Physical spam mail.

[MannDude]

I must have a very high tolerance for spam. If I send a vpsBoard email (which happens 3, maybe 4 times a year) to members I get at least half a dozen people complaining because they received an email they were not expecting from a website that they have subscribed to receive updates from. These people would likely explode if they received the amount of physical junk mail I receive. I check my PO Box every other week now and clear out the junk that fills it. I used to check it once or so monthly and the amount of junk I had to pull out was insane. The postman would really test the structural limits of my PO Box by stuffing it in there.

So, how do I stop this? Since I know there are people in this industry who will literally go and complain on forums about receiving an "unsolicited" RFO announcement from their provider (Right, @Nick_A ? ), how do you cope with your at-home or at-business junk mail? Usually I just toss it out without looking at it but have taken the liberty of using an unsubscribe service which seems to have reduced what I receive by half but I still get this useless shit in the mail weekly for stuff I do not need or do not want.

I don't even have a Steak-N-Shake within an hour's drive of me... why tempt me with coupons for their delicious burgers?

 

[drmike]

So, how do I stop this? Since I know there are people in this industry who will literally go and complain on forums about receiving an "unsolicited" RFO announcement from their provider (Right, @Nick_A ? ), how do you cope with your at-home or at-business junk mail? Usually I just toss it out without looking at it but have taken the liberty of using an unsubscribe service which seems to have reduced what I receive by half but I still get this useless shit in the mail weekly for stuff I do not need or do not want.

I let them send it, then I either shred and turn it in fire logs for the heating season or I pile it up as kindling / fire starter for getting fires going through the winter.

Now if I could only do the same with all the e-junk mail.  E-everything proving to be worthless in yet more ways.

 

[GIANT_CRAB]

• paper planes
• recycle
• call up your local mayor
• start a business that resells junk mails

im out of ideas for now

 

[DomainBop]

from the FTC:
 
Regular junk mail: 
 

Mail
The Direct Marketing Association's (DMA) Mail Preference Service (MPS) lets you opt out of receiving unsolicited commercial mail from many national companies for five years. When you register with this service, your name will be put on a "delete" file and made available to direct-mail marketers and organizations. This will reduce most of your unsolicited mail. However, your registration will not stop mailings from organizations that do not use the DMA's Mail Preference Service. To register with DMA's Mail Preference Service, go to www.dmachoice.org, or mail your request with a $1 processing fee to:
DMAchoice
Direct Marketing Association
P.O. Box 643
Carmel, NY 10512

Credit and insurance offers junk mail:
 

If you decide that you don't want to receive prescreened offers of credit and insurance, you have two choices: You can opt out of receiving them for five years or opt out of receiving them permanently.

To opt out for five years: Call toll-free 1-888-5-OPT-OUT (1-888-567-8688) or visit www.optoutprescreen.com. The phone number and website are operated by the major consumer reporting companies.

To opt out permanently: You may begin the permanent Opt-Out process online at www.optoutprescreen.com. To complete your request, you must return the signed Permanent Opt-Out Election form, which will be provided after you initiate your online request.

When you call or visit the website, you'll be asked to provide certain personal information, including your home telephone number, name, Social Security number, and date of birth. The information you provide is confidential and will be used only to process your request to opt out.

 

[k0nsl]

I put up a small sticker on my mailbox which says "NO ADVERTS" and they respect that. But who knows, maybe that's just a Scandinavian thing? I see such stickers very frequently.

 

[raindog308]

There's a lot of junk mail I don't mind getting.  I like getting mail.

But some of the stuff is really repetitive and annoying.  I used to get a "personal letter" from Diane someone at Citibank three times a week at one point, inviting me to open an account.  Someone in the media actually called Citibank and tried to track her down and got them to admit she was a ficitonal name.

When I get spammy mail, I open it, pull out the business reply envelope, seal it empty, and drop it back in my mailbox as outgoing mail.  Efficient transfer of wealth from people I don't like (spammers) to people who could use more revenue (the post office).

Amusingly, in the last few years a number snail mail marketers have added a unique identifier to the business reply envelope, usually with a dire warning that this envelope can only be used to accept an offer and modification of the envelope is a federal crime, etc.  I take out scissors and cut that identifier out.  I very much doubt it has any legal force and I'm skeptical it's actually unique.  

This doctoring is an extra step so I sometimes just throw these away.

I've noticed lately that a lot of the spam mail I get does not have a business reply envelope but rather a 1-800 number to call.  Alas.

 

[drmike]

Long ago I when I'd sign up for things bearing name I'd run with permutations and all sorts of titles. 

Those I'd stash in a file / database.

Was quite interesting for many years seeing the mass of bad data and where it all went.

I don't mind general info zipcode mass spamming like store circulars... It's the one off custom envelopes bearing name that is overboard in my opinion.  I've worked in the past in with list building, buying lists, direct mail, etc.  Lots of guys just pushing volume without regard for the rules and good practices.

 

[Aldryic C'boas]

I like the spam that includes a postage-paid return envelope.  Fill it with cold iron dust until it's over postage weight, send it out.  They get to pay the overage on postage and get a thoroughly messy desk in the process.  As a bonus, they typically won't try again, either.

 

[PureVoltage]

I like that idea, I know it's funny when some companies send an invoice for $0.00 amount owed and paid $1.10 to send me that paper it's rather silly.

As for the junk mail it's a pain with a PO box when they send you all that junk. I'll have to try and see if I can use those to prevent some of it.

 

[joepie91]

I put up a small sticker on my mailbox which says "NO ADVERTS" and they respect that. But who knows, maybe that's just a Scandinavian thing? I see such stickers very frequently.

We have a similar thing in NL, but more 'official'. Basically, you stick these stickers on your mailbox:

The first one means "no advertising materials, no door-to-door-delivered newspapers". The second only says "no advertising materials". I believe there's a legal requirement to honour these in the Netherlands.

 

[AuroraZero]

Could this be the reason the Unibomber went on a rampage? I think it could be a possibility.