Cut Mailing Costs When Sending Imprinted Promotional Advertising Calendars
October 2, 2013 by Jim Braaten · Leave a Comment
It’s in the news all the time with the same old story. The U.S. Post Office is losing money. They need to cut services (number of days delivery each week) or they need to hike fees. It’s gotten so bad in recent years they no longer even put the value of a postage stamp printed directly on the stamp. They must figure by the time they get them printed they will be, shall we say, outdated?
For businesses marketing with calendars the increasing cost of postage can be especially frustrating and painful. Direct marketing through the mail has long been a popular way to promote a business. Yet, the ever rising costs of getting a parcel to someone’s door can sometimes be more costly than the contents inside the envelope.
At CalendarsNow.com we have long provided our customers with options. Sending out a mailing via Bulk Rate or Special Mail is always an option available. But for most small businesses who do not have capabilities to conduct those mailing the only real option at the post office is First Class. Given the right calendar…that First Class designation can quickly weigh up to Priority which can be more expensive than your noon lunch tab.
Here’s how we can save many of our customers money. If the mailing meets one of these two criteria(subject to change, but current as of this writing):
- Contains 200 or more pieces weighing the same (identical size and shape); or
- Total weight on the mailing amounts to over 50 pounds.
In most cases if either of these two requirements are met we can save our customers money shipping the calendars directly to the end user. Consider this. Not only are you sending the calendars out bulk rate, but you’re saving on the freight charges by first shipping heavy boxes to your door. It’s a win-win situation.
For complete and up-to-date pricing details it requires a call to one of our customer sales representatives, but in general if we mail calendars directly to your customer it will save you roughly half the cost of doing it yourself and mailing First Class.
Are there some downsides to mailing Bulk Rate? Unfortunately, yes there is. While it can save you money you do give up some rights and service. Again, our customer service professionals would be happy to discuss all these details with you, but realize that in general:
- Bulk Rate is not guaranteed mail. The post office cannot assure us that any mail piece shipped in this manner will actually arrive at the desired destination. So, there is some risk, albeit rather minimal.
- There is no way to track the mail.
- Bulk mail scattered throughout a large delivery area can take as short as a few days or as long as up to three weeks. Harder to nail certain in-hand dates for the calendar recipient.
- Bulk Rate shipped during the holidays takes a lower priority than other mail. So, expect packages with goodies from Grandma’s house to arrive with greater urgency and predictability.
If you’re looking for options in sending out your next calendar mailing it pays to at least discuss this further with us. Not only does it save your office staff time, but allowing us to handle your mailing can also save you big dollars when it comes to postal fees. All you need to do is supply us with your mailing labels or your electronic address list and we will handle it from there.
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