Dealing with Junk Mail

March 2022

When we moved into our home here I noticed this sticker above our mailbox slot.

I looked it up and discovered that these 'Nee/Nee' stickers are the standard way to opt out of certain categories of junk mail in the Netherlands.

My experience thus far has been that there is far less junk mail being stuffed down the unwilling throat of our mailbox here in the Netherlands than in the US. I have no idea if this is because we haven't lived here that long yet, or if the Nee/Nee sticker spell is super effective or if the volume of junk here is just lower than what we were used to.

While the Nee/Nee sticker is a good start, it isn't the only form of defense against junk mail in the Netherlands.

The Netherlands distinguishes between three kinds of advertising mail (reclame post):

1. Unaddressed advertisements.
2. Addressed advertisements.
3. Addressed advertisements with an existing customer relationship.

Unaddressed advertisements

These are advertisements that have neither your name nor your address on them. Think brochures from local businesses, free local papers etc.

The Nee/Nee sticker is your defence against this class of junk mail. If you feel compelled to keep up to date with the latest gossip about Meester Buurman then you can also get a Nee/Ja sticker, where the 'ja' applies to local newspapers.

And where, you ask eagerly, does one procure this sticker whose power is perhaps second only to the One Ring? According to this government (rijksoverheid) page you have to contact your municipality for one. Having said that, if you google for Nee/Nee stickers you can find a bunch of places selling them for just a few euros.

Addressed advertisements

This cateogory covers advertisements that have either your name or your address (or both) on them.

Postfilter.nl is the website that allows you to determine which addressed advertisements you are willing to receive.

You register with postfilter and select which (if any) categories of advertisements you are willing to receive.

What does registering with Postfilter involve?

1. You enter your address.
2. You choose if you want to register a name with the address. If you don't choose a name, then all advertising email to that address is blocked. Choosing a name is useful in a situation involving roommates or if you happen to be the partner of a psychopath who likes to receive advertisements.
3. You can then choose which 'classes' of advertising you would like to block. Some examples of categories are: auto, energy, financial, postcode lottery, charities, and mail order. Or you could simply choose to block everything.
4. You choose a username and password and create an account.

Your registration with Postfilter is valid for six years, at the end of which you can renew. It is also possible to register with Postfilter without creating an account. In this case your registration is valid for two years. If you choose not to create an account you can't change your preferences after you register.

Note that companies have 6 weeks to process your Postfilter registration, so don't expect the junk to stop overnight.

Addressed advertisements with an existing customer relationship

Postfilter cannot block advertising from a company that you have a relationship with. If you have bought something from a store, or donated to a particular charity, you have a customer relationship with them and they get to bypass your Postfilter preferences.

There is no quick, centralized way to shut this down. If you have a customer relationship with a company you need to excerce your 'uw recht van bezwaar' (aka your right to object). This invovles sending them mail telling them that you want them to stop harassing your hapless mailbox. Postfilter provides a sample right to object letter template for this purpose. From a legal perspective I have no idea if this objection needs to be sent via snail mail or if an email would suffice.

Reporting violations

If despite your stickers, registrations and vociferous objections a company continues to harass your mailbox, you can officially complain about them to the Stichting Reclame Code.