My Truth about EDDM (Every Door Direct Mail)

The postal service is pushing a “not so new” but improved feature called EDDM Every Door Direct Mail.

A simple explanation is that you can mail a “Flat” (determined by size) mail piece, saturating an area to as many full carrier routes as you like (up to 5000 pcs per day) without having specific addresses and without buying a postal permit.

Saturation mail has been around for a long time but they have made it easier to use. This should be a good thing.

*** 10 Observations about EDDM ***

1. The postage price was not reduced for this new program, but the process was made easier for the customer. Is that enough to grab their attention? Time will tell.

2. It is limited to flats. In my opinion if the USPS was serious, they would have opened this to standard mail also.

3. My customers are reluctant to jump on board because of the extra printing costs involved in printing flats.

4. In tough economic times, my customers are looking for the cheapest possible way to mail, period! EDDM is not the cheapest, it is just the easiest.

5. This was a huge blow to the list broker business. Before customers had to purchase a list, now the post office is offering this mailing with no addresses at all.

6. In my opinion the USPS should do national television advertising. Get the word out far and wide. Having their employees try to sell this to small business, is just not efficient.

7. They have limited the number of EDDM (retail) pieces to 5000 per day. That seems counter productive. Wouldn’t it be better to pave the way for customers to bring in as much mail in one day as possible?

8. This program is not open to non-profits. This doesn’t make sense to me. Since they didn’t reduce postage costs, why exclude non-profit?

9. You have to apply for a mailer ID to take advantage of this program. Although it’s not that difficult, it is mandatory.

10. The mail must be presented to the post office serving the area you are mailing to. So that may mean driving or shipping your mail to one or several out of area post offices.

If you would like more information, contact us (here).

Have a wonder-filled day,

Donna Flanagin

Random me: I grew up in a house with one bathroom and one telephone.