What level of success have you had cutting down on incoming junk mail and how?

May 13, 2008 7:40 AM

I saw this thread from last year, which listed some sites for cutting down on junk mail. If you have used some or all of them, how effective was it? Which one(s) did you use?

I am particularly interested in opinions on 41 Pounds or a service like it, where they take a fee in exchange for the bulk of the work, which seems time consuming if you go the piecemeal route.

posted by poppo to Grab Bag (4 answers total)

I have been using catalogchoice.org, which was mentioned on the other thread you pointed to. It has been reasonably successful. I would say 60% to 70% of the companies have honored the request and stopped sending catalogs. This has reduced the amount of unwanted mail I have received by quite a bit, since catalogs tend to be large.
posted by procrastination at 7:50 AM on May 13, 2008

Using the advice on this page I'm down to no junk mail at all. Specifically check the advice on local fliers and credit offers, this was 90% of my mail. In terms of time spent, it comes down to about five minutes a day for two-three days. Mostly me remembering to look for phone numbers, webpages, etc on mail before I throw it away. I have had several days go by with no mail at all, which is a little disconcerting at first, but oddly satisfying now.
posted by 1f2frfbf at 8:29 AM on May 13, 2008 [1 favorite]

I used catalog choice and so far no luck (but it's only been about 2 months, maybe it takes longer than that). I also opted out at the DMA website about a month ago and that definitely worked b/c I'm getting less junk.
posted by echo0720 at 12:37 PM on May 13, 2008

anything that comes with a postage paid return envelope is golden. rip up whatever they sent you and mail it back with a note on the pp envelope to remove you from their mailing list.

i was getting 5 credit cart apps a week when i turned 18. it dropped off real quick. im 25 and ive not gotten a single one in 3 years.


or, you could just send it back full with glitter.

just sayin.
posted by phritosan at 3:36 PM on May 14, 2008