Junk mail is a time-wasting, invasive, aggravating and seemingly inescapable fact of modern life. But your mailbox doesn’t have to be full of depressing flyers for life insurance: you can stop junk mail. Here are some simple steps to take that can help you ensure you never again face the depressing of unwanted mail.
1. To prevent credit card companies from contacting you via mail, you can dial a special toll-free number at 888-5OPTOUT (888-567-8688). As it’s an automated system, you won’t be able to speak to a representative, so make sure you listen to the options carefully. There are two opt-out options – 5 years, or permanently. You can also opt out of credit card solicitations online by visiting their website at www.optoutprescreen.com
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2. Similar to the
National Do Not Call Registry (which was covered in a previous article), the Direct Marketing Association operates a mail preference service which will allow you to opt out. There’s a one-time fee of $1 for the service – the price of about 2 stamps – but it saves you in headaches!
3. Affix a “No Flyers Please” sign to your mailbox. In many jurisdictions, postal carriers and other delivery people are beholden to bylaws that govern mail delivery,
4. Contact your credit card providers and request that they stop sending you any advance checks, as well as ask that they not offer your mailing information to any partners and use your mailing address strictly to contact you regarding details to your account.
5. Many catalog companies will have acquired your name and address (as well as other information) from a partnership list – essentially, they have bought your information from someone else, possibly your credit card provider, because you fit into the right demographic of the population that they are attempting to market to. In cases such as this, simply call the toll-free number that the company provides for ordering to ask them to remove you from their mailing list.
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6. Bulk mail is often sent to an address without the sender being aware of who the recipient is, so your name will not be in their database if you contact them and ask to be removed from their list. In such cases, bulk mail has the word “resident” in place of your name, and is thus will be able to by-pass junk mail regulations. Open any of the mail, look for a customer service telephone number or address, and contact them, requesting that your address be removed from their bulk mailing list.
7. If you’re receiving mail for a former resident, simply write “Return to Sender” or “Not at This Address” on the envelope and put it back in the mailbox. The postal service will return the mail to the sender, free of charge.
8. Free newspapers and other publications will often find their way into our mailboxes, and as anybody , the content-to-advertising ratio is skewed well in favor of advertising. Simply place a sign on your mailbox or near it that reads “No Free Papers.”
Any of the above tips will help you either eliminate junk mail, or else drastically reduce the amount you get. I will cover more privacy-protecting tips in future articles.
Christopher R. Clark is a retired hedge fund broker who lives in Austin, Texas with his family.
![Post to MySpace!](javascript:GetThis('Stop Junk Mail: Getting Off of Junk Mail Lists', '<img src="http://articles.findtarget.com/public/articles/large/stop_junk_mail.jpg" alt="Stop Junk Mail: Getting Off of Junk Mail Lists" style="float: right; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; border: 0;" />Junk mail and unwanted mail is a time-wasting, invasive, and seemingly inescapable fact of modern life. In this article, I\'ll share tips on stopping junk mail.', window.location.href, 3))
