MLM Directory

When sending direct marketing to a fulfillment company do they pay the same for a stamp as you do at the post?

I want to do my initial direct mail campaign on my own. I want to deliver 1000 postcards. Making the postcards is ok for me. But I am trying to determine if the cost of purchasing 1000 stamps ($0.54 CDN) versus having the direct mailing company mail out my letters. Do they get a discount?

Public Comments

1. Yes , they do .
2. My experience with direct mailing companies is that I get a postage discount. Also, they may have a minimum number of pieces before they offer the discount to you, so ask if that is the case. Finally, you also might want to have your postcard included in a bulk mailing of other companies postcards. In this case they stick several companies cards into one envelope (postcards offering discounts, advertisement, etc.) Where I live we get something like that monthly called Valu-Pak and it is stuffed with 20+ ads. But I know they offer a better price because of it.
3. They get a big bulk discount. If you're sending out bulk postcards they pay around $0.14 US (depending on the size of the card) instead of us paying nearly $0.50 for a stamp to do it ourselves. The problem is that the fulfillment company will also charge a fee.
4. You are actually costing yourself more money by doing it yourself. Fulfillment houses get a discount because of the way they sequence and sort your mail. It requires special certified software along with special physical preparation. Something else to consider, to help with its success is how the postcard looks. You might want to get some opinions on it before sending it out. When someone receives it, they are going to instantly judge the value of the entire thing, message and all, simply based on how professional and authoritative it looks. If it looks too home-made or cheesy...its going in the trash. You will also want to consider using a very good incentive for them to try your services. Mailers that just make people "aware" of your existence tend to get very very little response. You really need to do something to get them to motivate. Remember...you are not trying to make sales....you are trying to initiate the first step in the business relationship...you are potentially making a lifetime "customer" ( add up how much money that is for just one customer!) ...none of the next steps are ever going to happen until this first one does...so do whatever it takes to get them to respond or your effort is wasted. good luck!