USPS Postcard Size Guide: 4 Options for Maximum Postage Savings

Most small business owners don’t realize that the largest cost in a direct mail campaign isn’t design or printing — it’s postage! But:

You can save money on your postage when you select the best size of a postcard for your marketing campaign!

Here’s the easiest guide to postcard sizes and postage you’ll ever find:

First, there are generally 2 types of speeds at which you can mail your mail with the U.S Post Office. The faster option costs slightly more, and the slower option can delay your mail a little bit — albeit it being cheaper!

Here they are:

• First Class Mail (faster)
• Standard (“3rd”) Class Mail (slower)

Paying for First Class Mail postage will deliver your mail within just 2-5 mail days.

Paying for Standard Class Mail postage will deliver your mail in 7-14 mail days, and sometimes longer depending on where you’re mailing nationwide. Hence, why it’s cheaper.

So obviously… what’s the COST difference, right?

It depends on how many direct mail pieces you’re mailing — and WHERE (the zip codes) you’re mailing to!

But here’s the simple answer:

A stamp for a postcard will either by 40¢ OR 58¢ depending on the SIZE of the postcard (I explain more below) when you’re mailing less than 500 pieces.

HOWEVER, and this is most interesting, you can save money on your postage by mailing MORE than 500 direct mail pieces at a time —

So since postage is the more expensive part of your direct mail marketing campaign, it’s smart to mail MORE at a time and save $$$! 

Here’s how much you can save on postage depending on the size of a postcard:

1. Postcard Size 4.25” x 6”

This is the smallest postcard size we typically recommend at PostcardMania.

If you mail less than 500 4.25” x 6” postcards, you’ll pay 35¢ per postcard — which can add up fast!

But, if you mail MORE than 500 postcards at a time, you can save some money…

Here are the postage savings for the 4.25” x 6” size postcard:

• First Class Mail (arrives in 2-5 mail days): approximately 9¢ per piece
• Standard Class Mail (arrives in 7-14 mails days): Not available for this size of a postcard

NOTE: To receive postage savings benefits when mailing “in bulk”, you need to have a bulk permit issued from the post office. Most small business owners don’t want to go through the trouble of obtaining a permit for their business, so they just take advantage of ours.

If you want your business’s marketing to pop out of the mailbox MORE, you’d be surprised how affordable the next size postcard is!

2. Postcard Size 6” x 8.5”

If you take a piece of paper and fold it in half, that’s the size of this postcard — aka, our “Jumbo” size!

If you mail less than 500 6” x 8.5” size postcards, you’ll pay 55¢ per piece — yikes!

However, if you mail more than 500 6” x 8.5” size postcards at a time, here are the savings:

• First Class Mail (arrives in 2-5 mail days): approximately 9¢ per piece
• Standard Class Mail (arrives in 7-14 mails days): approximately 20¢ per piece

We recommend 6” x 8.5” postcards to businesses that have a fair amount of competition in their area because this size of a postcard will pop out of the mail stack more than a smaller one (like 4.25” x 6” from #1).

Sure, you pay a little more for postage for the 6” x 8.5” postcards, but if you generate more leads, calls, and new customers from that increased exposure, it’s obviously worth the extra pennies!!

Here’s the biggest size we regularly offer at PostcardMania:

3. Postcard Size 6” x 11”

Also called our “Colossal” size, this postcard size will DOMINATE the mail stack due to its much larger-than-normal size!

If you mail less than 500 6” x 11” size postcards, you’ll again pay 55¢ per piece (no thanks!).

However, if you mail more than 500 6” x 11” size postcards at a time, here are the savings:

• First Class Mail (arrives in 2-5 mail days): approximately 45¢ per piece
• Standard Class Mail (arrives in 7-14 mails days): approximately 30¢ per piece

Hey…

These 6” x 11” postage prices are the SAME as the 6” x 8.5” size postcards from #2!!

So, if you want to mail these colossal postcard sizes and all but guarantee your marketing get noticed by your prospects…

The only real difference is the cost of printing!

You can check out PostcardMania’s postcard printing costs here.

Postage prices do vary by a penny or 2 depending on where in the U.S you’re mailing to (and even, when), so to be sure on your postage costs (and various printing options), you can always request a custom quote here.

Have you heard of this?

EVERY DOOR DIRECT MAIL (EDDM)

We get asked a lot about EDDM so I’m going to explain it to you!

First, EDDM may be a good option for your business IF your business could benefit from reaching every single home in your neighborhood (or, another neighborhood for that matter!).

EDDM is a service created by the U.S Post Office that allows you to blanket an entire mail “carrier route” (where mail carriers literally carry mail!) with your postcards for a discounted postage rate.

The reason the postage is discounted is because the mail carrier just throws your postcards on his/her truck for that route, and there’s NO sorting of the mail at all —

In other words, EVERYONE on that neighborhood route will receive your postcard marketing… whether they are your ideal prospect or not.

Who is EDDM a great fit for?

These industries:

• Restaurants
• Dry cleaners
• Moving/storage
• Retail stores
• Churches
• Salons and spas
• Dentists
• Gyms
• Auto repair

What qualifies a mailing for EDDM?

To take advantage of the special postage discount, your EDDM postcards campaign MUST meet very specific criteria:

• EDDM postcard sizes — your postcard be taller than 6.125” OR longer than 11.5” and smaller than 12” x 15”.
• You must mail only to zip codes in USPS door-to-door routes (we can tell you if they are)
• Your mailing must be at least 200 pieces AND at least one complete carrier route (So a mailing of 200 that only covers 70% of one route would not qualify, nor would a mailing of 58 that covers an entire route)
• You may only mail 5,000 EDDM postcards per day

Here are the EDDM postage savings:

As low as 23.5¢ per piece for postage… which is definitely a savings!!!

However, a quick word to the wise on EDDM…

You can personally set up an EDDM marketing campaign to take advantage of the great postage savings, HOWEVER —

There are several requirements in terms of sorting the mail pieces (and bundling them correctly), plus filling out quite a bit of post office paperwork if you do an EDDM mailing yourself. We can do it all for you — and save you considerable time — plus you’ll still get that awesome postage savings.

There you have it! I hope this helped!

If you have any questions on what size of a postcard (and corresponding postage) is right for your business, please call one of my marketing consultants at (800) 628-1804 — they’ll clearly explain all your options and help you choose the one that’s right for your business, not to mention your budget!

Best,

Joy