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Show HN: Mel – The missing unsubscribe button for physical mail
Since 2017, I've been on a mission to stop the deluge of paper mail that ends up in my trash. It's been a slow, manual process, but I've succeeded! I created Mel to help others rid themselves of physical junk mail.
Simply text a photo of junk mail and Mel contacts the sender to have you removed from their list – no registration or app required.
- dieselgate 3y agoI really like the concept of "text this number to perform action". There was a post a few months back about a postcard creation service where you just text a photo.
- bmulcahy 3y agoDo you remember the name of the post card service? Sounds neat!
- dieselgate 3y agodon't remember and can't seem to find it from searching :(
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- schemescape 3y agoI recall this being similar: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36371168 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36371168
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- djbeadle 3y agoI'm a big fan of https://www.thesimplepostcard.com/ https://www.thesimplepostcard.com/
- nolastan 3y agoThanks! I created the initial MVP of Mel right after we shut down Remedy back in 2017, so the SMS-based UI was top-of-mind. A great post-mortem on Remedy here: https://www.fastcompany.com/40483774/remedy-wanted-to-cut-peoples-medical-bills-but-the-health-care-system-wouldnt-let-it https://www.fastcompany.com/40483774/remedy-wanted-to-cut-pe...
- cl3misch 3y agoHow do you "text a photo"? Does this imply iMessage or MMS? I'm based in Europe and nobody uses SMS or iMessage here, so genuine question.
- nolastan 3y agoIn the Messages app, next to the text field, there is a camera icon.
- cl3misch 3y ago:D well, _that_ implies iMessage and/or MMS I guess. As I said, nobody in central Europe uses that afaik.
- dieselgate 3y agoI have a TCL flip phone (alongside an iPhone 8): can text a flip phone photo by going to photo gallery, selecting a photo, going to “options” and then “share”. Message then becomes an option and an MMS text is possible. This isn’t one size fits all but would start by going to the photo itself and then generate a text
- marssaxman 3y agoHow do you send a message to someone's phone number, then? Or do you somehow not use phone numbers anymore?
- cl3misch 3y agoWe mostly use Whatsapp or Signal, which both use phone numbers for account identification/verification. I am surprised again and again how different the US and Europa are in this respect, and even more about how little people are aware of that. Nobody uses iMessage outside of the US, and the UI of Whatsapp/Signal/Telegram are arguably much better.
- distract8901 3y agoIt's nearly universal parlance in the USA to call MMS and SMS 'texts'. They are shown and treated as the same thing by the phone OS. I wouldn't expect the average layperson to even know there's a difference. I'm honestly surprised that's not the case everywhere. Do you distinguish SMS and MMS in casual conversation?
- jondwillis 3y agoI tried PaperKarma and had decent results. You offer up privacy and lack of app as a differentiator— should I be concerned having used PaperKarma? Are they charging me AND selling data? I also like the idea of the research assistant. It is a mess trying to figure out how to reduce waste that accumulates without my real consent, from mail, food packaging, single use packaging/plastic tossed into orders despite me saying I don’t want it, hard to recycle e-waste, confusing/changing recycling rules for plastic and even glass some places. However, I also think that this can only be meaningfully improved with policy, not an opt-in, private service. Better than nothing, of course. Aside from that, I actually have to thank you, because I stopped using it, forgot the name of the company, and forgot what was charging me $4 every month under the label “JET*.”
- astura 3y agoIn the US you can opt out of the majority of junk mail from creditors and insurance here - https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/prescreened-credit-insurance-offers https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/prescreened-credit-insuran...
- nolastan 3y agoYes, for those looking to do it themselves, there's a how-to guide on the blog: https://blog.talktomel.com/blog/7-ways-to-unsubscribe-from-physical-mail https://blog.talktomel.com/blog/7-ways-to-unsubscribe-from-p...
- assbuttbuttass 3y agoI wish this actually worked
- local_crmdgeon 3y agoWhat's the pitch vs PaperKarma?
- uoaei 3y ago> Protect your privacy > Just link your name, home address, and phone number for this random company Yeah, no thanks. Edited to clarify for those who may be unfamiliar with the concept of PII.
- rsyring 3y agoDo you really consider your address private information?
- rchaud 3y agoThere's a big difference between having one's name and address appear on a public land registry database, vs just handing it to an SF tech startup. At some point that data will monetized. Remember unroll.me? [0] If this organization registers as a nonprofit, that's one thing. Outside of that, I wouldn't trust such services any further than I could throw a pitch deck claiming to make the world a better place, with your PII. [0] https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/17/21027159/unroll-me-email-privacy-ftc-settlement https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/17/21027159/unroll-me-email...
- nolastan 3y agoWhile I don't intend to register as a non-profit (there's CatalogChoice already), I could see registering as a Benefit Corporation / B Corp. Would that hold any weight, or would you still just view that as "an SF tech startup"? There is no pitch deck for Mel as I don't intend to raise VC funding – precisely because I don't want to be pressured into doing something that goes against my values like selling user data.
- nolastan 3y agoTotally understand the privacy concern. If it helps, I'm a person, not a company—and I put my photo and personal links right on the homepage so folks can decide if they would like to trust me with this sensitive information.
- 3y ago
- aendruk 3y agoFor the DIY route see https://www.catalogchoice.org/ https://www.catalogchoice.org/, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
- afruitpie 3y agoUnrelated to the project, I'm excited for AI-generated art to get better or decline in popularity. The art on the homepage and its Stripe checkout pages give me the heebie-jeebies for some reason.
- rchaud 3y ago> for some reason That reason has two names: Dribbble and Behance. That's where all this 'AI' website art and assets come from.
- nolastan 3y agoThe image with the bird and the mailbox I generated directly from DALL•E. The asset on the Stripe checkout page for the Assistant plan I generated using Midjourney. All of these assets are placeholders while my partner is working on drawing a custom mascot to represent Mel.
- rchaud 3y agoI didn't intend to criticize the art itself, just mentioned why AI website art has that recognizable look, plus that usual soft-focus glow shadow. I think it looks fine for a company website.
- lloydatkinson 3y agoDoes this work in the UK?
- nolastan 3y agoI haven't done enough research yet on UK. I will circle back to this comment once I do. I did have a user sign up from Canada, but it's so much simpler there that it probably doesn't make sense for Canadians to pay for Mel: 1. Fill out the CMA Do Not Mail form: https://cmadnm.cawebhosting.ca/submit.asp 2. Put a note on your mailbox that you don't want to receive Canada Post Neighbourhood Mail.
- Symbiote 3y agoFor the UK: https://www.mpsonline.org.uk/ https://www.mpsonline.org.uk/
- luis_cho 3y agoWe should all have a personal postal code that would link to our current address. When we change our address we would link the postal code to the new directory. By having this the companies would not know where we live and we would have a place to select the mail we want.
- nolastan 3y agoThat would be nice. However, the postal service is required to deliver your mail, and they make money by doing so. They have no interest in reducing mail and in fact have been advertising their “Every Door Direct Mail” service which is nearly impossible to opt out of. Look for “EDDM” label on mail and you’ll see what I mean.
- BrandoElFollito 3y agoThanks to privacy laws, we do not get much personal spam in the mail in France (one that is addressed to you). We get quite a lot of anonymous one, though. There are stickers your can use on your mailbox that theoretically protect your from spam but it works maybe in 10% of the cases. Out of curiosity, I reached a few times to the "senders" telling them that they put spam in my mailbox despite the sticker. All of them were completely taken aback and had no idea about how to react. I mentioned privacy and whatnot and they all promised to get back to me, never got back and probably cross fingers to have the case closed :)