There are three reasons why you may want to send emails as paper letters using snail mail:
1. Some of your relatives live in remote villages where they don’t have computers let alone access to Internet.
2. Your grandparents know computers but they’ll probably feel more happy if you could send them emails and photographs in paper form that they can read in the lawn outside.
3. You are trying to reach someone who already gets a few hundred email messages per day. Your email may get lost in the clutter but if you take the snail mail approach, chances are high that he or she will at least read your message if not respond to it.
How to Send Email as Snail Mail?
Print your email message, insert it into an envelope, rush to the nearest post office, buy some postage stamps and drop the letter in a post box.
Well that’s one of the option but it involves too much work so we’ll shift attention to some automated email to snail mail services that enable us to send paper mail right from the computer at our home.
These web based letter printing and dispatching services work more or less the same way. You send then an email or upload the document as Word or PDF on to their servers, make the payment online and they’ll send the letter via regular postal mail to the specified physical address.
Email to Postal Mail Services – A Comparison
| Pricing | Colored Printing | Payment Options | What’s Unique? | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Postal Methods | $1 for US addresses and $1.5 for international addresses | No | Credit Cards | More useful for bulk mails as price decreases with volume |
| Mail a Letter | $1 for US addresses and $2 for international addresses | Yes | Credit Cards, PayPal, Google Checkout | You can add a self addressed envelope with the letter |
| Postful | $1 for US addresses and $1.5 for international addresses | Yes | Credit Cards, PayPal, Google Checkout | You can send colored photos as postcards |
| EZGram | $1 for US addresses and $1.6 for non-US addresses | Yes | Credit Cards and PayPal | Supports USPS Priority Mail for quick delivery |
| L-Mail | Around $1 – depends on country | No | Credit Cards and Debit Cards | Supports Braille and audio letters |
| Click 2 Mail | Recommended for bulk mail | Yes | Credit Cards | Supports Product Flyers, Booklets and Postcards |
| Email 2 Postal | $1 for US addresses | No | Credit Cards | Supports handwritten envelopes and greeting cards |
| PC 2 Paper | $0.8 for UK and $1.5 for non-UK addresses | Yes | Credit Cards, Paypal and Nochex | Offers a real UK based postal address for incoming post |
All the web based post mail services discussed above let you send letters from anywhere in the world to any other destination. There are some country specific services like Via Post (for UK), Pixel Letter (for European Union), Snail Mail Me (for Canada) and India Post (for residents of India) that may turn out to be cheaper if are sending letters to any of these countries.
Also, of the services listed above, only L-Mail has offices (or rather printing stations) in quite a few international locations (including Mumbai in India) and thus it can deliver mails more quickly (and cheaply) depending upon the destination address. And if you insist on sending colored letters or documents, Postful may be a good choice as they don’t charge extra for colored prints.
Related: Tools for a Paperless Office.
Update: I have removed eSnailer from the comparison chart – it’s a free ad supported email to post mail service for US addresses only but some users have reported issues with mail delivery.
Find this article at: http://www.labnol.org/internet/email/send-postal-letters-on-internet-via-email/7097/
Tags: best, comparison, feature, mail merge, post office, snail mail, Email
Reader Comments
It says on the India Post website ( link ) that we have to buy prepaid card from Head Post Office for using epost services. How do they expect someone living overseas to purchase these cards?
Written by Indrajeet on 02.05.09
Hi Amit,
Please remove esnailer from your list. I tried their service the letter was never delivered. The e-mail newsletter that I signed up on e-snailer just spams people.
I think this site is just to fool people.
Written by Ashish on 02.05.09
A good topic indeed–basically, the art of sending printed letters has not received much of jolt from internet based e-mails. Moreover, marketing letters are preferred to be printed and more possibly to handwritten so as to give a personalized feel.
Written by Vivek Kumar on 02.05.09
I never knew such a service existed. This service can be very persuasive if marketing is done via Direct Mail. Thanks Amit, you rock!
Written by Justin Jackson on 02.05.09
Indrajeet – I did mention that email to postal mail service offered by India Post department is for residents of India. This is the only service that lets you send letters in many different Indian languages but a limitation is that the post man won’t deliver your email outside India.
Written by Amit on 02.05.09
This has more relevance in countries like India than in developed countries.
Now that I think abt it, why are courier companies not cashing in on this?
Written by Brijesh on 02.05.09
I think these services are also very relevant for folks in developed countries who have friends and relatives living in the developing world.
Written by Amit on 02.05.09
Amit, I think what Indrajeet meant is that how is someone living outside India expected to buy a prepaid card from a “Head Post Office” if he wants to use the service to send letters to his relatives in India. Clearly, a case of the Ministry of Communications(like other ministries) indulging in its favourite pastime of notching up one more service to put in its annual report without any concern for effective implementation of the service.
Incidentally, I had bought one of these prepaid cards way back in the early 2000s. The card did not give an expiry date but one fine day, when I logged on, I was informed that it had expired. So, caveat emptor
Written by Cherian on 02.05.09
Thanks Amit: very handy to know about this. I’ve just signed up to PC2 Paper and found it has a service that reads scans your snail mail, and makes it available to you over the internet.
Written by Ronnie on 02.06.09
Nice article Amit.
One problem with Indian Post that you will have to use your prepaid card within time limit otherwise that will get disabled and amount will not refunded to you
Written by Sanjeev on 02.06.09
I dont think it’s cheap at all.
Written by Eric on 02.07.09
Wait, so you’re paying more than you would for normal domestic postage to send a domestic mail? Bull.
Written by Uh? on 02.07.09
It’s great to know about this. It would most definitely come in handy in Africa. I agree with post No. 4;
“.. This service can be very persuasive if marketing is done via Direct Mail”
Written by dre on 02.09.09
Hai Amit, this tech looks new and innovative. But, is it really safe to send personal matters through snail?How is the confidentiality of the mail maintained?
Written by SFH on 02.10.09