How much does a postcard cost to mail?

No two postcards or mailing campaigns should be alike.  Action Mail custom prices every job to make sure you get the best price to obtain your goals.  Below is a table with ballpark pricing for processing and printing of an 8.5x5.5 postcard.  Please note that many variables go into determining pricing so please contact fill out a quote request form or call us at (760) 480-2323 to get a quick accurate estimate.

 When mailing a postcard there are a few things to consider in order to determine the cost.  

Printing: Depending on the style of the card, costs can vary greatly.  More elaborate cards will be more expensive but are more likely to be noticed.  Some options to get your postcard noticed include printing on a thicker stock or including variable data in the design.  Larger postcards will also be more expensive to print and postage may cost more, but these larger cards are more noticeable and have more room for copy and design.  Printing can cost anywhere from $3.50/1,000 to $30/1,000 depending on the design, quantity, paper choice, and size of the postcard.

Postage:  Most postcards will qualify to be sent at the USPS letter standard rate. Depending on the distribution of the mailing list and class of mail postage should costs between $17/1000 and $49/1000.  In the table above postage was conservatively estimated at $0.27 per piece but typically most mailings qualify for less expensive postage rates.  Non-profit postage rates are generally half that of standard postage rates.  Postage is paid directly to the USPS and we will process your list to get the best rates possible.

Data Processing: Postage will most likely be the most expensive portion of your mailing, by processing your data and presorting the list we can help you attain presorted standard postage.  Sending postcards standard mail which will result in significant savings as opposed to sending mail first class. Data processing will usually cost a small fraction of this, about $180 to $400 a mailing.  Included in the data processing is CASS certification and NCOA, which will reduce the amount of money wasted sending postcards to wrong addresses.  This data clean up will also help you update your CRM to include the most up to date information.  We also offer additional services like mail tracking, duplicate elimination (de-dupe lists), merging and organizing lists, as well as list procurement.  

List procurement: List procurement prices range from $7.50/1,000 to $100.00/1,000 depending on the complexity and specificity of the list.  Though a good mailing list will allow you to specifically target households or businesses that are within your target market, and avoid wasting money on postage and printing of postcards that would have been sent to households and or businesses that have no interested in your offer.  

Addressing and Postal Processing: Addressing and postal processing of postcards is straight forward and the price largely depends on the quantity mailed, as a large portion of the cost is setting up the job. The price may increase if there is additional information to print like a permit, return address, or tagline.  Additionally charges may apply to larger pieces or mailings that require additional postal processing. Addressing and preparing the mail to receive discounted postage rates costs about $2.00 to $5.00/1000, but similarly to data processing this step will pay for itself in the postage savings you will qualify for.