Posted on

How to Unsubscribe from Junk Mail for Good

Did you know it is possible to stop the USPS from delivering known marketing mail by filling out a “Prohibitory Order Against Sender” USPS form 1500. In short, if you are getting junk mail from a certain company, you can prohibit the USPS from delivering it to you if the junk mail originated from the USA.

Figuring out how to unsubscribe to junk mail is very difficult because many times you are not asked for your permission to receive it, and many times the sender has no incentive to stop. Here we offer a few methods you may use to stop the flow of junk mail to your mailboxes.

How to Unsubscribe Using Mail Screening Services

There are companies that offer to screen your junk mail through various means. For example, some will contact major companies and have your name barred from their marketing mail lists, and others will post your details on mailing-list selling websites to bar you from receiving certain marketing material.

The companies have not been listed ion this article for the same reason you should beware of them. Firstly, it is very difficult to know which are legitimate companies and which are a front for collecting personal information. Secondly, some of the proposed methods they use are a little counter-intuitive.

For example, the Direct Marketing Association says they will contact all the people in their marketing association and opt you out. In short, they are going to give your details to thousands of companies and then tell them not to contact you. There is a similar company that does the same thing for catalogs and another that does the same thing for credit cards and insurance companies. You are left wondering why so many people need your information simply to stop them from sending you more mail.

Don’t Sign Up to Begin With

Sometimes, not signing up is as easy as not giving your address. Other times, you have to tick or untick boxes to opt out of getting junk email (either through the post or junk emails). It is rotten how some companies try to bury the opt-in/opt-out boxes in their small print but take it as a representation of their ethics and stay away from such companies.

There are plenty of occasions where you do not have to give your address. For example, if you buy a kettle in a store and they ask for your address, you are allowed to refuse. If they will not allow you to buy the product without giving your address, then walk away or give them a fake one. You can give out a fake number too. No law says you have to give out your address to anybody besides a uniformed police officer.

Opt Out Directly

There are times I mentioned in the previous section where you can opt out before they ever send you any junk mail, but sometimes they send you junk mail just because you bought something.

I bought some shoes for my grandfather in his name because he didn’t know how to do it. I have spent some evenings unsubscribing from catalogs that I get for him. They even have his name on them and currently, he has been dead for two years.

In these cases, I have had to contact the company directly and ask them to take me off the mailing list. What is more bothersome is that they handed out my information to their partners, so I am getting junk mail full of unsolicited services or offers for things like life insurance and pensioners holidays.

Be Careful of Opting Out Directly

There are scams where you are signed up for spam emails, spam text messages, and junk mail so that you opt out. They even say, “Opt out of this by calling XXXXX.” What they do not tell you is that they charge $5 per hour for those calls, so be wary of opt-out scams.

Put A Sign on Your Door to Stop People Posting Flyers

There are plenty of signs you can buy to stop cold callers from knocking on your door. Similar, albeit less popular signs, may be posted on your door (or mailbox) telling people not to post flyers or leaflets. Your local postal worker will still post what is given, but the people you see running around the streets with backpacks full of flyers will think twice.

Complain to Your Local Officials About Door Hanging Flyers

Countries like the UK do not allow door-hanging flyers because they are seen as an indication that somebody may not be home, which leaves them at risk from robbers. Some states in the USA have marked door hangers as littering, which seriously curbed their use.

All it takes is a few people complaining to their local official to get small issues like these resolved. Passing smaller littering laws for things such as door-hanging flyers is easy for local government. R remember, your local government officials are probably sick of door hanging flyers too, so they won’t take much convincing.

Consider Private or Commercial Post Boxes

If you opt for private or commercial postboxes, there are the obvious security benefits, and some companies will moderate what is and isn’t allowed in your mailbox. For example, people walking around delivering flyers are often not allowed in mailbox centers, and postal workers delivering advertising material may also be restricted. For example, some mailbox companies only allow mail that is directly addressed to the box owner or business owner.

The Takeaway – If at First You Don’t Succeed…Give Up

Some people are going to use these tips on how to unsubscribe to junk mail and they are going to be successful. Other people are still going to receive junk mail, especially if the junk mail is from other countries where inland regulations do not apply.

If that is the case, you can shred your junk mail and make a few savings around the home, or you can subscribe to a postbox or mailbox service and set limits on what is and isn’t allowed in your mailbox.

If you are interested in learning more about our residential and commercial mailboxes check our product listings. We are happy to offer free quotes.