• Brkdncr@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    I used to get a ton of garbage mail at an apartment i lived at. I’d just take as many of the coupon booklets from my box, jam them into one of those return envelops, and stuff it back into the outgoing mail box.

  • 👍Maximum Derek👍@discuss.tchncs.de
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    8 days ago

    When I was in college my roommates and I would open all those offers standing at the mailbox, seal the empty envelopes back up, then put then right back in the mailbox for the carrier to grab the next day (or maybe mail thieves, who knows). We figured just mailing them all back was going to cost something.

    • The_v@lemmy.world
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      8 days ago

      When I was first out of college I used to get 8-10 of pre-payed envelopes every week. I kept a PO box for my mail that I would check weekly.

      I would have maybe 1 or two pieces of real mail and a full box of junk.

      So I started folding up the junk mail I to the 8-10 prepared envelopes every week. This was all done at the counter next to my PO box and dropped mailed back right then.

      It was quite cathartic.

    • TheColonel@reddthat.com
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      8 days ago

      I know/hope this is a joke but people used to do this at an independent, third party, mail sorting place I worked at as a teenager.

      They’d mail all sorts of shit (both literal and figurative) and it was basically handled by one guy who seemed ok with it but was definitely not ok.

      Mail them lead, weights, whatever. But please, no matter how despicable the company, there’s likely some at very least mildly abused worker who is just trying to earn a wage and has to deal with the vile shit people try to punish companies with.

      • zurohki@aussie.zone
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        7 days ago

        This. Your mail isn’t going to be opened by the CEO. Hurt the business, not the worker. Mail them a box of rocks or something, the company will pay postage on it and the minimum wage guy opening packages will laugh.

    • fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com
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      8 days ago

      I read this as you wrote it: “its farts”, like the envelope has farts, vs “it is farts”. Both are technically correct, but seems so much funnier that way.

    • snooggums@lemmy.world
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      8 days ago

      If it wasn’t shitty towards the post office people I would support it.

      But under 10 lbs…

      • BigDaddySlim@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        Sadly we have a weight and size limit on these, but if you can load a mini fridge and keep it under 70lbs it should be accepted.

        Legally this is not shipping advice and purely a shitpost

        • PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca
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          8 days ago

          There is no way that those prepaid postage meant for a letter is gonna be good for 70lb.
          The postal service has to have lower cost options

          • MisanthropiCynic@lemm.ee
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            7 days ago

            That’s the business’ risk for sending those prepaid envelopes out. From the USPS site itself “[Moreover, when a BRM card or envelope is misused and affixed to a sealed item, the permit holder will be responsible for payment of the applicable Retail postage and per piece fee.]

            • PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca
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              7 days ago

              But it also says

              DMM 505.1.4.8, “Labels,” states that in cases when a BRM card or envelope is misused as a BRM label, USPS® treats the item as waste.
              BRM cards and envelopes are designed to be mailed as a First-Class Mail card, letter, or flat only, and not as a BRM label to be attached to other items.

              So I’m still a but fuzzy

              • crabArms@lemmy.world
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                7 days ago

                So I’m still a butt fuzzy

                Weird self-deprecating thing to say, and not sure how it relates, but best wishes with that!

          • BigDaddySlim@lemmy.world
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            7 days ago

            They’re actually not prepaid, they’re counted as postage due at the destination office and either charged to their account automatically or paid at the time of pickup.

            There are lower cost options like nonprofit or third class postage, but that’s usually what they’re paying to send out the junk with these business reply envelopes in the first place. Business reply mail AFAIK is charged at the first class postage rates.

            • PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca
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              7 days ago

              I know it’s not technically prepaid.

              But it’s wild that the postal service wouldn’t have an option here to only accept letters.

              • Confused_Emus@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                7 days ago

                Probably one of those cases where it’s only allowed because there’s no rule specifically forbidding it, and some determined individual figured out it worked one day.

  • kieron115@startrek.website
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    8 days ago

    IF you’re going to do this, make sure use some sort of sealed package (like the box in the photo). You used to be able to slap these things on like a sheet of plywood and just send it as is but now if the package isn’t sealed and is obvious misuse the post office can just throw it in the dumpster. If its a sealed package then the post office has to deliver it and the permit holder has to pay the charges. https://about.usps.com/postal-bulletin/2019/pb22525/html/updt_001.htm

  • Delphia@lemmy.world
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    8 days ago

    Friendly reminder.

    Make sure that you use a box with no identifying information. Scribbling out the barcodes isnt enough.

    Mailing restrictions still apply. Mailing them back rotting fish or potentially hazardous materials is a federal offence.

    Mailing any kind of threat is also against the law.

    • Natanael@infosec.pub
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      8 days ago

      Doesn’t help when you use a return postage slip. They have unique codes. Being “just annoying” is probably the safest bet.

    • nickiwest@lemmy.world
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      8 days ago

      If you’re concerned about your anonymity, keep in mind that companies frequently put ID numbers on their return envelopes to help match the returned mail piece with your record in their database. Sometimes the number is invisible (UV ink) so it doesn’t look “mass produced” to the recipient.

    • FooBarrington@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      Is there a legal limit on the amount of farts I can put into an envelope?

      Edit: I guess this really depends on the consistency of each fart, and the legal threshold of acceptable feces contamination (which can’t be zero). Anyways, does anyone know if they make airtight envelopes?

    • Ajen@sh.itjust.works
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      8 days ago

      No, this is fake. You can put whatever you want in the envelope and send it back, but they won’t deliver a whole package. They only prepaid postage for a letter.

      Of course if you send something dangerous/threatening you might get arrested.

    • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
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      7 days ago

      It wouldn’t surprise me if one slipped through, there are overrides on stuff that get rejected and USPS is a massive organization with millions of parcels moving at any given moment.

      This idea came from people mailing wooden shims back to the credit card companies because it would increase the postage cost over the normal weight… Please don’t do that though. Letters go through a Dr. Seuss Esque sorter system and the shims are too sturdy and sometimes get ripped out of the mail and shot across the facility…

        • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
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          7 days ago

          Feel free to stuff as much paper as you can fit, it’s just wood, plastics and the like that are too rigid for the machines to handle sometimes. USPS gets money for return mailing, so it’s a benfit to them as long as shims or pieces of plastic arent flying around the facility like a bullet.

  • mvilain@fedia.io
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    8 days ago

    I have long fantasized about doing this exact same thing, especially to MAGA-types who somehow got my address and are mailing me requests for donations. Someone in those groups as well as THE SALVATION ARMY have discovered that those postage guaranteed reply envelopes cost money and prompt this response. So now all that stuff requires a stamp if you want to reply. I hope that’s cut down on their fundraising efforts.

    • Korhaka@sopuli.xyz
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      8 days ago

      What is wrong with the salvation army? Sometimes go in there looking for board games when we check if any of the charity shops have any games beyond 50 versions of monopoly and trivia pursuit.

      • Jessica@discuss.tchncs.de
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        8 days ago
        • In 1998, the Salvation Army refused to comply with San Francisco’s laws regarding domestic-partner benefits, costing it $3.5 million in city contracts and leading to the closure of certain programs for homeless people and the elderly.
        • In 2001, the organization tried to strike a deal with the Bush administration, which would have allowed religious charities that receive federal funding to circumvent local ordinances against anti-LGBTQ discrimination. (The organization also threatened to stop all of its New York City operations in 2004.)
        • In 2012, a Salvation Army branch in Vermont was accused of firing a case worker after learning she was bisexual.
        • Also in 2012, Salvation Army spokesperson George Hood said the organization views same-sex relationships as sinful. “A relationship between same-sex individuals is a personal choice that people have the right to make,” Hood said at the time. “But from a church viewpoint, we see that going against the will of God.”

        https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/12/16/21003560/salvation-army-anti-lgbtq-controversies-donations

      • other_cat@lemmy.zip
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        8 days ago

        They are anti-LGBT. I don’t have a source handy for you at the moment so encourage you to search it up.

      • lime!@feddit.nu
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        8 days ago

        the christian holiness movement offshoot organized in actual army ranks under red banners emblazoned with their literal motto “blood and fire”? idk but i could pick out a few things that seem… off

        • Korhaka@sopuli.xyz
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          7 days ago

          Are we even thinking of the same organisation? Never seen that, but maybe they keep it hidden round the back as it would put off customers. I live in the UK, not sure if that makes a difference

          • JcbAzPx@lemmy.world
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            7 days ago

            Salvation Army is more than just a thrift store. They use that to fund their other stuff.

      • Kaboom@reddthat.com
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        8 days ago

        They’re Christians and you know how bad Christians are, with all the volunteering and the charity and the do-gooders and all

        • Count042@lemmy.ml
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          7 days ago

          Let me guess, all the Christians except for the Palestinian ones, right?

          • Kaboom@reddthat.com
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            8 days ago

            There aren’t any Palestinian Christians left after what Hamas did. Do you not know the history of the area? It’s fucked up.

            I suggest you go research it yourself, I’m just a random commenter on the Internet and there’s way more credible sources out there