Direct Mail Pricing
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How much does direct mail cost?
Estimating the cost of a direct mail campaign can be tricky business.
There are so many variables that can alter the eventual price – starting with formats. You have a choice of envelope mailers of all sizes and self-mailers (including postcards) of all sizes. There are also variables in list types, personalized addressing and, of course, postage – which can impact your costs greatly.
Not to worry. We will develop a direct mail campaign to fit your needs and your budget – and we’ll provide you with a detailed estimate before we get started.
Right now though, we want to give you some idea of what things costs. It’s not easy, but we’re going to give it a shot.
Pricing is based on formats
We work with all types of formats, but for the purposes of this page, we are providing pricing for full-service direct mail campaigns for five different direct mail formats:
- Lead Generation Postcard
- Retail Postcard
- Self-Mailer
- Letter Mailer
- Letter/Brochure Mailer
Other formats are also available. If you have a different format in mind, let us know. We’d be happy to provide an estimate.
Pricing variables
The pricing below was developed to give you some idea of what it will cost you to have us create and implement a direct mail campaign. It should help you in your own planning and budgeting.
However, the pricing should not be viewed as an estimate. We developed this pricing based on some general specifications that may vary with your project. For example:
- Mailing list costs can range from 5-25 cents per name. We used 15 cents.
- Printing will vary based on the size of the piece and the paper stock.
- Mailing services will vary with the level of personalization we want.
- Postage can vary from 46 cents for first class to 25 cents for standard mail and extensive automation discounts. We used 28 cents.
We will provide you with an estimate after we have finalized your exact specifications.
Lead Generation Postcard
Specs: 6×11, full color postcard, personalized plus landing page
Project Management: $1,000
Creative: $2,500
Production Costs:
| Mail qty | 2,500 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 20,000 | |
| List/Print/Mail | $1,500 | $2,500 | $4,200 | $7,200 | |
| Postage @ $.28 | $700 | $1,400 | $2,800 | $5,600 | |
| Total Production | $2,200 | $3,900 | $7,000 | $12,800 | |
| Total (including fees) | $5,700 | $7,400 | $10,500 | $16,300 | |
| Cost per piece | $2.28 | $1.48 | $1.05 | $.82 |
Retail Postcard
Specs: 6×11, full color postcard, personalized – no landing page
Project Management: $500
Creative: $2,000
Production Costs:
| Mail qty | 2,500 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 20,000 | |
| List/Print/Mail | $1,500 | $2,500 | $4,200 | $7,200 | |
| Postage @ $.28 | $700 | $1,400 | $2,800 | $5,600 | |
| Total Production | $2,200 | $3,900 | $7,000 | $12,800 | |
| Total (including fees) | $4,700 | $6,400 | $9,500 | $15,300 | |
| Cost per piece | $1.88 | $1.28 | $.95 | $.77 |
Folded Self-Mailer
Specs: 9×18, folded twice (finished size is 9×6), full color mailer, personalized plus landing page
Project Management: $1,000
Creative: $3,000
Production Costs:
| Mail qty | 2,500 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 20,000 | |
| List/Print/Mail | $1,800 | $3,000 | $5,200 | $9,000 | |
| Postage @ $.28 | $700 | $1,400 | $2,800 | $5,600 | |
| Total Production | $2,500 | $4,400 | $8,000 | $14,600 | |
| Total (including fees) | $6,500 | $8,400 | $12,000 | $18,600 | |
| Cost per piece | $2.60 | $1.68 | $1.20 | $.93 |
Letter Mailer
Specs: 6×9 window envelope, 1-2 pg letter, reply card plus landing page
Project Management: $1,000
Creative: $3,000
Production Costs:
| Mail qty | 2,500 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 20,000 | |
| List/Print/Mail | $2,300 | $3,700 | $6.500 | $11,000 | |
| Postage @ $.28 | $700 | $1,400 | $2,800 | $5,600 | |
| Total Production | $3,000 | $5,100 | $9,300 | $16,600 | |
| Total (including fees) | $7,000 | $9,100 | $13,300 | $20,600 | |
| Cost per piece | $2.80 | $1.82 | $1.33 | $1.03 |
Letter/Brochure Mailer
Specs: 6×9 window envelope, 1-2 pg letter, reply card, 8×15 color brochure (folded to 8×5) plus landing page
Project Management: $1,500
Creative: $6,000
Production Costs:
| Mail qty | 2,500 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 20,000 | |
| List/Print/Mail | $2,600 | $4,300 | $7,500 | $13,000 | |
| Postage @ $.28 | $700 | $1,400 | $2,800 | $5,600 | |
| Total Production | $3,300 | $5,700 | $10,300 | $18,600 | |
| Total (including fees) | $10,800 | $12,200 | $17,800 | $26,100 | |
| Cost per piece | $4.32 | $2.44 | $1.78 | $1.31 |
Get started or learn more
So what’s your next step? If you’re close to making a move, we’d love to talk. Call Bob McCarthy at 508-473-8643 or send him an email at bob@mccarthyandking.com.
If you’re not there yet, let’s stay in touch. Please join our mailing list and get all of our updates and articles.
Of course, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call.
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For a Quick Quote, call Bob McCarthy at 508-473-8643.
