How to stop getting the huge printed catalogue from B&H and maybe save some trees
Nov 30, 2016
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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Anybody who’s ever ordered anything substantial from B&H will likely, at some point, receive a printed catalogue. This is essentially an inch thick (or bigger) 300+ page book featuring every product in B&H’s inventory. I’ve received them myself in the past. It started after ordering my first “Pro” lens. I didn’t ask for them, and after receiving the second I wanted no more.
Having to throw them out is a terrible waste, and not throwing them out when a new one arrives is simply taking up space on the shelf that could be otherwise better used. There is an easy way to stop the printed catalogues from showing up regularly on your doorstep, though. All you need do is simply fill in this form on the B&H website.
There’s no need to worry, though. If you want to have a handy offline reference on all of B&H’s products, you can still browse the catalogue online, or download it in PDF format to your computer, tablet, phone or other device.
Before the days of the Internet, ctalogues like this used to be extremely common. In some areas, they still are. British retailer Argos, for example, still put out a 1,500+ page catalogue twice a year, as do quite a few electronics component distributors.
One would think that these companies would have all discovered the Internet by now, and dispensed with such destructive methods of promoting their products.
Thankfully, B&H is one company that does offer a digital version of their catalogue. So, cancel your thick printed catalogue subscription, and download it to your tablet instead.
[via Reddit]
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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6 responses to “How to stop getting the huge printed catalogue from B&H and maybe save some trees”
Finding something on their web site is far easier than finding it in the catalog anyway.
And BTW, if you keep the catalog on your shelf and never use it, it’s even more wasteful than throwing it away. When you throw it away (presumably in paper recycling) it gets recycled. If it sits unused on your shelf, you’re just creating a miniature landfill in your home.
THANK YOU! I hated getting these. Why do companies still do this?
Use the link http://bhpho.to/CatalogUnsubscribe with info from the mailing label to unsubscribe from our catalog.
Why companies still do this:
From the Harvard Business Review:
Why the Print Catalog Is Back in Style
https://hbr.org/2015/02/why-the-print-catalog-is-back-in-style
From the NY Times:
Catalogs, After Years of Decline, Are Revamped for Changing Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/26/business/media/catalogs-after-years-of-decline-are-revamped-for-changing-times.html
THANK YOU!
Keep my catalogs coming! I love them. Sitting on the porcelain throne and just browsing thru the pages every morning. Waiting for the new catalog to arrive. Nothing like having real paper reading material…
I want to keep lumberjacks and the tree farm industry alive.
More trees, more oxygen. Once you lose the incentive to plant trees as a crop, you lose oxygen producers. Imagine all the carbon dioxide that will build up! The world!!! Global warming!! Tree hugging!!
Some of the most beautiful things about trees are:
Toothpicks
baseball bats
dining room tables
picture frames
firewood
log cabins
splinters!!!
So I have to stare at a computer monitor for hours that spews radiation in my face until I’m bleary-eyed. No thanks. I prefer the printed catalogs. Makes great bedtime reading.