Author Topic: Receiving (almost) no junk mail  (Read 6349 times)

crocheted_stache

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Receiving (almost) no junk mail
« on: February 23, 2015, 12:14:30 AM »
MMM has a recent post on some absurdly Bad Deals which arrived by way of his junk mail. I'm glad he could use it for a Mustachian rant.

I prefer not to receive junk mail. There's the odd leftover and seasonal election mail I can't seem to avoid, but mostly there just isn't any. (There's not much other paper mail, either, since most of my regular bills and statements are online these days.)

When Husband and I moved into our house, we started receiving loads of stuff for the previous owners: horse gear, cigarette company-branded apparel, you name it, and all wildly irrelevant to us. We also started getting stuff from the lists that apparently camp someone at the public records office to harvest addresses of new move-ins.

Anyway, if you haven't yet (and my apologies; this is for the US, and I haven't checked much for elsewhere), do get on the preference service list for the Direct Marketing Association https://www.dmachoice.org/and register with https://www.optoutprescreen.com so you stop getting most stuff. Give it a while to kick in (or out), and then start calling or digging online to request removal from whichever catalogs and mailers are still coming. Usually a search for "remove mailing list [company name]" will suggest something, even for the seemingly intractable things like sales circulars and coupon decks. Occasionally, http://gethuman.com/ proves to be a valuable resource for getting through.

Someone in the comments suggests an app. I haven't tried any app or service, but if anyone has, I'd be curious how well it worked.

Oh, and by the way, if you're moving, think twice about filling out a forwarding order with the USPS. They sell the addresses. So do many surveys, drawings, and warranty cards*.

I know it's never going to happen entirely, but I envision my home as an advertising-free zone, and I'm more than happy to start by cutting off the influx of useless trash which is junk mail.

*Many years ago, as an experiment, my dad filled out a survey he found in either the junk mail or the newspaper inserts, in the name of a nonexistent family member he named George. We gave George an arbitrary assortment of tastes, possessions and hobbies, and sent the form back.  George got all kinds of junk mail, including a hand-addressed come-on for a pyramid scheme (this was pre-Internet). George never answered a single ad or letter, but for all I know, he's still getting stuff. It was sure an eye-opener about how mailing lists get collected and sold.

Dexterous

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Re: Receiving (almost) no junk mail
« Reply #1 on: February 23, 2015, 01:51:02 AM »
Thanks for the links, and https://www.donotcall.gov/ is another good one for stopping unsolicited phone calls.  Cheers

Bob W

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Re: Receiving (almost) no junk mail
« Reply #2 on: February 23, 2015, 08:26:34 AM »
Thanks for that!

You could always open a PO box and change your address on stuff you actually want to receive.   Then just put the mailbox in the garage.  (for added fun check the web site or read the book on "How to be Invisible."    You probably would need to drastically change your internet usage to achieve that nowadays. 

A funny story.   Several years ago a professor did a reciprocity experiment.   He sent out numerous xmas cards to random people in the phone book.   A very large percentage responded with cards and even 10 years later he was receiving cards.   Of course that was back in the day.

My current situation of being in my home for 4 years --- I still receive a few mailings each week from the previous owner.    Seems like companies could cull their lists a bit better?

I have filled out the post office card with each move but never really noticed a large amount of junk mail.   I kinda like most of the junk mail I receive and it gives my 7 year old son a chore of mail retrieving each day so it is too small potatoes for me to worry.

KD

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Re: Receiving (almost) no junk mail
« Reply #3 on: February 23, 2015, 08:34:40 AM »
Pops (my f-i-l) died 10 years ago and 2 houses ago...we recently noticed an uptick in the junk mail he gets at this address even though he never lived in this house or the last one.  Annoying.

crocheted_stache

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Re: Receiving (almost) no junk mail
« Reply #4 on: February 25, 2015, 01:25:39 AM »
Pops (my f-i-l) died 10 years ago and 2 houses ago...we recently noticed an uptick in the junk mail he gets at this address even though he never lived in this house or the last one.  Annoying.

The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) has a separate form for opting out on behalf of someone who is deceased. You might give that a try. For anyone whose family member has passed away more recently, be sure you also notify the credit card companies and (in the US) the Social Security Administration, for security reasons.

mandy_2002

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Re: Receiving (almost) no junk mail
« Reply #5 on: February 25, 2015, 06:31:11 PM »
I started using https://www.catalogchoice.org/ about 4 months ago, since I was recycling a tree worth of paper every 2 months.  This has cut my catalogs down substantially.  You have to type each one in separately, which is a bit annoying (just stop them all!!), but the difference I've seen is worth it.  I'm going to try these now, too.  Thanks for the additional suggestions!

Yankuba

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Re: Receiving (almost) no junk mail
« Reply #6 on: February 25, 2015, 08:45:52 PM »
I started using https://www.catalogchoice.org/ about 4 months ago, since I was recycling a tree worth of paper every 2 months.  This has cut my catalogs down substantially.  You have to type each one in separately, which is a bit annoying (just stop them all!!), but the difference I've seen is worth it.  I'm going to try these now, too.  Thanks for the additional suggestions!

I also use them - they're great

Latwell

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Re: Receiving (almost) no junk mail
« Reply #7 on: February 26, 2015, 01:17:57 PM »
I walked in to the post office to check my P.O. box and there was an advertisement for companies to "reach their customers". Basically, companies/people pay the post office to mail advertisements... and there's no way to stop them.

I really wish I could block the post office from making me participate in their damn money making marketing scheme. I tried asking the post office clerks if there was a way. Who knows if they are telling me the truth when they say no though.

KD

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Re: Receiving (almost) no junk mail
« Reply #8 on: February 26, 2015, 04:04:35 PM »
Some of the advertisers will flat out tell you that the mail isn't for you.  It's for 'your house'. 

mandy_2002

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Re: Receiving (almost) no junk mail
« Reply #9 on: March 16, 2015, 10:01:00 AM »
"Project update":  I went into both of the websites that you suggested about 3 weeks ago and added 3 or 4 new catalogs to my catalogchoice profile.  I'm going to "blame" this for the fact that I got zero mail Wednesday - Saturday.  We'll see today if my postman just decided to take the week off and delivers a boatload of junk today, but I think this opt out stuff is actually working. 
Thanks for the idea.

Dexterous

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Re: Receiving (almost) no junk mail
« Reply #10 on: April 23, 2015, 09:41:24 PM »
Another update -- 2 months have elapsed since I entered my info on that site and my mail has reduced drastically.  Thanks again!!!

MrSal

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Re: Receiving (almost) no junk mail
« Reply #11 on: April 24, 2015, 07:08:57 AM »
I like to receive the credit card deals. Is it possible to adjust your profile so you get just that kind of marketing? Will bills still find their way thru right?

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!