Whether you're mailing a big prospecting campaign, a series of house-focused mailings, or a catalog sent to a mix of the two, postage will likely be your biggest expense. While paying for postage is inevitable, paying too much is not. You can cut down on some of your postage costs if you follow the following tips:
1. Go deep. National Distribution Centers (formerly known as Bulk Mail Centers) feed Sectional Center Facilities, which feed Direct Delivery Units (your local post offices). The deeper in the delivery system you can insert your mailing, the larger the discount you can potentially receive. Certain conditions—including service areas and drop quantities—must be met, however.
2. Drop-Ship it. If your drop quantity is large enough (postal savings justifies the transportation costs), drop-shipping your mail to various postal hubs—National Distribution Centers or Sectional Center Facilities can both save you money and decrease the delivery time of your mail. You can drop all or part of the promotion this way, depending upon the concentration.
3. Find big partners. If you can't drop deep and the analysis performed for drop shipping isn't worthwhile, you may be able to co-pallet your mail. Your mailpiece will go from your provider's facility to a central processing facility, where the mail for each hub nationwide is combined with other mail going to those destinations. There is a cost associated with the option, but if the analysis projects a net savings, you'll also benefit, in most cases, by a better delivery time.
4. Find smaller partners. If your mail volume is too small to benefit from any of the above options and your drop-date isn't set in stone, comingling offers your smaller mail drop to become part of a larger one, which qualifies for postal discounts. Your mail is prepared as necessary and then taken to a comingle processing facility, where it is again combined with other mail going to the same locations and then shipped to the hubs.
5. Bind it right (or left). How you design your mailpiece impacts how much you pay at the post office. Improperly placed folds or tabs will make your piece non-machinable, which raises your rates. Always design your fold or binding below and parallel to your addressing, and keep tabs above and to the sides of your mailing panel.
6. Use your mailhouse's indicia. Don't pay the Post Office a big annual fee to maintain a postage permit, especially if you tend to use several mailhouses. Use your vendors' instead. Most mailhouses will let you print and use their postage permit on your direct mail piece for free when you mail through them. All you have to do is pay your mailhouse for the postage.
7. Know your weight limits. Especially if you're creating a catalog, make sure you don't exceed 3.3 ounces for automated flats. Otherwise, you'll pay a per piece charge and a per pound charge.
