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There's a bunch of these services out there, but here's a couple that may be interesting: http://www.postful.com/ http://www.l-mail.com/ Both look pretty clean and offer various capabilities to send lots of letters more efficiently, including an API.
I remember looking at these a while back, and I believe Postal Methods is more robust than either of the two you mentioned (and pretty cheap too).
http://localhost:3000/success?merchant_return_link=Return+to...
Edit: Also, a personalized handwriting font upload would be neat.
Interesting. I wonder if dcurtis would mind describing some details of the operation. Is the postage being printed too, or are stamps being affixed some other way? And I guess someone is still delivering the mail to a box or post office--would that get annoying?
I had a beagleboard (beagleboard.org) sitting around in my closet, so I figured I should do something with it. When you create a letter on Snail, the beagleboard pulls from the heroku database, formats the letter, prints it, and then sends me an email saying it's ready to be stuffed into an envelope. (Well... sort of. In a perfect world, that is what would happen. Unfortunately, there are some bugs that I am still tr…
If you can work ON the process instead of IN it then there is some potential for this to work on volume, but overall really cool idea, props!
Somebody has to say it: In the year 2009 snail mail is grossly inadequate. 1. Does it prove anything? No. Sign something with a private key, that is proof. 2. Is it better for record keeping? No. Fires, floods, and rot are all enemies. Storing it digital allows one to replicate a lifetime of mail in 10 seconds. 3. Aesthetic? Only if you have a strong packrat or nesting instinct. 4. Cheaper? No. Not by a fucking longs…
And yet despite all of those factors, I'll be using Snail. I have elderly family that greatly prefers getting physical letters to email. I also do a lot of foreign travel, where it's inconvenient and expensive to send letters. Snail is a definitely niche product, and only useful in weird edge cases. However, you might be surprised how many people encounter those edge cases on a daily basis.
Making people feel special is worth a couple of bucks.
Somebody has to say it: In the year 2009 snail mail is grossly inadequate. 1. Does it prove anything? No. Sign something with a private key, that is proof. 2. Is it better for record keeping? No. Fires, floods, and rot are all enemies. Storing it digital allows one to replicate a lifetime of mail in 10 seconds. 3. Aesthetic? Only if you have a strong packrat or nesting instinct. 4. Cheaper? No. Not by a fucking longs…
And yet despite all of those factors, I'll be using Snail. I have elderly family that greatly prefers getting physical letters to email. I also do a lot of foreign travel, where it's inconvenient and expensive to send letters. Snail is a definitely niche product, and only useful in weird edge cases. However, you might be surprised how many people encounter those edge cases on a daily basis.
I always send my postcards the last day and then hunt for the stamps and post box/office where I can send them from. I'd really find this service useful :) Although, arguably a big part of receiving a postcard is the stamp which you wouldn't have here.
If this gets popular, you could hire a few helpers to handle the printing/mailing. The job ad could go something like "Work from home. Get paid to stuff envelopes!" :-)
Somebody has to say it: In the year 2009 snail mail is grossly inadequate. 1. Does it prove anything? No. Sign something with a private key, that is proof. 2. Is it better for record keeping? No. Fires, floods, and rot are all enemies. Storing it digital allows one to replicate a lifetime of mail in 10 seconds. 3. Aesthetic? Only if you have a strong packrat or nesting instinct. 4. Cheaper? No. Not by a fucking longs…
I have an aunt who snail mails a few photos of her family every now and then with a handwritten letter. She's been doing this for years. Yet, each year receiving the personal snail mail brings more excitement than the previous year!
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, the dollar breaks down like this: * 10c to paypal * 44c to stamp * 40c for envelope and paper I make about 6c on each letter.
It's really a shame that paypal makes more than you do. Are there any payment gateways that are better for low-price transactions than paypal?