The Do-Not-Mail Movement is a Bad Idea

Consumer advocate groups in more than a dozen states (including Washington State) now have do-not-mail bills on the agendas of their legislatures.

My concern is that consumer’s won’t really benefit from the passage of this legislation because it won’t deliver any time savings to the consumer and it will be bad for the economy in which we live.

This is different than the passage of the Do-Not-Call Registry back in the year 2003 which prohibited unwanted telemarketing calls. It is different because marketing pieces sent in the mail do not interrupt dinner or bedtime stories and they don’t come pre-loaded with objection handling rebuttals.

As a REALTOR®, direct mail allows me to contribute to the economy by investing money with local vendors on paper, ink, envelopes and printing. The end result is a marketing piece that lets consumers know where they can go for a full time professional residential real estate specialist in their area. This ensures consumers are aware of my services and when it results in business, I pay taxes on it which benefits everyone.

We know from our experience with the Do-Not-Call bill that any bill banning unsolicited mail will have exceptions for official business, political action and charity so it won’t save consumers any time. Consumers who receive an unwanted marketing piece in the mail can simply recycle it without investing any more time than they would have invested in their daily mail run if they were on a do-not-mail list. If they receive a coupon for a service they actually need… all the better.

Let’s focus on spammers and software companies that pre-load their unwanted software on our new computers before we attack traditional marketers investing real dollars in their local economies.

David Edwards

REALTOR®

Keller Williams Realty Southeast Sound

425-890-8045

E-Mail: david@davidjedwards.com

Website: http://www.davidjedwards.com

Blogsite: http://www.davidjedwards.com/renton-info-blog.asp


David J Edwards is a full time REALTOR® with Keller Williams specializing in Residential Real Estate for buyers and sellers in Renton and Newcastle.