EDDM Retail costs $0.26 per piece as of July 12, 2026 — among the lowest per-piece postage rates USPS offers, and the cheapest way for most local businesses to reach every address on a route without a bulk-mail permit or a mailing list. But with EDDM pricing, postage is only part of what an Every Door Direct Mail campaign actually costs — once you add printing and prep, the all-in runs roughly one-and-a-half to three times the postage. Here's the full 2026 rate table, plus what you'll really spend per 1,000 homes.
The quick numbers:
EDDM Retail: $0.260/piece
EDDM BMEU, cheapest tier: $0.259/piece
Realistic all-in cost: about $0.36-$0.80/piece once you add printing and prep
A typical 5,000-piece drop: roughly $2,000 all-in
How much does EDDM cost per piece in 2026?#
EDDM postage is a flat per-piece rate — the same for any qualifying EDDM flat within the USPS size and weight limits, whether it's a 6.5x9 or a 9x12. What changes the rate is how you enter the mail: EDDM Retail (no permit, drop at your local Post Office) or EDDM BMEU (a bulk permit, entered deeper into the USPS network for a small discount).
All prices below are current per-piece rates effective July 12, 2026.
EDDM rate | Current rate (effective July 12, 2026) |
|---|---|
EDDM Retail | $0.260 |
EDDM BMEU — DDU (local entry) | $0.259 |
EDDM BMEU — DSCF entry | $0.268 |
EDDM BMEU — Origin / None | $0.309 |
Most local businesses running EDDM themselves pay the Retail rate — $0.260 per piece.
Rates are from USPS and the USPS July 2026 price change (Notice 123). One number worth flagging: some sites list the July BMEU-DDU rate as $0.254. That figure is wrong — the correct DDU rate is $0.259.
Nonprofit rate: Authorized nonprofits pay less — roughly $0.13/piece at local (DDU) entry. But it isn't plain EDDM Retail: you need nonprofit authorization (PS Form 3624) and a BMEU permit. Confirm your exact nonprofit rate with USPS before you budget.
EDDM Retail vs BMEU: which rate applies to you?#
For most small businesses, the answer is Retail. BMEU only pays off at high volume or through a mail house that already holds a permit.
EDDM Retail | EDDM BMEU | |
|---|---|---|
Permit | None needed | Marketing Mail permit required |
Volume | 200 min, up to 5,000/day per ZIP | No daily cap; multiple ZIPs |
Where you drop it | Local Post Office serving the routes | A Business Mail Entry Unit |
Best for | Local businesses running it themselves | High-volume or done-for-you mailers |
Choose Retail if you're mailing a few thousand pieces to nearby routes and don't want to deal with a permit. Choose BMEU if you're mailing large volumes, across many ZIPs, or through a provider who enters the mail on their permit.
Here's the catch most guides skip: the BMEU discount only shows up when you truck the mail deeper into the network (DDU or DSCF entry). At Origin entry, BMEU actually costs more than Retail ($0.309 vs $0.260). If you're not drop-shipping, Retail is both simpler and cheaper. For a full breakdown, see EDDM Retail vs BMEU, explained.
Your real all-in EDDM cost (postage + printing + prep)#
Postage is the number everyone quotes, and it's the number that misleads. On a real campaign, printing and prep cost as much as the postage or more. The rest is the mailpiece itself — and because EDDM requires a large flat, that printing costs more than a standard postcard.
Take a common job: 5,000 pieces at 6.5x9.
Postage: 5,000 x $0.260 = $1,300
Printing: about $0.10-$0.22 per piece = $500-$1,100
Design: a one-time $100-$800 if you're not doing it yourself
Your prep time: bundling, facing slips, and the drive — plan on 5-7 hours for a 5,000-piece DIY drop
That lands most 5,000-piece campaigns around $1,800-$2,700 all-in, or roughly $0.36-$0.54 per piece — well above the $0.26 postage line.
Here's how it scales. All-in figures are typical ranges, not USPS rates, and vary by size, paper, and vendor.
Homes reached | Postage only (Retail, from July 12) | Typical all-in, self-managed | Done-for-you |
|---|---|---|---|
1,000 | $260 | $360-$540 | $460-$750 |
5,000 | $1,300 | $1,800-$2,700 | $2,300-$3,750 |
10,000 | $2,600 | $3,600-$5,400 | $4,600-$7,500 |
How it's figured: a 5,000-piece, 6.5x9 EDDM campaign runs about $1,800-$2,700 all-in — postage is a fixed ~$1,300, and printing and prep decide the rest. Postage is the USPS EDDM Retail rate ($0.260/piece from July 12, 2026); printing ($0.10-$0.22/pc) and design/prep are typical vendor estimates that vary by size, paper, and quantity.
The table above covers the common budgeting cases — find your piece count and read across.
What changes your total EDDM cost#
A few line items catch first-time mailers off guard:
The mailpiece. EDDM requires a flat, so you can't use a cheap 4x6 postcard. Bigger paper, heavier stock, and coatings all raise the print cost.
Freight to a distant Post Office. If your routes are far away, shipping bundles to that Postmaster can add up to about $0.10/piece.
Prep labor. Bundling in stacks of 50-100, attaching facing slips, and filling out PS Form 3587 takes real time — or a full-service fee if you hand it off.
Design. A one-time cost, but budget $100-$800 if you don't have artwork.
Sales tax. Applies to printing in many states.
If you go the BMEU route, add the permit — commonly around $290 a year. Before you commit a print run, make sure your piece actually qualifies as a flat: see EDDM size requirements.
EDDM vs. sending postcards to a list: which actually costs less?#
This is the real decision for a lot of local businesses: blanket a neighborhood with EDDM, or mail addressed postcards to a targeted list. On postage alone, EDDM wins easily. On results, it depends on how well your customers match a whole neighborhood.
EDDM (saturation flat) | Addressed postcards to a list | |
|---|---|---|
Postage per piece (from July 12) | $0.26 (Retail) | $0.65 (First-Class postcard) |
Mailing list | None needed | You supply or rent one (~$0.03-$0.15/name) |
Piece size | Must be a flat — 6.5x9 or larger | Any size, including a cheap 4x6 |
Targeting | Whole carrier routes only | Specific households or people |
Personalization | No — addressed to "Postal Customer" | Yes — name and variable data |
Per-piece tracking | No | Yes |
Delivery | ~7-14 days, no guaranteed date | 1-5 business days |
Minimum | 200 per ZIP, per day | None — send one |
Two things surprise people here. First, a standard 4x6 or 6x9 postcard doesn't qualify for EDDM — the piece has to clear the flat threshold (taller than 6.125 inches or longer than 10.5 inches), so an "EDDM postcard" is really a 6.5x9 or larger flat. Second, EDDM's cheap postage can be eaten by the pricier large-flat printing. A small, well-targeted postcard mailing to 1,000 likely buyers can beat blanketing 9,000 homes — so judge on cost per result, not cost per piece. If you want to work through that tradeoff, see EDDM vs targeted direct mail.
Zooming out, there are really three mailing methods for three different jobs:
If your job is... | Best method | Rough cost |
|---|---|---|
Blanket a neighborhood with a broad offer | EDDM saturation | ~$0.36-$0.54/piece all-in ($0.26 postage + print & prep) |
Reach specific homes with a card | Addressed postcards | $0.65 postage + a mailing list + printing |
Send a document or notice to a specific person, tracked | First-Class letter (e.g. via Postmarkr) | from $1.85 all-in (print + postage + tracking) |
These aren't cheaper-versus-pricier — they're different jobs. EDDM is for saturation advertising; addressed postcards for targeted outreach; a tracked First-Class letter for the times you need a specific person to receive something you can prove was sent.
How long does EDDM take to deliver?#
Plan on about 7-14 days after you drop it off. EDDM travels as USPS Marketing Mail, which is a deferred class — it moves after First-Class, and USPS does not guarantee a delivery date. You pick a drop-off date, not an in-home date, and delivery runs slower during peak seasons like the holidays.
That's fine for an evergreen "we're here in the neighborhood" offer. It's a problem for anything time-sensitive — a one-day sale or an event with a hard date needs a faster, dated mail class.
When EDDM is the wrong cost choice#
EDDM is built for one job: blanketing an area with a broad offer, cheaply, without a list. It's the wrong spend when:
your best customers are a specific slice of the neighborhood (you'll pay to reach everyone else too),
you need to reach named people or suppress your existing customers,
you need per-piece tracking to prove delivery or measure response, or
the offer is time-sensitive and can't wait on deferred delivery.
In those cases, addressed mail earns its higher postage. If that's you, Postmarkr sends tracked First-Class letters online from $1.85 — upload a PDF, and we print, mail, and track each one, no list-handling or post-office trip. See First-Class pricing.
How we keep these rates current#
The EDDM rates on this page are pulled from USPS — the EDDM service page and the July 2026 price change (Notice 123) — and we re-check them against USPS before each update. Postage changes periodically, so confirm the current figure before you commit a budget. Updated July 12, 2026.
EDDM cost — frequently asked questions#
How much does EDDM cost per piece in 2026? EDDM Retail is $0.260 per piece. Commercial BMEU rates run from $0.259 at local entry to $0.309 at origin entry.
What are the current EDDM BMEU rates? Current commercial BMEU rates are $0.259 at DDU, $0.268 at DSCF, and $0.309 at origin entry. These rates took effect July 12, 2026.
What's the total cost including printing? Around $0.36-$0.80 per piece all-in, depending on size, paper, and quantity — roughly one-and-a-half to three times the postage once you add printing and prep.
What's the cheapest EDDM option? BMEU at local (DDU) entry, at $0.259 — but it needs a permit, so for most small mailers plain Retail at $0.260 is the practical choice.
Can nonprofits get a lower rate? Yes — authorized nonprofits pay roughly $0.13/piece at local entry, but it requires nonprofit authorization plus a BMEU permit, not plain EDDM Retail. Confirm your current rate with USPS.
For the full picture on how EDDM works end to end, see the complete EDDM guide, or how to use the USPS EDDM tool to map your routes.