Making Wax Sealed Letters at Scale

Posted by hjconstas 2 days ago

Comments

Comment by hjconstas 2 days ago

So I wanted my outreach to stand out, so I started printing physical mail to send into the world. But why stop there, so I started wax sealing them. Yk, real premium Victorian feel, and I was having a blast. The problem is that wax sealing takes forever, but I found that if I use a Peltier device (makes one side of a plate hot and the other cold) with ice water flowing over it, I can freeze the wax in place and move really quickly.

Anyway, I wanted to test if this could be a WSAS (Wax Seal as a Service). It would be so cool to have an excuse to build an end-to-end automated process for custom wax sealing. Please hit me up if anyone wants to try sending out a few, and I'd love to help.

Comment by progbits 2 hours ago

Why use AI generated pictures for the letters? Lot of the site wording is clearly AI too, but the pictures of final product are the most important aspect.

I'm genuinely asking, since it just makes the site look untrustworthy. The only thing balancing that are the real pictures of the peltier stamp process.

Comment by Animats 4 hours ago

From an old Mack Reynolds short story. The recipient is receiving a message from an alien space station, but doesn't have the alien's message machine, just a decoder.

    Seal Ready
    Stamp-Emblem Ready
    Number One Paper
    Strike: Embossing Master Emblem Number Two
    **** Border

    Begin Message
    From: Commander Space Fortress Ironclaw�

    To: Commander Unidentified Damaged Warship

    Sir:
    Your ****-signal received and acknowledged herewith. This is the correct
    signal for the ****. However, we require the following information:
    1) Who are you?
    2) What is the name of your ship?
    3) What are the circumstances surrounding the **** of your ship?
    This information must be forwarded at once, or we must refuse entry.
    Stand off while replying.

    Cordial claw-claspings,
    Gratz Ialwo,
    Commander Space Fortress Ironclaw 

    Fold Message and Glue Shut
    Stick Seal
    Stamp Great Claw on Front
    Eject

Comment by nebula8804 3 hours ago

How do you center the wax consistently? How about regulating the amount? I used to send wax stamped envelopes as new years letters to friends but have stopped because both the pour method and the glue gun method don't ever seem to produce consistent amounts or proper placement of stamps. Maybe I just haven't made enough to get good at it...but there must be a better way.

Comment by cammasmith 2 days ago

Cool idea. I can see you guys doing well in the wedding industry. The price seems steep, but I appreciate the transparency of your pricing. It's refreshing.

Comment by hjconstas 2 days ago

I think you're right about that. I was coming at it from a b2b saas perspetive, but not everything should be shoved into that box. I guess I spend too much time on x. What do you think is a fair price for something like this?

I charged that much to gauge interest and considering it's a very manual process rn, but I think I can get it down with some automations.

Comment by cammasmith 1 day ago

I think the price would need to be closer to $4 or $5 per letter for me personally to recommend it or consider it. My SIL just sent out wedding invitations with stamped seals, and I think she would have paid $5 per letter to mail 50 envelopes. But at $8 a letter, I start thinking about how I can pay someone to print the cards and I can buy a wax seal at Hobby Lobby myself.

Comment by thaumasiotes 4 hours ago

> but I appreciate the transparency of your pricing

I appreciate a different aspect of the pricing page. I love that the "what's included in every letter" feature table includes a checked listing for "hand-applied wax seal". The whole site is very clear that this is the selling point, so in some sense the listing of this feature feels "obvious". But I like the emphasis. It has a similar feeling to Led Zeppelin giving a concert and choosing to include Stairway to Heaven.

Comment by unsnap_biceps 3 hours ago

How are you crafting the stamps? 3d printing them so they're a negligible cost?

Comment by apparent 3 hours ago

Do you have a video of how your Peltier setup works? Sounds interesting!

Comment by throwaway81523 4 hours ago

Yikes, I noticed a new flashlight promotion that includes something like that. There is a thank-you letter from the company to the buyer, that comes in a wax-sealed envelope. I wondered what kind of automation they were using. Maybe this explains.

https://www.sofirnlight.com/products/sofirn-se1-16th-anniver...

Hmm I guess the wax sealed letter included in the box isn't shown on that page, but the youtube unboxings show it.

Flashlight nerd take: it's cute and the promo is well done, but ridiculously pretentious and the light itself is hokey. Imagine a flashlight you're supposed to hand down to your remote descendants, but has a lipo pouch battery that can't be replaced. Oops.

Comment by plomme 4 hours ago

Given the title I was hoping the page would say something about the “how” you scale wax sealed letters but cool niche business!

I’ve waxed and sealed a bunch of letters in the past and it’s a huge PITA (at least the way I did it). Would have loved this.

Comment by 2 days ago