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How much will this mailing cost?
Direct mail cost has three parts: printing, mailing services and USPS postage, plus a mailing list when you mail addressed pieces to people you do not have on file. Choose the piece and the quantity, and each part is priced from the same sources Order Online and the EDDM Route Builder use.
Where each number comes from
- Printing: the web price Order Online charges
- EDDM flats: the price the EDDM Route Builder shows
- Postage: the USPS Notice 123 price list
- No published price? The line says Quoted
Your mailing
Estimate the cost
Choose how it mails, the piece and the quantity. Nothing is saved, and every estimate has its own link to share.
The short answer
How much does direct mail cost?
Direct mail cost is printing, plus mailing services, plus USPS postage, plus a mailing list when you mail addressed pieces to people you do not already have. Each part moves with different things, so a per-piece figure only means something for one piece, one quantity and one way of mailing.
Printing
The piece, its size and stock, and the run size. Order Online prices set run sizes, so the calculator prices the nearest one at or above your quantity.
Mailing services
A setup charge, processing and addressing per 1,000 at letter or flat rates, tabbing for pieces folded to letter size, and a job minimum.
USPS postage
Letter or flat, commercial or nonprofit, the presort level your list earns, and where the mail enters USPS: origin, the destination SCF, or for EDDM the delivery unit.
Mailing list
Your own list costs nothing to use. A list Plavidian supplies through licensed data providers is quoted. EDDM needs no list.
Plavidian Insight™, which follows each addressed piece through USPS scans, is included with every Plavidian mailing. Plavidian Sentry™ camera verification is an optional add-on for letter-size mail, priced in a quote.
Questions
Questions about direct mail cost
What does the estimate include?
Printing at the price Order Online charges, mailing services from Plavidian's services price list, and USPS postage from the Notice 123 price list loaded in Plavidian's system. Mailing lists, drop-ship freight, folding and inserting, and optional add-ons are marked Quoted and left out of the total.
EDDM printing uses the figure the EDDM Route Builder shows for the same flat, so the calculator and the Route Builder agree.
Why is postage shown at one level when the rate card lists several?
Addressed mail pays the price level its presort earns, and that depends on your list. The estimate uses Automation 5-Digit, the first automation level in the table; carrier route levels need many pieces on the same carrier route.
Mailing Blueprint, with a free Plavidian account, reads your actual list and prices the presort it earns. Final postage is confirmed at USPS acceptance.
How is a mailing paid for?
Printing can be paid by card. USPS postage is paid by check or wire transfer, never by card, and no mail is released to USPS until the full postage has been received in cleared funds.
Why is the printing quantity different from my mailing quantity?
Order Online prints set run sizes, so the calculator prices the nearest run size at or above your quantity and says which one it used. A quantity past the largest run size is quoted.
Is EDDM cheaper than an addressed mailing?
Per piece, EDDM postage is a saturation price and there is no list to buy, but EDDM pays for every address on the routes you pick. When only some of those homes are prospects, an addressed list can cost less for the people you want.
Run the calculator both ways with the same quantity to compare.
Can nonprofit prices be used?
Nonprofit USPS Marketing Mail prices apply only to organizations USPS has authorized to mail at nonprofit prices. Check Nonprofit postage prices on the form to see them.
USPS DMM 703 sets out who qualifies.
Sources
Want the whole mailing priced?
Send the piece, the quantity and the area. Printing, the list and postage are quoted together, with a mail date.
Related
Planning a local direct mail campaign
Where the households are, how USPS sorts the mail, and the tools that open on your area.
- printing and mailing in San Diego County
- direct mail and printing in North County San Diego
- direct mail across Southern California
- the Direct Mail Planning Center
- EDDM or a mailing list: the decision tool
- direct mail guides by industry
- city direct mail market guides
- household counts by area with the Mailing List Builder
- EDDM carrier routes and delivery counts
- mail date planning backward from the in-home date
- EDDM or a mailing list: how to choose
- carrier route density and saturation mail guide
Related
Data, addresses and postal optimization
Planning a list before it mails: Mailing Blueprint, address checks, list processing, postage optimization, maps and district data.
- mailing list analysis and postage planning with Mailing Blueprint
- address list cleanup: standardization and deduplication
- CASS address standardization
- NCOALink move update processing
- how to prepare a mailing list
- EDDM or a mailing list: how to choose
- the main direct mail formats and how to choose
- direct mail ideas and campaign examples
- mailing lists and audience targeting
- drop shipment planning and destination entry
- nationwide mailing and USPS drop shipping
- carrier route density and saturation mail guide
- addressing and Move Update requirements guide
- data processing, lettershop and logistics services
- cascade priority data merge case study
- municipal unit-level list reconstruction case study
- political mail printing built on voter data