Okay, where is the catch????

I know I'm a moron, but I'm desperate, so I thought I'd see what you guys thought of this.....

I am SURE it's a scam..it just HAS to be...otherwise everybody and their dog would be doing it!!!

I was looking through the local paper and saw this ad for mailing letters at home (I KNOW, I KNOW... ) But anyway, I decided to go to their website and check it out.

They ship you all these envelopes and address labels and their flyers to stuff them with. You stuff them (according to their instructions) and mail them back to them (in bulk, they said it cost like $3-$4 to mail them back 100 stuffed envelopes) and you then receive $4.00 for EVERY one you send back to them. That's IT!! No selling anything, no calling anyone, you get paid regardless of whether they make any money of it or not. They not only pay you $4 per envelope, they also reimburse (sp?) you for your shipping cost. So say you mail them back 100 stuffed envelopes and it cost you $4 to mail them, they would send you a check for $404.00

They say they pay you weekly, and that they can afford to do this because this saves them money from having to hire people to do this at their offices, because this way they don't have to pay insurance, vacations, or use the office space up.

Okay, here's the bad part....but it still doesn't sound too bad, IF and I say IF they are on the level.....they want you to send them $90 upfront. (I know what your thinking that's immediately what I thought!!!) BUT.......after you mail them back your first 100 stuffed envelopes...you get the $90 refunded back to you...they just add it onto your paycheck.

They say the reason they have to do this, is because this weeds out the people who aren't really serious about doing this, and that they cannot afford to mail out 100's of envelopes and flyers to people who aren't going to actually go through with it, and are just curious about it. I can understand that they would lose alot of money if they just sent their stuff out to anybody, and this way, after you have sent them back 100 envelopes, they know you are serious about it, and they send you back your $90.

So.....where's the catch??????? I mean if they were for real, and would mail me back my money after I sent the first 100 envelopes, I would not have a problem with that. And the say this is a one time only fee, you will be sent the envelopes and flyers on a regular basis
after that without paying anything.

This just sounds too good to be true, and I know that probably means it IS too good to be true...but I just wondered what your thoughts were. I really want to stay at home with Amber, and this would be a great way to make money if it were on the level, but I don't want to just blow $90 for nothing and find out it is a scam.

Does anyone know of anybody who has done this before??? Did it work out?????
Am I just a hopeful moron?????

I don't want to be naive here...but It sounds good, so where is the catch???
If anyone is curious about this site, I can post the website for you or PM it to you, if you want to check it out to see where the "hidden" catch is. It's got to be somewhere!!!!!!!!
Oh if only it was for real!!!!!!!

FTC Names Its Dirty Dozen: 12 Scams Most Likely to Arrive Via Bulk Email

4. Work-at-home schemes

Envelope-stuffing solicitations promise steady income for minimal labor-for example, you'll earn $2 each time you fold a brochure and seal it in an envelope. Craft assembly work schemes often require an investment of hundreds of dollars in equipment or supplies, and many hours of your time producing goods for a company that has promised to buy them.

The scam: You'll pay a small fee to get started in the envelope-stuffing business. Then, you'll learn that the email sender never had real employment to offer. Instead, you'll get instructions on how to send the same envelope-stuffing ad in your own bulk emailings. If you earn any money, it will be from others who fall for the scheme you're perpetuating. And after spending the money and putting in the time on the craft assembly work, you are likely to find promoters who refuse to pay you, claiming that your work isn't up to their "quality standards."

I did this about 2 years ago before I got licensed for daycare. DON'T DO IT!!!!!!!! ITs a scam.

They send you the packet, ( mind you they charge you a 24.95 fee for shipping and handling).

Then, you have to pay for the AD to advertise the product ( whatever it may be ), and when you get people to respond, they send you $4.00 ( the customer) and you send them the packet. Catch is, it costs a minimum of like 25 bucks to get the ad in the paper for like 1 week, and then you have to keep running it...you end up making MAYBE 20 bucks per week. Amd you have to get like 6 people to respond just to break even.

I never even tried, just tossed it in the trash. Its a scam, don't waste your time.

Work-at-Home Schemes

Work-At-Home-Schemes Now Peddled On-Line

United States Postal Inspection Service Work-at-Home Schemes

Meant to say, there usually isn't even a product. You send your "customers" the same packet you bought!!! So essentially you are perpetuating the same scam you fell for!

I still have my packet from the original time I did it. If you want to take a look at it Deb, I'd be more than happy to send it to you. Then you can read for yourself what a hoax it is!!

Debby, It's a scam. It costs them $4-$5 to mail them to you, and then $400 to pay you for stuffing them. That's $405 dollars for less than an hour's work on your part. (I did this for the people I babysat for when I was a teenager for less than minimum wage. They were advertising a new business.) They could pay anyone $5.15 an hour to do it. That's $400 less than they're offering you. Also, the experts warn us that anyone asking for money up front is probably a scam artist. I would inform the authorities. There might be a reward, which would be the only way you would get any money from this scheme, I fear.

I do hope you can find another way to work at home. My heart aches for you. I taught piano and I know people who have daycare in their homes. How about a storytime hour for the neighborhood children? Moms could get an hour to themselves and pay you for something enjoyable. My daughter-in-law worked on the computer for a PGH. bank. Also, the school district here pays people to call in subs at about 5-5:30 A.M. Sometimes they call a day or two ahead if the teacher is just taking a personal day, but the same morning if the teacher calls in ill. Good luck. p.s. All of these jobs were done at home.

I am sure you are right, so I won't do it. Thanks for responding to me! Here is the website if you want to look at it..

http://www.mailinglettersfromhome.com/

It just sounds so good, and they don't say anything about having to run an ad, or get customers to contact you, or send the letters to the customers, etc...if this is a scam it should be reported!!! Makes me mad they get my hopes all up and then they would just basically steal my money.

Debby, I went to a site homebiztools.com/scams.htm
to double check. Here is a partial explanation of how some of them work. Quote:


But wait, did I mention that you'll need to rent 5000 names? Oh, and don't forget...

Uh huh.

If a company says they will pay you $1 or $2 for every envelope you stuff, think about this...

A mailing house or printer can do this same job for less than 10 cents per piece. Even big jobs don't add up to more than 50 or 60 cents per piece. Does it really make sense to pay you $1 when the same job can be done for a tenth of that cost?

This is a big business. There are companies promoting these envelope stuffing programs making many thousands of dollars every year from people who send in those up front fees.

Endquote

I'm sure glad I asked you guys!!!! I am definitely not going to take the chance of losing my money on this!
Thanks!!!!

It is disappointing though. *sigh* But I think I pretty much knew it had to be a scam...was just being hopeful!