fraud. Yes but the conviction he was appealing (unsuccessfully) was not the fraud part but the mail theft part. He argued that having the credit card statements was not theft as they’d been delivered to his apartment (addressed to the former tenant). The judges found that it was in fact theft. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolicited-merchandise-is-yours-to-keep-does-this-apply-to-incorrectly-addressed-items-also/607764/17 "2011-12-30T00:21:59Z")
My point was not that it was not legally enforceable but that in the absence of other crimes it is not practical to enforce. There would have been no case for mail Frau to appeal without the credit card fraud. This week I threw away mail for a previous resident. She is deceased. In what practical way am I likely to be prosecuted for my crime. ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolicited-merchandise-is-yours-to-keep-does-this-apply-to-incorrectly-addressed-items-also/607764/18 "2011-12-30T01:52:11Z")
Years ago, someone was taking my mail from my mail box (individual box in front of my house). I suspected my ex-boyfriend. I told the post office, who told me to call the police. The police told me to watch the box and take pix of whoever was taking my mail. I simply could not take time off work to sit at home, peeping through the curtains, waiting for someone who may or may not show up and steal my mail. I gave up and rented a box at the post office. I didn’t have a car at the time, so fetching my mail was a two-hour round trip by bus. No one cared about catching, much less prosecuting, whoever stole my mail. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolicited-merchandise-is-yours-to-keep-does-this-apply-to-incorrectly-addressed-items-also/607764/19 "2011-12-30T02:18:52Z")
> [@tim-n-va](#): > > My point was not that it was not legally enforceable but that in the absence of other crimes it is not practical to enforce. There would have been no case for mail Frau to appeal without the credit card fraud. > > This week I threw away mail for a previous resident. She is deceased. In what practical way am I likely to be prosecuted for my crime. There are lots of laws that are hard to enforce due to lack of immediate and obvious evidence. So? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2011, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolicited-merchandise-is-yours-to-keep-does-this-apply-to-incorrectly-addressed-items-also/607764/20 "2011-12-30T04:48:55Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > Opening SOMEONE ELSE’S mail, even at your address is mail fraud (according to this [case](http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=17811917603889300733&hl=en&as_sdt=400002&as_vis=1&kqfp=16416556292721133715&kql=180&kqpfp=13756658536134008829)at least, which came from this [thread](http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/deal-discussion/1013973/)) If that case hasn’t gone any farther, then apparently it’s different in different parts of the country: > [@](#): > > The Third and Fifth Circuits have ruled that § 1708 covers misdelivered, but not misaddressed, mail, on the theory that the authority of the Postal Service ends once the letter has been delivered to the address on the envelope. See United States v. Lavin, 567 F.2d 579, 583 (3d Cir.1977); United States v. Davis, 461 F.2d 83, 89-90 (5th Cir.1972). The Ninth Circuit has ruled that § 1708 covers misdelivered mail, but covers misaddressed mail only if a change of address form has been filed with the Postal Service by the intended recipient of the mail. See United States v. Anton, 547 F.2d 493, 495 & n. 2 (9th Cir.1976); United States v. Birnstihl, 441 F.2d 368, 369 (9th Cir.1971) (per curiam). Finally, the Seventh and Tenth Circuits have ruled, and the First Circuit has implicitly concluded, that § 1708 extends to both misdelivered and misaddressed mail. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolicited-merchandise-is-yours-to-keep-does-this-apply-to-incorrectly-addressed-items-also/607764.md?page=2)