Free snail mail, sponsored by advertisers

Yesterday, we covered two companies that make it possible for consumers to send snail mail by email. More from the old school mail front: Dutch Gratis-Post lets people order envelopes with free postage for mailing within The Netherlands. Like most of the free love concepts we’ve covered in the past (from free photocopies to free phone calls), the concept is supported by advertising, in two parts. Ads are printed on the back of the envelope, and in exchange for 5 free ready-to-mail envelopes, users also agree to receive advertising messages by email for a period of four weeks. If you think consumers can’t possibly be interested in being ad-bombed for four weeks in exchange for EUR 2.20 (one stamp is EUR 0.44) worth of postage on ad-covered envelopes, you’re wrong 😉 Gratis-Post ran out of its first print-run of 52,500 envelopes a few hours after they launched last Monday. Registered users can order a maximum of 5 envelopes per week. To give you a bit of insight into the format’s revenue structure: for EUR 12,500, advertisers can have their ads printed on 10,000 envelopes, an email shot sent to registered users and banners placed on gratis-post.nl. Although the Dutch may have a reputation for pinching pennies, they’re not the only nation to love a no-cost bargain. If you’re in advertising or looking for a relatively easy company to start up, go to your local printer and national postal service, and start bargaining.