EDDM stands for “Every Door Direct Mail” and it is essentially the same program the Post Office has had
for many years under the internal term “saturation mailing.” It means exactly what that implies: every
mail stop on a carrier’s route gets a mail piece. There are some unique aspects to the EDDM program
that you need to be aware of.
Mail Piece size
Mail pieces as small as 3.5”x5” to as large as 6”x11” qualify as “letter size” pieces. Anything larger is
called a “flat”. Think of a magazine; that’s a good example of a “flat” mail piece. EDDM only works with
flats. Your options for mail piece size are more limited, especially considering that the larger the piece,
the more expensive the paper and printing costs.
“Addressing”
EDDM requires that every stop on the mail carrier’s route receive a mail piece. On average, each carrier
route is approximately 500 (+/‐ 100) stops. If you provide us with a single address we can tell the carrier
route and how many mail pieces are necessary for that route.
Every mail piece delivered to a city route requires an address. EDDM allows the use of a simplified
address, “Postal Customer”, so we no longer need to rent a carrier mail list. That is a cost savings for
you. On the other hand, EDDM requires significant bundling, no more than 100 pieces to a bundle with
each bundle having a facing slip noting zip code, carrier route, total number of pieces in bundle,
sequencing (“package 1 of 12”, “package 2 of 12”, etc.) and mailing name. There is actually more
handling involved with an EDDM mailing than with a regular mailing.
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Postage
EDDM can have a substantial postage discount. On average, your mail piece will cost about 15¢ per
piece, whereas standard addressed mail will cost between 19 –27¢ each. The primary savings are due to
reduced transportation costs – to get that 15¢ rate the mail must be brought to the destination delivery
Post Office.
