Earning Extra Money Stuffing Envelopes - Too Good to Be True?

Are you trying to make a little extra money these days to make ends meet? Who isn’t? When times are tough, however, this is when people are at their most vulnerable to scams. Take, for instance, stuffing envelopes. Everyone has seen the advertisements promising that you can earn hundreds - even thousands - of dollars every week simply by stuffing envelopes in your spare time. This sounds like a good deal to a lot of people. After all, you can work from home sitting in front of the TV, folding up some papers while the cash rolls in - what’s not to like, right?

As it turns out, there’s a lot to dislike about the world of envelope stuffing. The whole deal sounds too good to be true because most of the time, it is. When it comes to stuffing envelopes, you’re more likely to end up out of pocket with nothing to show for it than actually earning an easy paycheck. If you’re considering taking a chance on an envelope stuffing opportunity, keep the following red flags in mind.

Your most basic line of defense is to give the whole idea the old “common sense” check. Ask yourself this question - why in the world would a company pay you thousands of dollars to stuff envelopes? That’s not a labor intensive job and it doesn’t require special skills or training, yet you stand to make more than people in higher responsibility, higher level positions? It just simply doesn’t make sense, does it? Of course, some companies will claim the money you earn comes from the volume of the work you do, but have you ever worked for a company that outsourced envelope stuffing?

Next, investigate what you need to get started. Most likely you will be asked to purchase some kind of “starter kit.” What is in the starter kit, exactly? You’re likely to find the details about what you are purchasing are a little vague. This is another huge red flag. Yet another up front cost that should send the alarm bells ringing in your head is a “processing fee.” Are you being asked to pay for the chance to get on a company’s “books”? What do you get in return for investment? Is there a guaranteed amount of work you will get and money you will earn? Can you get your investment back if you are unsatisfied? These are all questions that deserve your careful consideration.

There may be legitimate envelope stuffing businesses out there, but the reality is that they are few and far between. A much more common outcome of signing up with one of these companies is losing the money you spent on your start up kit and processing fee and discovering you have no resource to get it back. If you think you have encountered one of the rare, legitimate opportunities, do yourself a favor and check it out with the Better Business Bureau or check out the internet for complaints about the company. Taking a few minutes to do your homework is guaranteed to save you some time and money in the long run.