Mail Dealer 763
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Separation of church and state could hardly be more complete. The church teaches us that money isn't everything, and the government keeps telling us it is.
02-16-2025 - Good Morning! There's not much on the schedule here at the Mail Dealer 763 HQ. I might watch all or part of the NASCAR race later. There's no mail tomorrow - President's Day - so there's nothing to look forward to in that department. Please send me your news and ads!
02-15-2025 - This month, the USPS will roll out a new money order with an updated design and enhanced security features. I can't remember the last time I purchased a USPS money order. Most of my Extra Income Mail Order transactions are small enough that cash wrapped in dark paper works fine. I haven't lost a dime in 30 years!
02-15-2025 - I saw a headline about "thousands" of probationary IRS workers laid off in the middle of tax season. I got my refund a week ago.
02-15-2025 - Goodnight Moon and SpongeBob SquarePants stamps are coming out this year. I'll buy a sheet or two of each. Who would have thought years ago that so many different stamps would be available? What stamps are in your shopping cart?
02-15-2025 - Have you thought about using 18 lb paper for your Mail Order needs? I bought 500 sheets a few years ago in anticipation of a never-developed printed advertiser. The paper handles regular print well without bleeding through. Depending on what you're using now, the lower weight might allow you to squeeze one more sales circular in your mailing without going over one ounce.
02-15-2025 - In my town, we have three Walmart stores and a Target. Target's parking lot does not have angled parking, and, to make matters worse, whoever designed the lot thinks everyone drives a Mini Cooper. The Walmart stores are in dire need of a full-time front-end wheel alignment technician for shopping carts.
02-15-2025 - About 35 years ago, I ordered a self-publishing "how to" book from Dan Poynter. I don't remember if it was the Self Publishing Manual or a similar title. It was either a comb-binding or perfect-bound model. I remember a friend commenting that I had been cheated because the booklet appeared cheaply constructed. That was their opinion, not mine. They had no concern for the value of the information the book contained. Talk about judging a book by its cover! The content made the book worth its weight in gold! I also had a copy of another of Dan's books, "The Skydiver's Handbook."
02-15-2025 - While in line at the Post Office, I heard one of the clerks trying to talk a customer out of sending cash to an address in Mexico. While I have never lost a dime in the mail in 30 years of sending and receiving cash, Mexico is another situation altogether—at least according to stories I've heard.
02-15-2025 - I'm seeing more and more ads for adsheets that don't exist. They can't exist based on their description and circulation claims. With the vast circulation claimed, I should now have a stack of them. I don't. If you've been in the Mail Order selling business for any time, you've seen these ads, too. I hope no one is donating money to these folks. Please don't ask me to name them because I won't do it.
02-15-2025 - Good Morning! It's Saturday! My fiber optic cable was installed yesterday. Everything - the Internet and phone - is working fine. The "site announcement" postcards I mailed should reach their destination soon. Maybe today. If not, Tuesday. Monday is a sad day for Mail Order Dealers—a USPS holiday! My coffee is ready!
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02-14-2025 - TLDR - Not long ago, I received a 12-page sales letter. I thumbed through it, and it appeared to be a continuous pitch for one program. I declined to read it. The experts say that people like long sales letters. I don't. Two pages would be the max for me. I love one-page Wonders! Of course, if a sales letter is 12 pages long, you know it does not sell printing, advertising, or other "tools of the trade," and that's what we deal with here.
02-14-2025 - Today, I learned that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has a long list of companies no longer allowed to be in the debt collection business. Were they not following the rules?
02-14-2025 - Good Morning! It's Valentine's Day. I have purchased my card and flowers and am ready to deliver them. I'm having fiber optic cable installed this morning. In my city, we have two companies that provide this service. I'll call them Company A and Company B. It was time to switch from copper to , so I set out to talk to sales reps from each company. I had already visited their websites. I got the low-down from Company A, but when I visited Company B, I found a note on the door saying the office was closed for the day for an unspecified reason. No problem. I'll check tomorrow. Tomorrow came, and the note, with the previous day's date, was still on the door. This morning, Company A will be installing my fiber optic cable. I have a policy of not begging people to take my money. My Folger's Black Silk Coffee is ready.
Business is a lot like tennis. Those who don't serve well wind up losing.
02-13-2025 - In 1992, I wrote a 10-page report with reproduction rights. I created a sales letter for it. I mailed it to 20 random people who had ads in a popular Mail Order advertising magazine. I got one order. That's a 5% return rate. The cost of a First Class stamp in 1992 was 29¢. The postage for those 20 mailings was $5.80. The paper and envelopes were probably no more than 50¢. Not counting labor, I made about $5.30 on the deal. I was very new in Mail Order selling. It must have been beginner's luck. Or, a darn good sales letter!
02-13-2025 - My wife has hundreds of "art" rubber stamps she has collected over the years. We've been to more than a few rubber stamp conventions. I'm talking about the rubber stamps you might find at Hobby Lobby or Michael's Arts & Crafts. I even have a few of my own. This abundance of rubber stamps means that I have no shortage of sources of envelope art! What's on your envelopes?
02-13-2025 - The mail-order selling "experts" will say you should never use a rubber stamp for your return address. They say that no matter how small your business is, you can look like a large and important business using professionally prepared materials. I understand, but I don't want to do business with a large, important company. I want to do business with a small home-based business selling a needed product or service. If you're a small home-based business, it's okay with me if you look like a small home-based business. I use a rubber stamp for my return address and have done so for years, and I like seeing such stamps on other dealers' envelopes. About 30 years ago, I had a series of 10 custom rubber stamps aimed at Mail Order Dealers. They were short phrases like" Thanks For Your Business," First Class Mail," etc. They were unmounted and on a single strip. I sold a few but got complaints that they were not mounted on handles, even though my ad clearly said they were unmounted. Anyway, rubber stamps are cool. What's not so cool is sales material that's a copy of a copy of a copy. But that's just my opinion.
02-13-2025 - I receive gifting programs in the mail almost every day. One of the problems with these programs is that the sales circulars are easy to hijack. What's to keep me from putting my name and address over the name of the person who sent it to me, making copies, and mailing them? Of course, what's to keep someone from hijacking my hijacked circular? And who's to say the one I hijacked wasn't a hijack job?
02-13-2025 - It was about 1995 when I received a $10 bill. There was no return address inside or out. I don't remember what the person was ordering, but I do remember the only place where I had advertised it. I wrote to the publisher, letting him know just in case this person complained. All I could do was pin the envelope and money to my bulletin board and wait to hear from someone wondering what happened. I never heard from the sender or the publisher. I kept the money on the board for several years before pocketing it.
Products & Services Sold By Mail
02-13-2025 - From the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics - Economics Daily - From January 2024 to January 2025, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 3.0 percent, after rising 2.9 percent over the 12 months ending December 2024. The all items less food and energy index rose 3.3 percent over the last 12 months. Energy prices increased 1.0 percent and food prices increased 2.5 percent over the last year.