Measuring direct mail response rate & effectiveness: Any horror stories?

[Account Closed]

Based on some of the threads on here, it seems like quite a few of those who have tried some sort of direct mailing feel like they either shot an 'air ball' or totally missed something.

I would like to know what sort of response rate most of you are getting and the nature and source of the list.

It seems the absentee owner list tend to have the worst response rate or has that been your experience? 

How many deals are you getting per mailings and how many calls are you getting from the same effort? 

If you are able to quantify any experience you have had with a direct mailing effort that would be great!