Poll: Would you pay extra for a "No Junk Mail" service?

[kyounge1956]

"Massive deficits could force the post office to cut out one day of mail delivery, the postmaster general told Congress on Wednesday, in asking lawmakers to lift the requirement that the agency deliver mail six days a week."

The article says the USPS faces a possible $6B deficit this year. With the U.S. population of approximately 300 million, that's $20 a head. Obviously, there are fewer households than there are individual residents, but I would guess a $50/household/year fee to be on a postal equivalent of the "do not call" list would go a long way toward wiping out the Postal Service's budget shortfall.

I don't know about you, but I'd pay $50 in a heartbeat to get rid of all junk mail for the year. They could add a checkbox to the tax form. Check the box, add $50 to your bill (or subtract it from your refund) and voila! no junk mail.

 

[ls99]

No way will I pay for stopping junk mail. I return all mail which comes with prepaid reply envelopes stuffed with their own junk mail. Then for a good measure add other junk mail into the envelope until it is well stuffed.

The beauty of this system:

* The sender of junk mail pays for return of their junk.
* Th local post office makes money, since the originating post office gets the revenue.
* The sender gets unmistakable communication from me.
* A way to clean up additional unwanted mail.
* The sender of junk mail has to figure out how to dipose of the junk mail.

If there is more than I can fit in the envelope(s) then it is used as fire starter.

A win win situation all around.

 

[REWahoo]

Where is the poll?

 

[TromboneAl]

I would guess a $50/household/year fee to be on a postal equivalent of the "do not call" list would go a long way toward wiping out the Postal Service's budget shortfall.

The postal service probably makes lots of money from junk mail.

Imagine the environmental benefit of banning junk mail.

 

[dex]

It takes work to get rid of junk mail but it can be done - I've done it.
Use the return envelopes - write on them "Delete from all mailing lists"
If no return envelope - call the company and tell them "Delete from all mailing list"
Don't give out your address unless you must - especially on the internet - make them up if you have to give an address.
I only get junk mail addressed to "occupant" - you can't get off that list - someone bought a list from the US Post Office.
Good luck.

 

[Texarkandy]

It doesn't really bother me - just American capitalism at work

It takes all of 3 seconds to sort the real from the junk - throw it in the trash along with the envelopes the "real" mail came (which often contains quite a bit of "junk" "promotional materials" whatever itself) Occasionally I'll even take a moment or two to peruse some of the more entertaining junk.

I just don't see what the big deal is.

 

[Dawg52]

I stop by the garbage can before entering the house and dump most of my mail there. Junk mail never makes it in the house.

 

[samclem]

The junk mail doesn't bother me, and I would not pay anything to have it cease. Plus--what is "junk mail"? Without some of those coupons we would NEVER eat out.

 

[kyounge1956]

Where is the poll?

Ooops! I got a weird error message when I hit submit. I guess my poll disappeared into cyberspace. Is there any way to add it later on? It was three options:
1) yes I would pay
2) I would not pay
3) I have an even better idea

 

[REWahoo]

Ooops! I got a weird error message when I hit submit. I guess my poll disappeared into cyberspace. Is there any way to add it later on?

Done.

 

[kyounge1956]

The postal service probably makes lots of money from junk mail.

Probably they do. But right now, USPS loses revenue whenever someone succeeds in eliminating junk mail deliveries to their household. If they had a "pay for no junk mail" option, they would make money on each household, whether it was accepting the mass mailings or not. To me it would be worth some money to get rid of the hassle. People who don't want junk mail but don't want to pay either would still have the option of asking to be removed from lists, returning the envelopes & so on.

Imagine the environmental benefit of banning junk mail.

I do, I do! One reason I loathe junk mail (in addition to my resentment that the senders think they have some kind of right to force themselves on me uninvited) is that it makes me an unwilling participant in this stupid waste of resources. Besides, I don't see why spamming my physical mailbox is OK. Spamming my email is illegal, and what's the difference except that spamming with paper mail wastes trees and energy in addition to my time.

 

[kyounge1956]

The junk mail doesn't bother me, and I would not pay anything to have it cease. Plus--what is "junk mail"? Without some of those coupons we would NEVER eat out.

If you want it, it isn't junk mail. As I envision it, the "do not mail" fee would be a one-stop way to opt out of all unsolicited mailings. If you didn't use it, you would still get the coupons, as long as the sender found it worthwhile to keep mailing them.

 

[kyounge1956]

It takes work to get rid of junk mail but it can be done - I've done it.
Use the return envelopes - write on them "Delete from all mailing lists"
If no return envelope - call the company and tell them "Delete from all mailing list"
Don't give out your address unless you must - especially on the internet - make them up if you have to give an address.
I only get junk mail addressed to "occupant" - you can't get off that list - someone bought a list from the US Post Office.
Good luck.

The onus should be on the mailers, not their victims, to do all of this legwork. I have had it take over three years to get off one mailing list, and in the meantime they sold my address to others. And all because I ordered an item of clothing from them. The default option should be, do not add the customer's name to any mailing list unless they request it. I ordered a jacket, not a jacket and an endless cascade of unwanted catalogs.

P.S. As I envision it, the "do not mail" service fee would also include freedom from mail addressed to "occupant".

 

[REWahoo]

Although it goes against my curmudgeonly nature, I don't mind junk mail. I see it as my patriotic duty to accept it without complaint.

As previously mentioned, junk mail subsidizes the cost we pay for postage, plus it keeps people employed and paying SS. I don't want to pay the USPS to stop my junk mail and be responsible for the layoffs of those who manufacture paper and ink, design and print ads, and presort everything before handing it over to be mailed. And think about those people who manufacture the printing presses and delivery trucks, not to mention all the workers who deliver all that stuff.

We are trying to create jobs, not eliminate them. Right?

 

[dex]

The onus should be on the mailers, not their victims, to do all of this legwork.

I agree. Selling your address is a revenue stream for the retailer.
You also have to read all those opt out/in boxes when you order something on line. The default is usually to opt in to them selling/giving your info to other "vendors' products information you might be interested in receiving".

I eliminated all the junk mail I could so that when I'm away for a few months my mail box doesn't get full.

 

[harley]

Although it goes against my curmudgeonly nature, I don't mind junk mail. I see it as my patriotic duty to accept it without complaint.

I don't accept anything without complaint. Does that make me unpatriotic? I'm pretty sure it's in the Declaration of Independence - Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. How can I be happy if I can't piss and moan about the little things?

My only problem with junk mail is that I have to recycle it. Although I did get something interesting from our local small town VFD yesterday. It said their EMTs would be glad to submit any insurance claims for their services, and all you have to do is fill out this little form with your name, address, birth date, SSN, mother's maiden name, and the same information for every member of your household. And a check for $40. What a helpful little deal! I was sooo tempted!

 

[W2R]

I'd like to opt out of mail entirely, without paying a cent.

I seldom get anything in the mail that I need or want.

 

[Danny]

i went to the postmaster in town and asked about getting "junk" mail stopped - he looked at me over his reading glasses to say "we don't call it junk mail and no we don't do that"

when it became necessary to get our mail at a po box i filled out a mail forwarding form thinking that a side benefit would be that junk mail would stop being forwarded after a while...it doesn't work that way...po gladly notifies junkers of the new address - there's money at stake...A year later we needed to change to another po box - didn't fill out forwarding form...just contacted people & firms (had firms not provide info to anyone) that needed to know...completely cut off mail I didn't want.

also switching to only cell phones cut down on unwanted calls.

when some business requires a phone for an unimportant reason - i give them my dsl phone number.

 

[kyounge1956]

i went to the postmaster in town and asked about getting "junk" mail stopped - he looked at me over his reading glasses to say "we don't call it junk mail and no we don't do that"

when it became necessary to get our mail at a po box i filled out a mail forwarding form thinking that a side benefit would be that junk mail would stop being forwarded after a while...it doesn't work that way...po gladly notifies junkers of the new address - there's money at stake...A year later we needed to change to another po box - didn't fill out forwarding form...just contacted people & firms (had firms not provide info to anyone) that needed to know...completely cut off mail I didn't want.

also switching to only cell phones cut down on unwanted calls.

when some business requires a phone for an unimportant reason - i give them my dsl phone number.

I have heard that one way to really put the kibosh on unwanted mailings is to change your address to a Mailbox Etc, Pony Express, or similar. Notify the USPS of your change of address, pay for the private P.O. box for a few months, and then cancel the service. Notify anyone you want to be able to reach you by mail. The private mailbox companies don't forward to your new address! I'm told that as far as the mailers are concerned this will make it seem that you have vanished from the face of the earth. I plan to try this one next time I move. I wonder if this will stop delivery of items addressed to "occupant" also....

 

[kyounge1956]

Although it goes against my curmudgeonly nature, I don't mind junk mail. I see it as my patriotic duty to accept it without complaint.

As previously mentioned, junk mail subsidizes the cost we pay for postage, plus it keeps people employed and paying SS. I don't want to pay the USPS to stop my junk mail and be responsible for the layoffs of those who manufacture paper and ink, design and print ads, and presort everything before handing it over to be mailed. And think about those people who manufacture the printing presses and delivery trucks, not to mention all the workers who deliver all that stuff.

We are trying to create jobs, not eliminate them. Right?

You gotta be kidding! That's like saying it's my patriotic duty to support the current tax code because of all the IRS employees and CPAs and the people who design and print all the forms and truck them to the Post Office who would be thrown out of work if it were ever replaced with something simpler. Phooey on that.

If I'm going to subsidize jobs (and since I'm a taxpayer it seems inevitable), I'd much rather subsidize jobs that do something constructive than jobs that waste natural resources, productive labor, and my time. Build a bridge, pave a road, teach a kid to read, provide physical therapy or manufacture a prosthesis for a disabled veteran, install some insulation in low income housing, install PV panels on the roof of the White House—do something that does somebody some good. That's what I'd rather subsidize.

 

[samclem]

Paying an agency NOT to do something rubs me the wrong way, too. The ultimate "irk" is having to pay the phone company not to publish my phone number. Does that seem legit? I'd like to publish a directory of cheats and criminals--those who pay me $5 won't get their name in it.

 

[Ronstar]

I used to get mail at my vacation condo - all junk mail because all my real mail goes to my house. Then the postmaster put a postcard in my condo mailbox requesting the names of addressees for my address. I haven't filled out the card, and all junk mail stopped.

 

[kathyet]

The postal service probably makes lots of money from junk mail.

Imagine the environmental benefit of banning junk mail.

I would call that Job security for postal employee's...

 

[Walt34]

Somehow, it doesn't bother me. I just bring the mail in and stop by the trash can on the way to the desk.

About once in every five years or so it's not junk mail, it's useful information about a new product that I didn't know I wanted.

And that, of course, is what the advertiser is hoping for.

 

[Trek]

Here in Germany, you can put a sticker on your mail box that says Keine Werbung (no advertisements) and the postman won't put junk mail in your box.

Wonder is a solution like that is possible there?