Is Envelope Stuffing a Legit Work From Home Job?

Envelope stuffing job sites have been around for many years. Most of them say you can make $1,000’s per month just by filling envelopes and mailing them.

Is this a legit home-based job? No. Envelope stuffing is not a legitimate work-from-home job, it’s a scam. Regardless of how convincing some of these “job opportunities” might sound, stuffing envelopes is not a real way to make money.

Let’s discuss what these so-called mailing jobs are about in more detail, and how the scams work, so you know what to expect.

What Is an Envelope Stuffing Job?

Envelope stuffing is just another way of saying “filling envelopes” with something. Such as a letter, brochure, documents, or product of some kind.

And as an envelope stuffer, your job is just filling envelopes.

That’s it.

Now, on one hand, there are real jobs out there that do involve this task. Such as an office assistant or mailroom clerk for example. Who’s job likely involves filling envelopes, addressing them, and perhaps mailing them out.

But this is only part of what they do.

Because given the technology we now have, that literally stuffs envelopes automatically, no real company pays people to do this job exclusively or at any large scale.

Real companies use machines instead…

Maybe they hired people to stuff envelopes back in the 1960s, when we didn’t have this kind of technology. But in this day and age, it’s simply not viable to pay people $100s per week or even per month to do a job this menial. It just doesn’t make practical sense.

But this doesn’t stop scammers from trying to convince people otherwise. So in the next section, we’ll look at how these work at home scams work.

How Envelope Stuffing Scams Work

There are lots of scam sites promising you can make real money stuffing envelopes. I mean, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) doesn’t write an article about envelope-stuffing schemes unless it’s a rampant scam.

But despite the sheer number of these scam sites, what I have found is that they often fit into TWO main categories:

• Scams that just take your startup fee
• Scams that operate like a pyramid scheme

Let’s take a closer look at how each type of envelope-stuffing scam works…

The “Startup Fee” Scam

Many of these scam sites ask for a fee, so they can send out your “envelope stuffing kit”. So the first and most obvious type of scam is where the scammer simply takes off with your money.

And in most cases, once you send this money, it’s gone forever. You don’t know who these people are, and often the money is sent by cash or money order.

So even if you do contact the authorities and your financial institution, it’s going to be very difficult to track these scammers down, and even harder to get your money back. So if you send money in the mail, it’s as good as gone.

In other cases, you may receive materials in the mail to get started.

But when you send the completed work back to get paid, they say it’s not good enough. And they keep this charade going for as long as possible to get free labor. This is very similar to the way home assembly job scams work.

The Pyramid Scheme In Disguise

This is the worst kind of envelope-filling scam because it doesn’t just involve you losing money, it involves you taking part in the scam yourself, and luring others in, who lose money.

The way this works is similar to a chain letter scam.

Whereby you pay the fee to join and receive a letter with instructions on how to mail out unsolicited mail to others, to convince them to join. And if someone pays the fee as you did, you earn a commission.

At first, you might think this sounds good because you can earn a small commission if you get others to join. And this is why some people take part in scams like this (knowingly or unknowingly).

But it’s a pyramid scheme because you are paying to join something, just to earn commissions when other people pay to join the same scheme.

And as such, it’s not sustainable.

These schemes inevitably fall apart and the people who join end up losing money. Only a few people at the top of the pyramid, like those who started the scam, make money.

How To Spot the Scam Sites

The most logical thing to do at this point is to simply avoid any site that promises you can make easy money as an envelope stuffer. Because 9 times out of 10 these are going to be outright scams.

But there are some red flags you can watch out for. And not only will these help you avoid mailing scams like the ones I’ve described in this article, but also other scams online.

Here are the main warning signs/ red flags of a scam:

• Unrealistic income claims
• No way to verify the company behind it
• Ask for an upfront payment
• No real testimonials about the company

There are probably more red flags than this to watch for, but these are the most common and in my opinion, enough to help you avoid most scams.

On the first point, even if envelope stuffing was a real job (which it’s not), there’s no way any company is paying you $1,000’s per month. And this is what most of these scam sites promise.

For example, the following two sites claim you can earn a full-time income with their “home mailer program”:

As you can see, the first site says you can earn $170,000 per year. And the second site says you can earn $1,200 per week, or $5 per envelope you stuff. This is absolute nonsense, especially when you consider the other red flags both sites raise.

For example, neither of these sites provide any real contact information, they both ask for upfront payment for “start-up fees”, and there are no credible testimonials from anyone online. Which a legit site would provide.

Anyway, these are just two examples, there are many more scam sites like these. Some of them even run ads on job sites like Indeed and other popular job search sites.

Hopefully, by seeing these examples you will know what to watch out for if you encounter other scam sites offering similar fake jobs.

So, Can You Make Money Stuffing Envelopes?

It’s possible that some low-paying envelope-stuffing jobs exist, but most are scams and you almost certainly won’t make anywhere near a five or six-figure income this way.

In the overwhelming majority of cases, the only people making money this way are the fraudsters who put the envelope-stuffing scam together.

There are obviously jobs out there that involve filling envelopes with some sort of advertising material, product, or document. For example, someone who works as an office assistant may very well do this task to some extent.

But no real company is paying you real money to sit at home and stuff envelopes all day long. This is simply not a real thing.

It reminds me of scam sites that say you can make money posting ads online. Or scams that say you can make money posting links.

These scams are based on a similar “half-truth” in the sense that, yes, the process of making money online can involve posting advertisements and links online. But the act of posting links is not a job in and of itself, especially not one that pays $1,000’s per month.

So, my point is, while it may be technically possible that some companies are paying a small amount of money for people to fill envelopes, in most cases, it’s a scam.

Bottom Line

It is possible to earn money working from home. In fact, there are many legitimate ways you can earn an income remotely.

For example, you could start a home-based business, make money on sites that pay you to complete simple tasks or complete surveys, or get a remote job.

I personally do affiliate marketing. This is where you set up a website to promote other companies’ products online. It takes time and effort, and it’s not as simple as envelope stuffing, but it’s legit and can allow you to build up a substantial income stream.

So, there are lots of options out there. The important thing is to figure out what you want to do, then research the method, as well as the company asking for your money, before diving in. And whatever you do, don’t fall for envelope stuffer job scams.