Stop annoying catalogs from clogging your mailbox
SEATTLE - More than 19 million catalogs are published in the U.S. each year. But a lot of people are tired of getting them, seeing it as an enormous waste of paper.
At my home, for example, it has been years since my wife or I have ordered from a catalog. We go to the store or shop online, and yet we received 40 catalogs in November and December. What's worse, some companies send several copies of the same catalog during the holiday shopping season.
We got three Brookstone and seven Harry and David catalogs. That's just silly, but now you can go online and stop this madness.
Catalog Choice was started by several environmental groups. Right now, just 117 merchants have joined the site, agreeing to honor opt-out requests.
These include two of the country's biggest catalog mailers: L.L. Bean and Land's End, as well as Tiffany's, Office Depot and REI.
We asked the vice president of marketing at REI if catalogs really move their product?
"Catalogs absolutely do," said Tom Vogl. "A lot of customers tell us they really do like reading the catalogs, even if they buy online."
Vogl says the company joined Catalog Choice to be responsive to customers and responsible to the environment.
"I think it's a nice option for our customers because they can come to one place and they can manage their subscription preferences with multiple retailers, like REI."
The environmental groups running Catalog Choice say they are not trying to mess with merchants and their customers. They know catalogs are not about to go away.
They say they just want to give people a simple way to eliminate unwanted waste.
There is a second, new way to tell companies you don't want their catalogs. It's a site run by the Direct Marketing Association. In the past, to use the DMA site, you had to opt-out of all advertising mail from all of its members.
You can still do that. But now, DMA gives you the option to pick and chose the catalogs you want to stop. There are 1,500 companies in their database.
The service is free, but you need to submit your credit card number to do this. The card is not charged; that's just how DMA verifies your identity.This may discourage some people from using the site. I don't want to give out my credit card number to stop a catalog. DMA tell me they know this concerns some people and they hope to come up with a better authentication system in the near future.
For More Information:
Catalog Choice -- www.catalogchoice.org
DMA Mail Preference Service -- www.dmachoice.org
Stop the catalog madness! -- www.msnbc.com
At my home, for example, it has been years since my wife or I have ordered from a catalog. We go to the store or shop online, and yet we received 40 catalogs in November and December. What's worse, some companies send several copies of the same catalog during the holiday shopping season.
We got three Brookstone and seven Harry and David catalogs. That's just silly, but now you can go online and stop this madness.
Catalog Choice was started by several environmental groups. Right now, just 117 merchants have joined the site, agreeing to honor opt-out requests.
These include two of the country's biggest catalog mailers: L.L. Bean and Land's End, as well as Tiffany's, Office Depot and REI.
We asked the vice president of marketing at REI if catalogs really move their product?
"Catalogs absolutely do," said Tom Vogl. "A lot of customers tell us they really do like reading the catalogs, even if they buy online."
Vogl says the company joined Catalog Choice to be responsive to customers and responsible to the environment.
"I think it's a nice option for our customers because they can come to one place and they can manage their subscription preferences with multiple retailers, like REI."
The environmental groups running Catalog Choice say they are not trying to mess with merchants and their customers. They know catalogs are not about to go away.
They say they just want to give people a simple way to eliminate unwanted waste.
There is a second, new way to tell companies you don't want their catalogs. It's a site run by the Direct Marketing Association. In the past, to use the DMA site, you had to opt-out of all advertising mail from all of its members.
You can still do that. But now, DMA gives you the option to pick and chose the catalogs you want to stop. There are 1,500 companies in their database.
The service is free, but you need to submit your credit card number to do this. The card is not charged; that's just how DMA verifies your identity.This may discourage some people from using the site. I don't want to give out my credit card number to stop a catalog. DMA tell me they know this concerns some people and they hope to come up with a better authentication system in the near future.
For More Information:
Catalog Choice -- www.catalogchoice.org
DMA Mail Preference Service -- www.dmachoice.org
Stop the catalog madness! -- www.msnbc.com