By now you might have heard that as of January 27th, the United States Postal Service is changing their pricing which will affect all mail classes and special services.
So how does this affect you? While the cost of a stamp will spike by 10 percent to 55 cents, overall price increases on bulk mailings will average 2.5 percent. Here are a handful of representative pricing categories that affect many direct mail campaigns:
Marketing Mail – Broad national distribution (2019 vs 2018) – If you have pieces that are being distributed nationally, on a broad geographic basis and you receive the Mixed AADC rate, here are the new charges:
Letters and oversized post cards up to 6 x 11: $0.291 vs. $0.287
Flats: $0.632m vs. $0.598
Marketing Mail – Concentrated local distribution (2019 vs 2018) – If you do fairly large volumes of mailings that are very concentrated in local areas and you receive the 5 digit rate, here are the new charges:
Letters and oversized post cards up to 6 x 11: $0.256 vs. $0.251
Flats: $0.405 vs $0.393
First Class Bulk Mail – Broad national distribution (2019 vs 2018) – If you need expedited service across the country or are sending personal information and you receive the Mixed AADC rate, here is the impact:
Letters and oversized post cards up to 6 x 11: $0.428 vs. $0.4024
Flats: $0.727 vs. $0.705
How does it impact you? How should you respond?
USPS has a myriad of rates. There are further discounts available for mailings that qualify for carrier route savings, non-profit, entry discounts, classes of mail, etc. We can help you assess the impact on your mailings.
It’s also a great time to look at whether you are receiving the ROI you expect on your direct mail campaigns or if there is a way to boost those returns through a different approach. We regularly help our customers build a direct mail marketing strategy or evaluate their tactics to help drive high ROI using variable data and targeted messaging. Give us a call at 810-239-5763 or contact us online to find out how we can help you navigate these price increases and build effective direct mail campaigns.
Where to go for more information
If you want to view a complete listing of all of the pricing increases, you can go to https://pe.usps.com/PriceChange/Index for more information.
