Three separate steps cut most marketing mail: register with DMAchoice, the mail preference service run by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA); opt out of prescreened credit and insurance offers at OptOutPrescreen.com; and ask the companies that already mail you — and the marketing data companies behind the lists — to stop. DMAchoice's own page says its registration costs an $8 administrative fee online for 10 years and "will not eliminate all promotional mail." No single step covers everything, so it helps to know what each one reaches.
Where marketing mail comes from
Most unsolicited mail comes from one of three places:
- Prospect lists. Companies rent or buy lists of people they have no relationship with. DMAchoice targets this mail — it describes it as "promotional mail offers from companies or organizations you don't have a business relationship with (also called prospect mail)."
- Prescreened credit and insurance offers. These come from lists the credit bureaus supply to lenders and insurers. They have their own federal opt-out.
- Companies you already deal with. A store you bought from, a charity you gave to. These mail you from their own customer lists, and the most direct fix is to ask each of them.
Behind many prospect lists sit marketing data companies that compile and sell consumer data. Several appear in our directory, with guides to sending them requests.
Step 1: register with DMAchoice
DMAchoice lets you opt out of prospect mail from companies that use its list.
- Online: at DMAchoice.org. DMAchoice states an "$8 administrative fee for a 10-year registration period" (checked 2026-10-06).
- By mail: a "$9 check or money order" with the completed form, to DMAchoice, Consumer Preferences, P.O. Box 900, Cos Cob, CT 06807.
The FTC's junk-mail page, last updated July 2022, quotes a lower fee ($6 online, $7 by mail). DMAchoice's current page is the one to go by.
The FTC describes DMAchoice as letting you choose "what catalogs, magazine offers, and other mail you want to get," and says it "will stop most, but not all, promotional mail." DMAchoice itself says it "will not eliminate all promotional mail." Companies that don't use the DMAchoice list are not affected.
DMAchoice also runs:
- a Deceased Do Not Contact List, for relatives, friends and caregivers of someone who has died — see how to remove a deceased relative from people-search sites
- a Do Not Contact for Caretakers list
- an Email Preference Service, which the FTC says is free and lasts 10 years
Step 2: opt out of prescreened offers
Credit card and insurance mailers based on your credit report are not covered by DMAchoice. The opt-out is at OptOutPrescreen.com or 1-888-5-OPT-OUT (1-888-567-8688). The FTC says it is processed within five days, though offers can keep arriving for several weeks. You can choose five years, or make it permanent by signing and returning a form. See how to opt out of prescreened offers for details.
Step 3: ask companies that mail you directly
For catalogs and mail from companies you have bought from or given to, contact each one and ask to be taken off its mailing list.
If you live in California, the CCPA gives you the right to ask a business to delete personal information it collected about you. The California Attorney General says businesses must respond within 45 calendar days and can extend by another 45 if they tell you. Other states have similar laws; see state privacy laws with a right to delete and the CCPA deletion request template.
Step 4: send requests to the marketing data companies
Marketing data companies compile consumer information and supply it to advertisers. Asking them to delete or stop selling your information targets the lists themselves, upstream of the mail. Our guides cover several:
Each guide gives that company's opt-out page or privacy contact and what it asks for. These requests are requests: some companies decline, and some rely on legal exemptions. Our directory at /sites/ lists more.
If you are a California resident, the state runs a free platform, DROP, for sending a deletion request to registered data brokers. See the California DROP guide.
What to expect
- Mail slows; it does not stop. DMAchoice and the FTC both say its service won't stop all promotional mail.
- Existing relationships are not covered. DMAchoice targets prospect mail, so companies you do business with — including new ones — need their own request.
- Registrations end. DMAchoice registration is for 10 years; the five-year prescreen opt-out ends after five. Note the dates.
Email and phone are separate
DMAchoice's postal registration covers mail. For email, the FTC points to DMAchoice's Email Preference Service, which it describes as free and lasting 10 years. For sales calls, the National Do Not Call Registry is the federal list; see the National Do Not Call Registry. None of these touch people-search listings of your address or phone number — those need requests to each site. See how to remove your address from people-search sites.
Mail for someone you care for
DMAchoice runs a Do Not Contact for Caretakers list for people managing mail on behalf of someone else, alongside its Deceased Do Not Contact List. Both are linked from DMAchoice's home page.
A short checklist
- Register at DMAchoice.org.
- Opt out at OptOutPrescreen.com or 1-888-567-8688.
- Ask companies that mail you to take you off their lists.
- Send deletion or opt-out requests to the marketing data companies in our directory.
- California residents: use DROP.
- Note when each registration expires.