How much is USPS direct mail marketing?

USPS Every Door Direct Mail Retail postage is $0.26 per piece for flats up to 3.3 oz, and a First-Class Forever stamp is $0.82, according to USPS Notice 123. Postage is only part of the bill: design, printing, the list, and prep add more. Gorilla Works custom direct mail starts as low as $0.78 per piece.

Here is the catch: cheap postage to the wrong homes is still expensive. The number that matters is cost per customer, and that comes down to who gets the mail. Gorilla Works builds that list with AI from 200+ data variables.

Want real numbers for your area? Book a free demo.

How much is EDDM postage?

USPS lists Every Door Direct Mail Retail postage at $0.26 per piece for flats up to 3.3 ounces. With EDDM Retail you send at least 200 and up to 5,000 pieces per ZIP Code per day, and you don't need a mailing permit. That covers postage only. Printing, design, and bundling are on you.

EDDM is saturation mail. It delivers to every address on the carrier routes you choose. You can pick routes, and USPS shows some route-level data, but you can't choose individual households. Everyone on the route gets the piece, including renters, businesses, and homes that already have what you sell.

That's why per-piece postage is a misleading place to start. The more useful number is what it costs to win a customer.

What else does a direct mail campaign cost?

A direct mail campaign has five cost lines: design, printing, the mailing list, mail prep, and postage. Tracking tools such as QR codes, call tracking, and landing pages add a small amount and are worth it. Many first-time mailers budget for postage and printing, then find the other lines doubled their estimate.

• Design. One-time per campaign, or included with a full-service partner.
• Printing. Driven by size, paper, color, and quantity. Bigger runs cost less per piece.
• List. Free for saturation mail, since there is no list. A custom list is built from data.
• Prep. Addressing, sorting, bundling, and drop-off.
• Postage. Set by USPS and based on mail class, size, and weight.
• Tracking. Unique QR codes, URLs, or phone numbers per campaign.

How much does it cost to send 1,000 postcards?

The cost to send 1,000 postcards is postage times 1,000, plus printing, plus design and any list or prep fees. Postage alone at the $0.82 Forever stamp rate is $820, or $650 at the USPS $0.65 single-piece postcard rate. Printing and design vary by vendor, so get quotes that include every line.

Use this formula:

Total = (postage per piece × quantity) + printing + design + list + prep

A few notes on the math:

• The $0.65 USPS postcard rate applies to single-piece postcards within USPS size limits. Larger "jumbo" postcards are charged at letter or flat prices.
• Commercial presort rates are lower than retail stamps but need a permit and minimum volumes.
• An all-in price per piece, which bundles everything, is the easiest number to compare across vendors.

Is EDDM or targeted direct mail cheaper per customer?

EDDM is cheaper per piece. Targeted direct mail is often cheaper per customer, because every piece goes to an address chosen for fit instead of everyone on a route. Saturation mail also can't track response by household. Compare cost per lead and cost per job, not cost per postcard.

Here is the logic. If half the homes on a route will never need a fence, half your EDDM budget reaches no one useful. A custom list removes those homes before you pay for the piece.

Custom mail also gives you a list you can track. Because you know every address you mailed, you can match new customers back to it and see what the mail produced. With saturation mail you know the routes, not the people.

How much does custom direct mail cost?

Gorilla Works custom direct mail starts as low as $0.78 per piece, cheaper than a $0.82 Forever stamp. That price covers far more than postage: a list built with AI from 200+ data variables, strategy, creative, printing, and mailing. See current options on our pricing page.

What sits behind that number:

• The list. Built for your trade and service area with statistical modeling. No customer list needed.
• Strategy. A team that plans the offer, the segments, and the schedule with you.
• Creative. Designed to the 40-40-20 rule: list and offer first, then design.
• Integration. Mail connected to your Google, Meta, and SEO efforts.
• Measurement. Response tracking plus causal analytics to estimate lift.

You can run your own numbers on our calculator.

How can you lower your direct mail costs?

The fastest way to lower direct mail costs is to mail fewer wasted pieces. Cut addresses that will never buy, pick a standard size that prints at volume, and plan drops ahead so you avoid rush fees. Then track every drop, so you stop paying for lists and offers that don't produce.

Practical ways to spend less per customer:

• Tighten the list. Remove renters for owner-only services, homes outside your service radius, and existing customers you'd rather reach another way.
• Pick a standard format. Common postcard sizes run cheaper and move through the mail faster than odd shapes.
• Mail in sequences. A planned series to a smaller, better list often beats one big blast to everyone.
• Lead with one offer. A clear offer lifts response, which lowers cost per lead without changing price per piece.
• Measure and cut. Drop the segments that don't respond and put the budget behind the ones that do.

Each of these lowers what you pay to win a job, which is the only cost that shows up in your profit.

What should you ask a direct mail vendor about price?

Ask what the per-piece price includes. Some quotes cover printing only. Others include postage, list, design, and tracking. Get an all-in number, ask how the list is built, and ask how results will be reported. A low quote that leaves out the list or tracking isn't cheaper.

FAQ

Do I need a permit for EDDM?

Not for EDDM Retail. USPS states no special mailing permit is needed when you send between 200 and 5,000 pieces per ZIP Code per day. EDDM for business mailers, using a bulk permit, is a separate option.

Is a stamp cheaper than direct mail?

A Forever stamp is $0.82, and that buys postage only. Gorilla Works custom direct mail starts as low as $0.78 per piece, including the list, design, printing, and mailing. So a full custom mail piece can cost less than a stamp alone.

What is the cheapest way to send direct mail?

By cost per piece, saturation mail such as EDDM is usually the lowest. By cost per customer, targeted mail often wins because it skips homes that will never buy. Decide based on cost per lead, not the postage line.

Compare the right number

USPS publishes postage. It doesn't tell you what a customer costs. A fence company or HVAC contractor that mails fewer, better-chosen homes often spends less overall and books more jobs than one that blankets every route. That depends on who gets the mail, what it offers, and whether you can see what came back.

Gorilla Works builds the list, runs the strategy, and connects mail to your digital channels, starting as low as $0.78 per piece. Book a free demo and we'll show you what a campaign in your area would cost.