Jack Nelson says:

November 6, 2007 10:24 pm

In addition to the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) services, there is another - little-advertised - means of stopping unwanted postal advertisements from reaching your mailbox.

This is the only method of stopping unwanted mail at its source where you do not have to pay money other than postage. And, it is 100 percent effective.

Pursuant to federal law (Title 39 USC § 3008), a postal addressee who receives an unsolicited (or solicited) advertisement offering for sale matter that, in the addressee’s sole discretion, is “erotically arousing or sexually provocative,” may, by completing PS Form 1500, obtain a Prohibitory Order from the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) directing the mailer to refrain from making further mailings to that addressee.

The key phrase is “…in the addressee’s sole discretion…” For example, if a pizza advertisement strikes you as sexually provocative, you can use the Prohibitory Order process to stop the mailings.

Should the mailer (vendor) continue sending mail after receiving the USPS Prohibitory Order, the USPS turns the matter over to the United States Department of Justice for prosecution. The Justice Department is responsible for prosecuting violations of postal related laws.

While the law, the form and the USPS instructions for using the form were originally intended for sexually explicit and provocative mail, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a decision - Rowan vs. U.S. Post Office Department, 397 U.S. 728 (1970) - ruled that the law under Title 39 USC § 4009 (now 39 USC § 3008) includes all unwanted commercial mail. Thus, PS Form 1500 is no longer used just for sexually explicit or provocative mail - although it still reads as such.

Why the USPS or Congress has not changed the law, the form or the instructions to reflect the Supreme Court decision in the past 37 years is a another conundrum that begs to be answered.

Nevertheless, do not be intimidated or confused by the instructions, the form or the law.

If you have been receiving unwanted direct mail advertisements and you no longer want to receive them, simply go to the below website, print out the form and instructions, fill in the form, sign it, and mail it to the U. S. Postal Service at the address shown below.

Shortly (experience indicates about 15 days after USPS receipt of the application), you will receive a letter advising you of the USPS action taken. Do not be confused by the letter's wording - it all relates to sexual mail that you decided you did not want. Just think of your unwanted advertisements as sexually explicit mail.

Use the below website to obtain PS Form 1500 and the instructions for completion:

http://www.usps.com/forms/_pdf/ps1500.pdf

Action Steps:

1. Open the advertising envelope or wrapper (if there is one), take out all the contents and attach everything, including the envelope or wrapper, to the form. The USPS WILL NOT accept unopened envelopes or wrappers. Put all this into another envelope.

2. Send your PS Form 1500 and material directly to:

Pricing and Classification Service Center
US Postal Service
PO Box 1500
New York NY 10008-1500

You may need a large envelope for this step.

It is not necessary to give the form to your postmaster, as proposed in the USPS instructions as that office will only send it to the above address. Also, there have been reports that some Post Offices do not even know about the form or the process.

3. Mark your calendar about 15 days out from the date you mail your form to USPS. If you do not receive a response by the date you expect to receive it, start squawking. You can start here:

Pricing and Classification Service Center
Tel. 212-330-5300
FAX: 212-330-5330

4. If you don't get prompt service from these folks, report this directly to the Postmaster General at:

Postmaster General
U.S. Postal Service
475 L’Enfant Plaza, SW
Washington, DC 20260-1000
Tel. 202-268-2020 FAX: 202-268-5211

5. After you receive your copy of the USPS Prohibitory Order, mark your calendar again in accordance with the 30-day period explained in the letter. If, after the 30-day period, you receive mail that appears to have been sent in violation of the prohibitory order, open it and write clearly on the envelope and all its contents a statement that you received it and the date of receipt. For example, "I received this mailpiece on April 5, 2007." Apply your signature below your statement. Include a photocopy of your prohibitory order, if possible, or a notation of the order number and send the mailpiece to the address noted in paragraph 2., above.

Important: Be courteous but firm in your letters and phone calls, where necessary. Inappropriate language and rage will not get you off home plate.

Additional information:

a. The USPS disposes of all unwanted third class mail - now called "Standard Mail” - that you mark "refused" or "return to sender." Nearly all advertisements are Standard Mail. So, if it is your desire to help reduce waste, this method is not an option.

b. Use of the DMA opt-out services is somewhat successful, though not all advertisers belong to the DMA. Many nonmembers are the ignoble companies that Americans want to eliminate the most. Moreover, the DMA preference list is a blanket utility, i.e., not selective. “You cannot pick and choose which advertising mail you want to eliminate.” So, if you still want to receive catalogs from companies you have done business with, this is not a good option. The DMA also charges $1.00 for this service whereas critics believe this service should be free.

c. Once you have stopped the company from mailing advertisements to your address you may still receive the advertising for awhile. The reason is that mass (bulk) advertising coming through the post office is usually sorted by the company before the post office gets it, using mailing lists the mailer has with your address on it. The mail carrier just picks up the pile that has been presorted by street/area and just starts delivering it house by house without looking at the address. If this happens, advise your postmaster (or your mail carrier) that your address has been deleted from the company's mailing list and that you do not want any mail delivered to your address that does not have your address on the envelope or the wrapper.

d. There is one more concern and that is "saturation mail." It is usually mail or merchandise samples more than 5 inches wide (high) or 1/4 inch thick, or non-uniform in thickness. These mailings frequently do not have the address printed on the mailpiece. But in these situations the mailpiece must (by USPS regulation) be accompanied by a detached address label (DAL). This looks similar to a postcard in size with the recipient's address printed on the card. There are occurrences where the DAL does not accompany the mailpiece. But this mail can be stopped also by using the above procedures.

Also, tell your mail carrier or postmaster that you do not want to receive mail without your name and address printed on the mailpiece.

Laura says:

February 20, 2008 9:21 am

This is completely wrong. We have a right to have NO mail. They don't have a right to send it.

Here the DMA is asking us to DO something - our time, our money - to protect ourselves from THEIR actions. That's not right!

They should have a sign UP list. Opting IN is the only ACTION we should have to take.

And now look at What we have to do - now it even costs money to protect our mailboxes. From the DMA site:

"Complete the mail-in registration form. Print the form and mail it with a $1 check or money order (to cover processing), payable to the Direct Marketing Association, to the address on the form."

NO! This is a boundaries violation. Individual rights come before the rights of these business-related associations.

Laura says:

February 20, 2008 9:29 am

And the Credit Card phone number provided is asking for my social security number! They don't need that. This is an enormous violation of my privacy.

I have to REGISTER at the DMA site and PAY THEM to take my name off the list. And now I have to divulge personal information. This is unbelievable. It is contrary to every tenet of freedom upon which our constitution is based.


Do I have to Pay someone to protect myself from being trespassed? Robbed? Give them my Social Security Number to have the right to not be Physically violated?

Why does the DMA have this much power?

This is insane! I have a business, a sick mother, grown kids who need help - I don't have time for this and I don't know anyone who does -- except retired people. But moreover it is just plain wrong! It is a violation of my inherent rights.

laura says:

February 20, 2008 9:40 am

Final Comment:

When I last lived in St. Louis I filled out the required paper work to be removed from the DMA mailings. I could never find my bills. Schnucks refused to take me off their mailing list when I called them and asked them to, so my important mail was constantly being inadvertantly thrown away.

Schnucks complained that it was too much trouble for THEM to stop trespassing my mailbox and that *I* would have to deal with the DMA to stop them from violating it. (???)

So I did. But my letter to the DMA was returned to me a good month later. It was *refused.* My request to protect my property from violation was refused because I was missing something. They didn't say what I was missing.

This is like RUSSIA.

If you don't want to be hit you have to stand in line and get permission to not be hit. It is not your right to not suffer bodily harm. You have no right to your property. We can touch you, rob you, violate you to our heart's content UNLESS YOU PAY US MONEY AND FILL OUT THE REQUIRED PAPERWORK -- and fill it out RIGHT.

DONNA says:

April 29, 2008 2:54 pm

I would like to opt out of junk mail. Can you help me?

Travis says:

April 29, 2008 3:17 pm

To Donna:

Please see the original blog post above.

CynPro says:

July 31, 2008 4:13 pm

I HATE JUNK & BULK MAIL !!! I don't want it. It seems companies think they can waste as much of someone's time as they like, and no one can stop them. What would happen if everyone stood at their mailbox, sorted out the mail they want, and put the junk / bulk mail right back in the mailbox ? ?