This is an open letter to all catalog happy retailers (warning, there is some ranting, a little shouting and a hint of sarcasm up ahead)…
To whom it may concern (since I have no idea how the catalog business works, even given my decades of interest in all things retail biz)…
I have one request and it’s fairly simple. STOP SENDING ME CATALOGS I DID NOT REQUEST! The above image is a mishmash of catalog mail I received in one week’s time. What? You’re shocked that I would request such a thing? Well, here’s a list of possible scenarios…ones in which I DO NOT want to be on your catalog mailing list…
-I’ve never ordered anything from you, in fact I’ve never even heard of you.
-I’ve ordered one thing from you, a gift for someone else. Like a wine decanter for da ex pup daddy, a baby shower gift or a shirt for my auntie or mama. All things I’m not interested in buying on a monthly basis.
-You don’t deliver to Hawaii anyway or treat Hawaii like a foreign country in your shipping rates.
-I’ve ordered an item from another retailer owned by your parent company.
-I’ve ordered from a retailer who DARED sell my name and address to you.
-I order from you regularly online but didn’t request a catalog. I repeat ONLINE. I’m an online shopper, not a catalog shopper, I like it that way. I suspect my tendency to online shop is partially responsible for this deluge of catalogs.
So, you won’t stop, huh. Well, ok then, I’m willing to negotiate. How about having your system kick out duplicate addresses? I recently changed my name back to my maiden and don’t enjoy getting duplicate catalogs from you. Speaking of duplicates, during the holiday season, many of you like to send duplicates of the same catalog (why?!) so sometimes I received four, two under my old name and two under my new name.
One more suggestion…make it easy to get off the mailing list. You’ve made it fairly easy to unsubscribe to emails, but many of you make us click here, there, everywhere to unsubscribe from your mailing list. Some of you even make me call (seriously, are you that lonely?). I’ve even tried Catalog Choice and some other sites to ease the process but because so many of you are missing from their options, that just creates another step in the process, I still end up having to navigate to your website after discovering you’re not on the list.
I have one last thing to say, from the perspective of a customer and someone who naturally thinks very much like a marketer and retailer…I would not mind a postcard or flyer with cool shots that would tempt me to check out your website. WWD sends the greatest bookmark of various covers with their subscription solicitations that I love and save. Tease me, don’t throw yourself at me (again and again).
With Best Regards,
Tania, aka MauiShopGirl
p.s. I actually love the catalogs by DWR (great write-ups on the history of mid-century classics and modern designers), JCrew (the best mix and match pour it on styling), Anthropologie (I want to live in your pretty print bohemian catalog), FLOR (great interior design and how to mix color shots) and Neiman Marcus The Book (like a high end magazine including great articles and interviews). I would choose to subscribe to your catalog if it had a little something something extra special to offer. But…I would also be more than happy to scope these out online with an email notification from you, if available (save the trees!).
And for the three retailers who I’ve never heard of but sent me catalogs the day after I snapped this pic and kicked that pile to the curb? Mahalo, I did need something to pack my Christmas ornaments in.
{ 33 comments… read them below or add one }
I find it so amazing the amount of sh** mail I get. I don’t see how it is a good economic choice for companies. Not to mention the waste! Which they obviously don’t care about.
I was in shock too, I think it’s gotten worse. I’ve set up everything electronically so theoretically the only mail I should get are a few mags and my car insurance, everything else is email. You wouldn’t know it by looking at my full mailbox. And I wonder too, can their conversion rate really be that good that it’s worth it? I’d really rather get a teaser postcard, that may tempt me to go to their site.
I took some time once and called every customer service line of those sending me unwanted catalogs and asked them to take me off their list. It, literally, took about 6 months to finally get the mailings down. They make it incredibly difficult, even though they save money by lessening their postage and printing expenses. So annoying!
I’m going to start doing that too, tried during the holidays but it was too much and yes, it took so much time! Especially when you had to IM or call. They should all have an unsubscribe link on their website.
Xmas time seems to be the worst! I will get like 4 L.L.Bean catalogs with different covers but same stuff inside and I don’t think I have ever ordered from them! Although I wouldn’t mind looking through some of yours ; )
Yes! This holiday season was especially bad, lots of multiples.
“Tease me, don’t throw yourself at me (again and again).”
HAHAHAHAHAHA! This reminds me of when my sister ordered a bra online from victoria secret while she was away in college and my parents started getting catalogs at the house. Needless to say, they were a little disturbed that their recent high school graduate was interested “sexy lingerie.”
Sometimes I think they have really old people running these companies. There’s really no need for catalogs anymore. Seriously.
The story about your sister is hilarious!
I’m right there with you. I did use this company a few years ago to help cancel some of the catalogues:
https://www.catalogchoice.org/
It really worked, for the catalogues I registered. But more and more keep showing up from different companies. So many come at Christmas, of course. I’m going to go back into the link and see about getting rid of more of these.
One night during the holiday season, I sat down and went through my stack on catalog choice, only about 10% were listed. I was disappointed because it is a good concept. I’m going to try again, during Xmas, the amounts I was receiving was just too crazy. Maybe now I can attack it slowly and get it down before the next holiday season
LOL on the “don’t even ship to Hawaii or treat it like a foreign country”. I just recycle them. I’d rather browse online for latest and greatest. Postcards are a great idea!
Recycling! I didn’t even think of that, great idea. I did wrap some of my holiday gifts using the nicer furniture catalog pages.
Even for a guy who hates to shop and does very little shopping online, I get a pretty steady flow of crap in the mailbox. I try to cancel when it is easy, but admit I am not great about doing so.
Sometimes I feel all jazzed up about it and will cancel, keep a list of what I cancelled (since it takes a few months to take effect) and other times I just head straight to the trash. I don’t mind local as much, like the Wailea shopping magazine is ok, I look forward to browsing through that for new places to try.
YES YES YES!! It’s just crazy. I have a real beef with the Nature Conservancy. We started to donate to them each year in order to plant trees in Brazil. We’ve stopped because both my wife and I get TONS of junk mail from them to donate more. It’s not just 1 letter, but instead handfuls of postcards, custom address labels, brochures, magazines. And if that wasn’t enough, they send us double to the same address because we both donate (or did donate. Not anymore.)
Retailers are worse cause those catalogs are HUGE. I guess it’s worth the money for them. We should start mailing them back.
I love that idea…return to sender!
My parents have experienced NFPs marketing way too much also.
Funny, my ex hubby and I are both UH Business School of accountancy alumni. They would call for donations years ago (now they email) but they would call our home line for him and I’d say he wasn’t home and then as soon as I hung up, they’d right back ask for me (since my name was obviously listed right below his), the same volunteer. I’d be like “honey, didn’t you notice, same last name, same phone #, us accountants like to stick together and marry each other?”.
Girl, you are not alone. For some odd reason, I get Maxim, Latina, and baby magazines. I don’t know why I’m getting this. I didn’t pay for it. And for a long time I was getting baby formula coupons, which is nice if I had a child. LOL
Maybe I should write a similar letter like yours to those magazines. LOL
I get so much wine stuff and although I enjoy a glass every now & then, I am in no way one of those really into wine people. My ex pup daddy was and so I used to buy him gifts that were wine related. Ex pup daddy used to get a bunch of stuff from AARP from his 30s (amer assoc of retired persons or something like that). Hilarious…
You should write! We should start a blogger movement
Although some of them prob don’t want to piss of the retailers if ya know what I mean 
I hear you on this one. You would think they would stop printing so much rubbish and concentrate on getting new traffic and exposure using the web. Sighhh….
Yup…I’m no marketing expert but I can think of a lot of ways to drive traffic other than catalogs. Hitting us over the head with the catalogs.
Wow, I couldn’t agree w/ you more! I found when I subscribed to a magazine, I got a bunch of unexpected catalogs. When a friend subscribed me to a different magazine, again more catalogs. I took the time to call each company and ask them to take me off their list, and told them I hate wasting those trees.
It didn’t even occur to me the magazines publishers might be in on it too! Explains why I get lots of home decor catalogs since that genre doesn’t really tie in to my online purchases so much.
So time consuming to ask to be removed…I need to start attacking it again.
I must admit, I found your rant quite entertaining – LOL! I can imagine you talking to these catalogs publishers and scolding them
. I also must say I agree – the catalog marketing is using so much trees! I like your idea of the teaser post card – will share that to our biz clients.
We used to get tons of magazines before, but now it’s not as much – maybe because we don’t shop as much anymore. And you being the Maui Shop Girl – they have you in as a bulls eye “must send her our catalog” list –
Thanks Liza, you don’t get to see the sarcastic side of me much on MSG but it’s definitely there. I did order a ton of stuff online since moving, as my lifestyle got more casual and for my place that was being built (curtains, lighting, my vanity mirror…all online).
I find it very telling that I hate getting all these catalogs. If I don’t like it, a shopper, who will?
I really enjoy the bookmarks WWD sends, it is a compilation of their covers, I save all of them. I also liked it when JCrew sent a one page deal showing their collection, very clean presentation, actually was very frameable.
P.S. – I do have a profile pic, I just have to remember to use the right e-mail address when I comment.
Have a wonderful weekend Tania!
I never know which pic of mine is gonna show up! So funny google mail, gravatar, I’m always confused which is which and year sometimes it doesn’t show it up at all.
Tania, thank God I don’t get too many catalogs but I do receive from every company requesting donations month after month. I love to donate to feed the children, Red Cross, Maui Humane Society, Women Helping Wonen, Native Anerican Children, USO, but not every month. Now I’m also receiving magazines I DID not order! GQ and Ebony are not my choices. I don’t even know who to write to since I didn’t receive a bill. It’s crazy. I hate opening mail and it piles up for me to do tons one day a week. Wasted paper. I recycle but the shiny stuff goes in the trash…
Aloha Marilyn…I think 5% of my mail is real actual mail, the rest is throw away. My parents receive donation solicitations and calls constantly. They’re pretty tired of it too.
I only donate to a few organizations so it’s not so bad and they aren’t so persistant.
Free mags? That never happened to me, but once on Oahu, the Advertiser gave us a free subscription and I didn’t want it! I hate black newspaper ink, it gets on the walls, the carpet, prefer to read the news online.
i am right with you. innudated with catalogs I just do not want.
Woo-Hoo! Don’t ever want to meet *you* in a dark alley!
JK JK JK
Great detailed post about an outrageously wasteful practice. Advertisers just might take heed if more of us have the courage to speak out as loudly and clearly as you have, Tania.
Hear, hear!
Too funny…I’m definitely opinionated but the blog is usually my happy carefree place so you don’t get to see that side of me very often
I completely agree!! I have been getting this Uline catalog that is massive! It’s such a waste. I also agree that taking the time to call Customer service is a great idea! Great post Tania!! Going to share
Thanks Lena!