![]() This is much the same with credit card and insurance offers. Even better, if you're the type who loves junk mail, you can actually do the opposite and opt to receive mail from organizations' members. You can also contact businesses that make their money generating lists and ask be removed. The direct marketing industry has professional organizations that also serve as touch points for consumers who don't want to receive mail from the groups' members any longer. And you can keep it off future lists by being more possessive of your information.Ĭontacting associations whose members are the people who mail you stuff you don't want is the best way to get your information off mailing lists. With a little bit of effort, you can remove your name from the lists in circulation. If you've just realized that you've been suckered by marketing ploys, don't worry. Warranty cards are merely fishing expeditions by companies looking for beefed-up personal information (which explains why a maker of toaster ovens would be interested in what hobbies you enjoy). ![]() Simply purchasing a product and keeping the receipt protects you under the manufacturer's warranty. And filling out a warranty card isn't much better. Responding to a sweepstakes can land you on a "sucker list," making you an above average target for marketers, since you've proven yourself gullible. Giving your personal information under some circumstances are worse than others. If you've ever ordered something from a catalog or applied for a credit card, you've provided your information to people who, in turn, sell that information to direct marketers. Direct marketing companies buy these lists from companies with whom you've conducted business. It's not worth much (perhaps a fraction of a cent) but when joined with thousands of other people's information, suddenly it's a valuable list. Your name and address actually have a monetary value associated with them. James Keyser/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images But is it possible to stem the tide of unwanted mail? It certainly is. And about as long as junk mail's existed, people have looked for ways to thwart it. Even worse, junk mail like prescreened credit card offers provide great opportunities for identity thieves to establish lines of credit in your name.Ĭlearly, there's ample reason for people to hate junk mail. All of that junk mail requires approximately 100 million trees and 28 billion gallons of water to be produced. This unwanted mail from businesses and nonprofit organizations is more than simply annoying: It's also destructive. This marketing idea gathered steam: In the 21st century, more than 62 billion pieces of junk mail are sent annually. While an occasional direct mail catalog may have found its way into the mailbox of a potential customer, in the late 19th century, sundry merchants Montgomery Ward and Sears Roebuck really began direct mail campaigns in earnest with their catalogs. There was a time when people received mail only from people they knew or with whom they did business.
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