Junk Mail Magic

Choose the right route for paper mail and email spam

When one company sends you both catalogs and marketing email, handle the two channels separately. An email unsubscribe may not change the postal list, and a paper request may not change email. Name the channel in each request, then read what the company says it changed.

By Junk Mail Magic. Updated .

Handle each channel on its own

  1. Pick one company. Note the exact name and address printed on its paper mail and the sender address on its email.
  2. For marketing email you recognize as coming from the company, read its unsubscribe or preference options. If the message is suspicious, reach the company through a site you already know rather than following the email link.
  3. For paper, find the contact route on the company's official website and send a request that names postal mail.
  4. Save each confirmation under its channel. You can then tell which request applied to which channel if mail continues.

What the postal request should say

Use precise channel names in the request: printed catalogs, postal promotional offers, or marketing email. Keep delivery updates and other account notices separate from the advertising you want changed.

Some companies offer a combined preference page and others handle channels separately. Read the labels before submitting. If the confirmation says only “unsubscribed,” ask whether that means the email address, the postal address, or both. Save that answer next to the preference you selected.

Sample postal-only request

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

Please stop postal advertising addressed to [name as printed] at [mailing address]. This request is about printed mail. My email preference was handled separately on [date / not yet]. I am [a current customer / not a customer]. Please confirm which postal preference you recorded and whether it includes catalogs, offers and customer promotions.

Check both channels afterward

Note the date of the next paper piece and the next marketing email from the company. If one channel stopped and the other did not, write again and name the channel that continued. Quote your earlier request and ask what preference the company has on file for that channel.

Official source

Find out why email stopped but paper continuesRecognize a form that only unsubscribes emailKeep email offers while stopping paper mailChoose between paper and email newslettersMailing-list programsAll practical mail guides

Choose the route that matches the mailing

Use the official route described in this guide for this kind of mail. For a separate ordinary advertisement, Junk Mail Magic can help prepare a sender-specific removal request.

Compare removal routes