Garden (And Other) Catalogs

For years I received dozens of gardening catalogs.  I never knew much about which ones were good companies except by trial and error.  Fortunately, a few years ago, I discovered a website dedicated to catalog company evaluation by serious gardeners.  You can find it HERE

The site offers its Top 30 Rated Garden Catalog Companies, the newest comments, and a way to search for any other garden catalog to see their rating/comments.   I have found it to be a wonderful way of evaluating companies and finding new good sources.

Getting a lot of gardenomg catalogs with poor ratings and you want to stop receiving them (or any other particular types of catalogs)?  I have learned ways of doing this.

First, you can go to Catalog Choice.  You have to set up an account, but it is free and I can't detect that I have gotten any spam as a result.  They have a list of catalog companies.  You click on the company, enter some address label information, and they contact the company that you don't want that catalog.  It is voluntary for the company, but MOST of them comply (they don't want to waste money sending you a catalog you actively don't want).  I would guess I've had about a 75% success rate.  Plus, if your unwanted catalog company isn't on their list, they will add it AND let you know when it is available for cancelling.  Some just will not remove you from their list, but I have really cut down on the number of unwanted catalogs I receive.

Second, if you go directly to the company's website, look for their Privacy Policy.  There is almost always an "unsubscribe" option in there.  That has been successful, even for companies that do not respond to Catalog Choice requests.  Perhaps they are more legally or policy bound to honoring direct requests.

Third, if you are receiving a catalog you like, but don't really need to receive it every month (face it, some products and prices just don't change that often), some companies will allow you to change the frequency of mailing.  Changing it from once a month to twice a year saves throwing out a lot of catalogs.  Who doesn't want to save a few trees?

Fourth, you may be getting the same wanted catalog twice.  Companies sometimes get your address in different forms and don't know they are sending you 2 or 3 of the same one.  It is worth checking the address labels.  Even slight differences can fool a company.  Look for a Customer ID on the label.  Many, but not all, have those. If you see different ones and want the catalog, cancel the others.  The companies usually have a "duplicate mailing" option for cancellation.  They respond to that reason very well.

Hope this helps...