Any postal workers here? Question on prepaid postage

[Squeech]

Those pre-printed envelopes that come in marketing solicitations? What would really happen if you wrapped one around a brick? Would the recipient be free to reject obvious prank mail, or do they have to accept it? And is it profitable for the postal service to carry this sort of mail (even without the bricks), or is this another service they've been mandated to offer big business?

[Rainbowreflect]

1. I'm not a postal worker, but a friend of mine is.

He sent a bush fund raising, pre-paid return envelope back attached to a cinder block. He figured it would cost them almost $40 is postage. I really love that friend.

[Screaming Lord Bob]

2. A postal worker did that?!?

I wouldn't think that he would put his coworkers through that...

But it was well worth it!!

[Rainbowreflect]

4. He is a rabid anti-bush guy.

He has a ditto-head coworker that he brings "presents" to most days.

[Magrittes Pipe]

3. I want to shoot a bunch of people.

Does that count? :shrug:

[Squeech]

5. No

I want to shoot a bunch of people too, but that won't answer my question.

Might get me a whole new insight into license plate manufacture, though.

[eyesroll]

6. Not a postal worker, but I do work with business-reply mail occasionally

1. It's technically illegal to send a brick back, or anything else the envelope wasn't intended to contain. That said, I have no idea what happens to bricks -- if they end up in the dead-letter office, returned to sender (if there's a return address) or paid for by the company. (If you want to send back something, stuff the solicitation back into the envelope.)

2. Business reply mail is marignally profitable (at least, it's no worse than other first-class large-scale mail, because fees are similar).

[Squeech]

7. Thanks for the info

Re #2, I saw on the Web that the Postal Service charges another dime as a processing fee for delivering prepaid reply envelopes. True?