The three parts of the price
| Part | What it covers | Who sets the price |
|---|---|---|
| Postage | The USPS EDDM Retail flat rate, per piece, for a flat up to 3.3 oz. It is $0.260 in USPS’s price list, the same for a 6.25″ × 9″ card or a 12″ × 15″ flat. | USPS. Identical at every printer. |
| Printing | The piece itself: size, paper, colour and quantity. Printing gets cheaper per piece as the run gets longer. | Your printer |
| Mailing and prep | Bundling by carrier route in stacks of 50–100, a facing slip on every bundle, the USPS postage statement (PS Form 3587) and the drop-off at the Post Office. | Your printer or mailing house |
Worked example: 5,000 homes
A 6.25″ × 9″ mailer, full colour both sides, gloss, to 5,000 homes. 5,000 is also the most USPS lets you send as EDDM Retail to one ZIP Code in a day, so this is a single-ZIP, single-day drop. These are our own prices, from the same quote tool you order with.
| Part | Total | Per piece |
|---|---|---|
| Printing, 5,000 pieces | $667.20 | $0.13 |
| Postage, 5,000 × $0.26 | $1,300.00 | $0.26 |
| Mailing and prep | $370.00 | $0.07 |
| Total | $2,337.20 | $0.47 |
Postage is the USPS rate times the pieces, with nothing added to it.
Postage is the largest line, and it does not shrink as the run grows. Printing is the part that gets cheaper per piece, so the more homes you mail in one run, the lower the all-in cost per home.
How the price changes with the size of the mailing
The same 6.25″ × 9″ mailer at different run lengths. A carrier route in Washington averages about 600 homes in our mapping data, so 548 homes is roughly one route.
| Homes mailed | Printing | Postage | Mailing and prep | Total | Per piece |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 548 | $116.42 | $142.48 | $40.55 | $299.45 | $0.55 |
| 1,000 | $192.88 | $260.00 | $74.00 | $526.88 | $0.53 |
| 2,500 | $429.86 | $650.00 | $185.00 | $1,264.86 | $0.51 |
| 5,000 | $667.20 | $1,300.00 | $370.00 | $2,337.20 | $0.47 |
| 10,000 | $1,014.31 | $2,600.00 | $740.00 | $4,354.31 | $0.44 |
10,000 pieces is more than the 5,000-per-ZIP-per-day EDDM Retail limit if they fall in one ZIP Code; spread across ZIP Codes or days it is fine. See the Retail vs. BMEU guide.
What moves the price
- Quantity. Printing drops per piece as the run grows. Postage per piece stays $0.26.
- Size. A piece must be a flat to ride the EDDM Retail rate, and bigger pieces cost more to print. Size rules.
- Postage changes. USPS sets the rate; when it changes, our quotes use the new rate, because they read our current rate card and not a figure typed into a page.
- Doing the mailing yourself. EDDM Retail needs no permit and has no annual fees, so a printer’s mailing and prep line pays for work you would otherwise do at the Post Office counter: bundling, slips, paperwork and the trip.
What this does not include
These numbers assume you bring print-ready artwork. We also design mailers; the price depends on the job, so ask us for a quote. Sales tax, where it applies, is worked out at checkout. EDDM above 5,000 pieces per ZIP Code per day is a different USPS product with a permit; see EDDM Retail vs. BMEU.