Two Hong Kong students launch paper mail subscription service Post.ie
Two university students founded Post.ie, a paper mail subscription service delivering themed items to about 300 subscribers. The founders cite the irreplaceable weight and warmth of physical letters as their motivation, with the business reaching five-figure revenue in its fourth month.
Two university students in Hong Kong have founded Post.ie, a paper mail subscription business that sends physical letters and creative products to subscribers monthly. Co-founder Zhou Choying told RTHK's Financial New Thinking programme that after four months of operation, the service has about 300 subscribers and has sent out more than 700 letters.
Zhou's business partner, Li Jiabao, said subscribers are mainly Hongkongers living locally and overseas, with the furthest located in Iceland and Australia's Christmas Island. Zhou revealed that the business has achieved five-figure revenue in its fourth month, with printing, packaging and postage costs accounting for about 30 per cent of income. The remaining costs involve the time spent on conceptualising, sourcing materials, designing and producing items.
Each subscriber pays a fee and receives a monthly package containing a letter, small handicrafts, postcards, stickers and other Hong Kong-themed creative products. The founders handwrite the addresses and recipient names on hundreds of envelopes themselves.
The idea originated from the founders' habit of exchanging letters during secondary school, which they paused during university. While both were on exchange programmes in France for six months, they resumed sending postcards to each other. Zhou noted that paper mail subscription services are common overseas, inspiring them to start their own venture.
Both Zhou and Li believe that 'the weight of paper and the warmth of text' cannot be replaced by communication software. As business students, they hope to apply what they have learned and expect the venture to develop sustainably in the long term.