Flikshop

Flikshop operates a mobile and web mail platform that lets users upload a photo from a phone, camera roll or social media account, add a message, and have it printed and shipped as a physical item to a person held in a correctional facility. Print options include 4"x6" full-color postcards and photo lab prints (1 Flikshop Credit each), typed letters printed and mailed in an envelope (2 credits), and "Flikbooks," 5"x7" glossy photo books holding up to 60 photos at variable cost. Postcards are priced from $1.29 with no subscription, orders ship within 48 hours, and the company says it covers more than 3,700 approved correctional facilities, handling facility-specific rules and formatting. Each item carries metered postage rather than an adhesive stamp to address contraband and stamp-reuse concerns.

Beyond mail, Flikshop runs two additional programs. The Flikshop School of Business, founded in 2016, offers six courses and professional certificates covering tech careers and entrepreneurship, delivered in person, in facility, and digitally; classes are free to scholars and often include a stipend, with tuition subsidized by partners and sponsors. The Flikshop Neighborhood is a verified network through which nonprofits, employers, educators, mentors and advocates can reach incarcerated people and their families, run mailing campaigns for newsletters, surveys, announcements and sign-up forms, and coordinate reentry resources such as housing, healthcare, legal aid and workforce training before release. The company also sells branded merchandise and operates "Flikshop Angels," a donation program that funds Flikshop Credits for families who cannot afford them.

Founding story

Founder and CEO Marcus Bullock was sentenced at age 15 to eight years in adult maximum security prison for carjacking. Two years in, as he described spiraling into depression, his mother promised to send him a letter or photo every day for the remaining six years of his sentence; he credits those letters with saving his life and giving him a view of life after prison. After building a business in the construction space, Bullock used that company's revenue to launch Flikshop so that families could maintain similar contact with incarcerated loved ones.

Business model

Flikshop charges per printed item using a prepaid "Flikshop Credit" system, with no subscriptions or recurring fees; postcards start at $1.29 and a first postcard is free for new users. Additional revenue and funding streams include branded merchandise sales, the Flikshop Angels donation program that buys credits for families in need, corporate sponsorship of the School of Business, and organizational mailing campaigns and data access sold through the Flikshop Neighborhood.

Transactional, per-item pricing via Flikshop Credits (1 credit per postcard or print, 2 per letter, variable for Flikbooks), supplemented by donations, corporate program sponsorship and merchandise sales.

Traction

As of February 2025 the company reported 186,382 incarcerated recipients who had received at least one postcard and 412,124 total postcards, letters, photo packages or Flikbooks sent, with 83% of Flikshop Angels donors giving on a recurring basis. Separately, the Neighborhood pages state Flikshop has connected over 170,000 families to about 85,000-87,000 incarcerated people across 50 states, and that coverage extends to more than 3,700 approved correctional facilities.

Latest developments

Flikshop publishes impact figures dated February 2025 and is building out the Flikshop Neighborhood as a verified network with communications, workforce, resource and matching layers, inviting nonprofits, employers, educators, mentors and families to register.