Junk Mail Magic

Choose one family contact for advertising follow-up

Assign one relative to each sender, and write down what the recipient wants before anyone writes to a company. If two siblings ask the same company for opposite things, nobody can tell which request reflects the recipient. A short note recording the recipient's own choice settles that.

By Junk Mail Magic. Updated .

Set up the agreement

  1. Meet with the recipient and the relatives who help. For each sender the recipient recognizes, ask whether they want to keep it, get fewer pieces or stop.
  2. Assign one relative per sender, and confirm the recipient is willing to have that person contact the company for them. Splitting by sender rather than by address avoids two people writing to one company that mails several places.
  3. Write a short shared note with the sender, the recipient's choice and the responsible relative. Leave out account numbers and personal details.
  4. The assigned relative rereads the note before writing, so the request follows the recipient's choice rather than the relative's.
  5. Anyone who sees new mail from a listed sender passes it to the assigned contact and does not write to the company directly.

Keep the note to advertising

The note covers marketing mail and nothing else. It gives no one authority over the recipient's accounts, care or legal affairs. It also does not mean helpers may open envelopes the recipient has not agreed to share. If a relative needs that broader authority, the recipient and the relevant provider or official office decide how it is granted.

Shared sender agreement

Example for your own use. Replace the bracketed details and review what you share.

Recipient confirmed preferences on: [date] Sender: [name] Recipient wants: [keep / fewer / stop / on hold] Recipient agreed this person may contact sender: [name, yes / no] Request sent: [date, method] New mail seen: [date] Disagreement noted: [who, what, date] Notes: [no account numbers or personal details]

Settle a disagreement through the recipient

If two relatives disagree about a sender, mark that sender as on hold and note that the recipient will decide. Nobody contacts the company until then. Once the recipient answers, record the choice and the date, and the assigned relative acts on it.

Official source

Agree on what a helper may do with advertising mailHandle different opinions about a relative’s catalogsCombine notes from repeated requests to one senderWrite a follow-up that includes the earlier requestHelping another adultAll practical mail guides

Keep personal records with the organization that handles them

Junk Mail Magic is for ordinary unwanted advertising. Use the official contact route in this guide for records, account changes or someone else’s correspondence.

Compare removal routes