# Door to Door Soliciting: Should it be made illegal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 9, 2008, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/door-to-door-soliciting-should-it-be-made-illegal/444632 "2008-04-09T17:28:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/door-to-door-soliciting-should-it-be-made-illegal/444632/21 "2008-04-09T20:06:19Z")
[QUOTE=cmyk] This is exactly why it needs to be stopped. These tactics prey on the weak or ignorant. And they’re wrong too. If someone chooses to ignore my sign, and come at me harder thinking I’m going to have a hard time saying “No.”, they’re in for an eye-opener. [/QUOTE] Exactly. And while we’re at it, why does the purveyor of the local newspaper get to toss unsolicited trash on my lawn every morning? I have a “No solicitors” sign. It’s not ugly; I bought it on eBay from someone who paints pretty ones in whatever color you want. But it doesn’t stop everybody. That means my doorbell rings, my cats go crazy, my much-needed nap is ruined, my pot boils over, my heating or air conditioning kicks on if I open the door, etc. etc. I hate those @#$%ers. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/door-to-door-soliciting-should-it-be-made-illegal/444632/22 "2008-04-09T20:06:49Z")
[QUOTE=cmyk] This is exactly why it needs to be stopped. These tactics prey on the weak or ignorant. [/quote] Absolutely. I’m not saying it’s OK for them to do that- I think deliberately exploiting the weak and ignorant is a very evil thing to do- not quite up there with murder and torture, but not that far behind them, either. But making sure you have access to the people who are likely to buy your services (whether those are people who actually want the product or service, or those who have trouble saying no to salespeople) is just good business sense. There are many instances where “the best thing for the bottom line” and “the right thing to do” are in conflict, and this is one of them. > [@](#): > > And they’re wrong too. They’re not right in every case, and they know that. But they know that _some_ people do put up no-soliciting signs or sign up for do-not-call lists to protect someone who has trouble saying no to salespeople. > [@](#): > > perhaps walking around in your underwear I don’t know what you look like in your underwear, but if you look like I do in mine, that might scare 'em off for good… ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/door-to-door-soliciting-should-it-be-made-illegal/444632/23 "2008-04-09T20:31:23Z")
[QUOTE=Anne Neville] I don’t know what you look like in your underwear, but if you look like I do in mine, that might scare 'em off for good… [/QUOTE] Yes, that’s the “eye-opener” I was talking about previously. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/door-to-door-soliciting-should-it-be-made-illegal/444632/24 "2008-04-09T22:53:19Z")
[QUOTE=Anne Neville] …But making sure you have access to the people who are likely to buy your services (whether those are people who actually want the product or service, or those who have trouble saying no to salespeople) is just good business sense. There are many instances where “the best thing for the bottom line” and “the right thing to do” are in conflict, and this is one of them.. [/QUOTE] I know you’re most likely just playing devil’s advocate, but really, I don’t see (nor care) how or why this should be my problem. Myriad other businesses seem to fare just fine without stooping down to door-to-door soliciting. In the long run, it usually pans out that the right thing to do _is_ the best thing for the bottom line. Throw up a billboard, advertise on local stations… I don’t care how you do it, but don’t come to my house as a living advertisement. Imagine if this kind of marketing were _the_ common technique, even amongst major franchise businesses. Oh, the horror. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/door-to-door-soliciting-should-it-be-made-illegal/444632/25 "2008-04-09T23:10:49Z")
[QUOTE=cmyk] Imagine if this kind of marketing were _the_ common technique, even amongst major franchise businesses. Oh, the horror. [/QUOTE] It actually used to be! You must not be old enough to remember the Fuller Brush Man or the Encyclopedia Britannica. 😉 You might like some (or all) of [these](http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/d/door-to-door_salesman.asp), especially the last one. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/door-to-door-soliciting-should-it-be-made-illegal/444632/26 "2008-04-10T00:49:00Z")
[QUOTE=Stealth Potato] Whoa. I’m as irritated by door-to-door solicitors as the next guy, but is anyone else disturbed by the fact that so many people, when faced with some perceived societal problem, immediately begin saying “there oughta be a law”? We don’t need to fill our law books with thousands upon thousands of regulations of every last behavior that might annoy someone. Not only do such laws frequently have unintended negative consequences, the very practice of whimsical legislating inflates the scope and expense of government and creates a tendency to reduce individual freedom. Before too long, you’ll hardly be able to sneeze in public without becoming a criminal. If you don’t like people walking up to your door, put up a sign or install a fence. Sheesh. [/QUOTE] I don’t think that businesses have a right to annoy me in hopes of making a sale. This includes, but is not limited to, telemarketing and door to door sales. I don’t think that we need to have thousands of regulations, simply one law that states that a business or charity or nonprofit organization may not intrude upon an ordinary person’s activities, whether at work, at home, or anywhere else. This would also include spam, come to think of it. If a business can’t make a profit without going door to door, telemarketing, or spamming, then it deserves to go under. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/door-to-door-soliciting-should-it-be-made-illegal/444632/27 "2008-04-10T00:50:41Z")
[QUOTE=Shayna] The public has a right to demand people don’t litter public areas, and fines are assessed when people are caught doing it. Why should my private property be any less protected from litter than public property? [/QUOTE] My guess would be it’s because the things left at your door aren’t technically litter. They are messages (so to speak) which have specifically been left for you to find and read - as opposed to miscellaneous detritus left scattered on the ground. To you there may not be much difference, but the courts apparently feel differently. I seem to recall reading once that the U.S. Supreme Court has held that solicitors must be allowed to approach your door in order to leave advertising and/or solicit your business, and that doing so does not constitute trespassing. I have no cite for this though, it’s just something I seem to recall having read at one time. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/door-to-door-soliciting-should-it-be-made-illegal/444632/28 "2008-04-10T00:58:07Z")
For all I know, door-to-door salesmen are casing the house. I don’t appreciate, either, when I leave Wally or the supermarket and find flyers on my windshield. It would be a great front for those who want to see if I have any valuables on my front seat, if the doors are unlocked, etc. But supposing they’re legit, if they scratch my paint as they lean over or break my windshield wiper putting the paper under it, then what? ---
**Author:** ![pingnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@pingnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pingnak)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/door-to-door-soliciting-should-it-be-made-illegal/444632/29 "2008-04-10T01:37:58Z")
It should be legal to sell door to door AND it should be open-season on salesmen and solicitors of all kinds. Problem solved! When the Jehova’s Witlesses come around at 6:00am on a Saturday and I’m hung over, it should be A-OK for me to kill them on the spot. Sure, some of them take their precious little kids with them to mellow out the response to them, but that’s just Darwin talking. “Hello, have you accepted Je-…” BLAM! BLAM! “Go tell him to F\*\*\* HIMSELF!” ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/door-to-door-soliciting-should-it-be-made-illegal/444632/30 "2008-04-10T02:08:30Z")
[QUOTE=Shayna] I’ve given serious thought to running for City Council so I can propose a city ordinance that would make coming onto someone’s personal property and leaving trash on their doors, fall under the heading of “trespassing” and “littering” and subject to fines. [/QUOTE] **Shayna** , why don’t you move up here to L.A. and run for _our_ City Council? We really could use someone like you here. That being said, I think it’s a fine line between “commercial trash” and “free speech.” Personally, I have no problem with someone coming to my door and placing some printed material on the door nob. If it’s just commercial trash, I throw it away. That’s not a big price to pay, because maybe a neighbor of mine has something really important to communicate, and can do so only by means of door-to-door fliers. It takes about 15 seconds out of my life daily to throw away unwanted solicitations. I think I can afford that in order to leave open the window for serious political discourse. ---
**Author:** ![rock\_party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@rock\_party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rock_party)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/door-to-door-soliciting-should-it-be-made-illegal/444632/31 "2008-04-10T02:10:44Z")
I seem to a remember reading about a home burglery racket that did the flier thing just for scoping things out. I keep the screendoor locked and answer the door with my cellphone in my hand. If it’s a soliciter or a home invasion (which have been increasing in my neighboorhood lately) …either way I’m covered. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/door-to-door-soliciting-should-it-be-made-illegal/444632/32 "2008-04-10T08:02:27Z")
Frankly, I just don’t like strangers on my front porch, and so close to my home that they can see into my house, see my computer equipment in my front room, and even see me and my family going about our lives. They have no business (but their own), are not welcome, and honestly make me feel uncomfortable. I’d say someone rings my doorbell about 3 times a month, and some people leave clutter about 8 to 10 times a month. The point about casing, is a serious threat, especially in my position, and this practice being legal is just too easy to abuse. If I knew there was a law, then I could satisfy my suspicion as to whether they are actually trying to scope out my property or not. And I agree with **Lynn** , if you can’t keep a business afloat without having to intrude into people’s private spaces, then you and your company does not deserve to stand. ---
**Author:** ![Crocodiles\_And\_Boulevards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@Crocodiles\_And\_Boulevards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crocodiles_And_Boulevards)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/door-to-door-soliciting-should-it-be-made-illegal/444632/33 "2008-04-10T08:18:45Z")
Put up a low to medium fence and lock the gate. Put up a sign that says Trespassers WILL Be Shot! Or, make it a metal fence and put up a sign that says 10,000 Volts. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/door-to-door-soliciting-should-it-be-made-illegal/444632/34 "2008-04-10T09:12:17Z")
You forgot the moat, stocked with – well – crocodiles. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/door-to-door-soliciting-should-it-be-made-illegal/444632/35 "2008-04-10T11:54:57Z")
Its always struck me that people looking to find empty premises during the day for reasons of their own have a great cover story if it turns out that there IS someone in after all if they say that they are trying to sell you double glazing or whatever. Also it pees me off if I drag myself out of the bath,or am asleep,or watching a favourite prog and its someone I dont know trying to sell me something I dont want at MY front door …and then they leave the gate ajar. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/door-to-door-soliciting-should-it-be-made-illegal/444632/36 "2008-04-10T12:54:47Z")
Don’t answer the fucking door! Oh yeah, but littering my lawn, porch, windshield, whatever, should all be outlawed and punished with castration and/or mastectomy. But if people want to come knock on my door a few times while I ignore them (or answer the door naked, or any of the myriad techniques people have come up with over the years to discourage solicitors), more power to them, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/door-to-door-soliciting-should-it-be-made-illegal/444632/37 "2008-04-10T13:52:57Z")
Given the Supreme Court decision, the best we could probably do is outlaw door-to-door salespeople, but not political canvassing or missionaries. > [@Lust4Life](#): > > Its always struck me that people looking to find empty premises during the day for reasons of their own have a great cover story if it turns out that there IS someone in after all if they say that they are trying to sell you double glazing or whatever. The Supreme Court actually considered this argument. They decided that requiring a permit for door-to-door solicitation was unlikely to deter criminals who want to do this. The Court has also said that people have the right to anonymously distribute political literature, so it might be hard to outlaw their leaving unsolicited literature by your door. > [@cmyk](#): > > I know you’re most likely just playing devil’s advocate, but really, I don’t see (nor care) how or why this should be my problem. It’s not your problem. It is, however, the lawmakers’ problem. The owners and employees of the companies who do this (who would presumably like to keep their jobs) get to vote, same as you. They’re allowed to write to their senator or congressperson and tell them how their company brings jobs to the area and all that. They make campaign contributions. I’d love to see door-to-door sales, telemarketing, and spam, whether for sales, charity, religion, politics, or whatever, outlawed. I just don’t think it will happen. > [@](#): > > You forgot the moat, stocked with – well – crocodiles. [Saltwater crocodiles.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saltwater_Crocodile) With laser beams on their heads. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/door-to-door-soliciting-should-it-be-made-illegal/444632/38 "2008-04-10T13:57:22Z")
[QUOTE=Anne Neville] [Saltwater crocodiles.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saltwater_Crocodile) With laser beams on their heads. [/QUOTE] _pinky to corner of mouth_ Frickin’ laser beams! I’m apparently not in an area where this is much of a problem, and I’m rather partial to local door-to-door causes, whether it be school fundraisers, churches, etc. so I have a totally different perspective. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/door-to-door-soliciting-should-it-be-made-illegal/444632/39 "2008-04-10T14:21:00Z")
Just buy a “gimp mask” and answer the door in it. No other clothing modification should be required. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/door-to-door-soliciting-should-it-be-made-illegal/444632/40 "2008-04-10T14:34:19Z")
[QUOTE=FriarTed] _pinky to corner of mouth_ Frickin’ laser beams! I’m apparently not in an area where this is much of a problem, and I’m rather partial to local door-to-door causes, whether it be school fundraisers, churches, etc. so I have a totally different perspective. [/QUOTE] A couple cute kids knocking on your door to raise money for a trip to somewhere or for band equipment is one thing; a pushy asshole trying to sell you a $1200 Kirby vacuum cleaner is another. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/door-to-door-soliciting-should-it-be-made-illegal/444632.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/door-to-door-soliciting-should-it-be-made-illegal/444632.md?page=3)