Masking tape with "Reward if found: ###.ooo.xxxx". Or the good old standby, embossing label makers.

Analog. Analog. Analog.

jaxun

This is pretty cool, seeing as Stuffbak.com costs money.

Oranges w/ Cheese

I agree with jaxsun: why is this better than just putting your name and phone number on the object? If someone's trying to return something to me, I want to make it as easy as possible for them to do that.

tjvm

I had my email address engraved on my iPod!

bobdeloyd

The first photo on the memory card in my digital camera is a photograph of a piece of paper with my address and telephone number on it along with a mention of a cash reward for returning it.

To date I haven't lost a camera, but I hope that it will work if I ever do lose it.

Real Cheese Flavor

My $0.02 worth:

I use a label maker to print small plastic-covered labels that say the following: "If found, please contact " followed by my email address. I put this on the back of my ipod, my cell phone, the bottom of my laptop, etc., as well as power adapters, laptop video cable adapters, airline power adapter, laser pointer, USB dongles, etc.—anything that's big enough to put a label on. The nice thing about modern label makers is that they can print in various font sizes, so you can make small labels, medium ones, and really big ones. You can also get different label colors: black letters on white background, black letters on transparent background, white letters on black background, and so on. This lets you tailor the label to the particular device and make the label more attractive and discrete. The plastic-coated labels are waterproof too.

I don't want to engrave devices because devices get replaced after a couple of years, and then I want to sell it or give it to someone. A permanent engraving reduces the value of the device to the next person. Redistributing and reselling devices is an important part of managing your gadget world :-). Plus, if I change email addresses, I can simply replace the labels, which is much easier than dealing with engravings.

Yes, labels are not permanent. My reasoning is that if someone is the type of person who would return something they found, then they'll do it, and you just need to give them a way to contact you. Email is better than a phone number, IMHO. On the other hand, if the finder is the kind of person who won't return something, then nothing you do will make them return it. Engravings can be rubbed off, or the affected panel replaced, etc.

And finally—OK, this is probably just wishful thinking on my part—I like to think that something so naively trusting as a simple label and a straightforward request to be contacted conveys a kind of implicit trust in the stranger who finds the item. Maybe it will encourage the finder to do a good deed.

Strawberry Pie

I like it, it saves me from writing labels on everything, also I don't have to write all my personal info on a bunch of random stuff I know I'm going to lose...

krushal

** @tjvm @jaxsun - What if you used it for your cell phone and you don't have a landline phone anymore? I like this service because it's not passing out any more information than you need to.

AletaEurystheus