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EDDM label size?

by sconer
19 replies
EDDM requires 2 labels on each card. But it doesn't say how big they have to be. The address label just says "Local Postal Customer" and has a lot of blank white space. I was just wondering how small I can make it?
#eddm #label #size
  • Profile picture of the author bob ross
    technically I believe it's supposed to be 3" x 1" but no one is going to give you a problem about it. You can even just write "local postal customer" somewhere on the piece and as long as it's contained in some kind of box it will be totally fine.

    EDDM is processed at the retail counter where all they really care about is whether the postage is paid or not.
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  • Profile picture of the author sconer
    Thanks for the info.

    The Post Offices around here may be a little more strict than your's. The first time I did an EDDM campaign I made up post cards at the smallest size allowed. When I got to the counter the woman told me that the post card was too small so they wouldn't send them out. I stood there with 4,000 printed cards ready to "go postal". After arguing with her, she finally took out the tape measure and measured the card, then took her time to lookup what the size requirement was.

    So now I am a little worried about getting things correct.
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  • Profile picture of the author bob ross
    If you want to be 100% compliant, make the indicia (the square box) 1"x1" and the address box 3"x1", as long as you have the wording in there they have to take it.

    You'll also need to make sure they're not crossing the center of the piece, but anywhere else is OK. Just make sure your piece is the right size too but it seems like you've got that down.
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    • Profile picture of the author sconer
      Thanks!

      I did 6.5 X 9 for size. I'm actually surprised that they don't allow you to make smaller cards.

      I also put both the indicia and address box on the top half so I should be good to go.

      The part I am not looking forward to is A) bringing them home from the printers and up my front stairs and B) counting out 100 at a time to bundle them
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  • Profile picture of the author bob ross
    No problem at all, I hope you have some success with your mailing. You can go a little smaller but it's not a typical size you'll find printers doing ... you can go down to 6.5x7. Technically you could go 6.25x6.5 if you wanted and that would qualify but 6.5x9 is the closest standard size.

    How many are you printing? They can get really heavy, expect each box to be 30-50 pounds, containing 500-700 cards each.

    You can bundle very quickly if you just count out 100 and then just eyeball other stacks to the same height, you'll be pretty much dead on each time if you just use one as a reference. Kudos to Doran Peck on here for teaching me that.
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    • Profile picture of the author sconer
      Originally Posted by bob ross View Post

      No problem at all, I hope you have some success with your mailing. You can go a little smaller but it's not a typical size you'll find printers doing ... you can go down to 6.5x7. Technically you could go 6.25x6.5 if you wanted and that would qualify but 6.5x9 is the closest standard size.

      How many are you printing? They can get really heavy, expect each box to be 30-50 pounds, containing 500-700 cards each.

      You can bundle very quickly if you just count out 100 and then just eyeball other stacks to the same height, you'll be pretty much dead on each time if you just use one as a reference. Kudos to Doran Peck on here for teaching me that.
      The last time I did a campaign I paid about 15.6 cents per card. Now the same local printer wants 22.2 cents per card, and I am ordering more this time.

      What is a reasonable price to pay per card? Maybe I should find an online printer? I just figured the shipping cost would be high.
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      • Profile picture of the author bob ross
        Originally Posted by sconer View Post

        The last time I did a campaign I paid about 15.6 cents per card. Now the same local printer wants 22.2 cents per card, and I am ordering more this time.

        What is a reasonable price to pay per card? Maybe I should find an online printer? I just figured the shipping cost would be high.
        You're paying 22.2 cents per card printing only, then paying postage on top of it? Online you should be able to get them for 7-9 cents per card or so, printed on a thick cardstock and UV gloss finish.
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        • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
          Originally Posted by bob ross View Post

          You're paying 22.2 cents per card printing only, then paying postage on top of it? Online you should be able to get them for 7-9 cents per card or so, printed on a thick cardstock and UV gloss finish.
          Sconer, you'll get those online prices through Bob Ross
          without sacrificing anything from your local printer.

          Best,
          Doctor E. Vile
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        • Profile picture of the author sconer
          Originally Posted by bob ross View Post

          You're paying 22.2 cents per card printing only, then paying postage on top of it? Online you should be able to get them for 7-9 cents per card or so, printed on a thick cardstock and UV gloss finish.
          Those price are just for the printing, no postage (I will be using EDDM for postage).

          The first time it was 15 cents, now it's 22 cents.

          I e-mailed them asking why the big jump in price, they replied saying:

          "That sounds like our gang run pricing. I will pull the invoice in the morning and advise."

          I don't know what that means.

          Can you recommend good online vendors that are in the 7-9 cent range? That's an awesome price.
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          • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
            Originally Posted by sconer View Post


            Can you recommend good online vendors that are in the 7-9 cent range? That's an awesome price.
            Bob doesn't mention that he does the printing at those prices because
            it would come off as self promotional.

            Private message him to take care of all your printing needs.

            Best,
            Doctor E. Vile
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            • Profile picture of the author sconer
              Originally Posted by ewenmack View Post

              Bob doesn't mention that he does the printing at those prices because
              it would come off as self promotional.

              Private message him to take care of all your printing needs.

              Best,
              Doctor E. Vile
              Here I am, 6 days later with thousands of awesome cards sitting here ready to be mailed. Thanks to both of you.
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          • Profile picture of the author bob ross
            Originally Posted by sconer View Post

            Those price are just for the printing, no postage (I will be using EDDM for postage).

            The first time it was 15 cents, now it's 22 cents.

            I e-mailed them asking why the big jump in price, they replied saying:

            "That sounds like our gang run pricing. I will pull the invoice in the morning and advise."

            I don't know what that means.

            Can you recommend good online vendors that are in the 7-9 cent range? That's an awesome price.
            Gang-run printing is why online printing is so much cheaper than doing it locally. When you're printing higher quantities, they get printed on an "offset" press which is this huge printing press that can fire off prints extremely fast, but the downside is that it requires a lot of setup. Kind of like if you were in a band ... you can play a song in 3 minutes but the setup might take forty five minutes to get up and running.

            Because of the volume that online printers can do, they can print multiple jobs on one piece of paper, essentially just making one giant print, and then trim them all separately when it's done. This way there's only one setup instead of a dozen, saving a very large amount of cost and time.

            Local printers don't have that capability because it's not like they get 10 orders of 5000 postcards everyday. So they have to print it one at a time, or make you wait forever until someone else orders the same quantity that they can print together (and still it's not a huge savings).

            WF doesn't allow self promotion like Ewen says, and you're free to use any of the online printers out there who do gang run printing, but you're more than welcome to PM me if you'd like more info.

            I currently print 5000 6.5x9's for between 7 and 8 cents each, shipped to anywhere in the US, depending on how fast someone would need them.
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            • Profile picture of the author NewParadigm
              Originally Posted by bob ross View Post

              Gang-run printing is why online printing is so much cheaper than doing it locally. When you're printing higher quantities, they get printed on an "offset" press which is this huge printing press that can fire off prints extremely fast, but the downside is that it requires a lot of setup. Kind of like if you were in a band ... you can play a song in 3 minutes but the setup might take forty five minutes to get up and running.

              Because of the volume that online printers can do, they can print multiple jobs on one piece of paper, essentially just making one giant print, and then trim them all separately when it's done. This way there's only one setup instead of a dozen, saving a very large amount of cost and time.

              Local printers don't have that capability because it's not like they get 10 orders of 5000 postcards everyday. So they have to print it one at a time, or make you wait forever until someone else orders the same quantity that they can print together (and still it's not a huge savings).

              WF doesn't allow self promotion like Ewen says, and you're free to use any of the online printers out there who do gang run printing, but you're more than welcome to PM me if you'd like more info.

              I currently print 5000 6.5x9's for between 7 and 8 cents each, shipped to anywhere in the US, depending on how fast someone would need them.
              dangit! I just got 60,000 color postcards printed elsewhere at higher prices! i'll remember to check with you next time.
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              In a moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing. ~ Theodore Roosevelt

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              • Profile picture of the author bob ross
                Originally Posted by NewParadigm View Post

                dangit! I just got 60,000 color postcards printed elsewhere at higher prices! i'll remember to check with you next time.
                Thanks, at least with that kind of volume you'll hopefully be making plenty to cover it
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              • Profile picture of the author sconer
                Originally Posted by NewParadigm View Post

                dangit! I just got 60,000 color postcards printed elsewhere at higher prices! i'll remember to check with you next time.
                That's a big campaign. Does the USPS offer any types of discounts or coupons for EDDM prices?

                Now that I have a great source for inexpensive printing I would like to start bigger campaigns. But the EDDM prices are going to be the limiting factor now.
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                • Profile picture of the author bob ross
                  Originally Posted by sconer View Post

                  That's a big campaign. Does the USPS offer any types of discounts or coupons for EDDM prices?

                  Now that I have a great source for inexpensive printing I would like to start bigger campaigns. But the EDDM prices are going to be the limiting factor now.
                  If you get a permit you can currently get it at 16 cents, plus you can process as many cards as you want and not have to deal with the 5k limit. You may need to bring it to a bulk mail entry unit though if you're going to be hitting multiple post offices.
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                  • Profile picture of the author sconer
                    Originally Posted by bob ross View Post

                    If you get a permit you can currently get it at 16 cents, plus you can process as many cards as you want and not have to deal with the 5k limit. You may need to bring it to a bulk mail entry unit though if you're going to be hitting multiple post offices.
                    I think I would prefer that. I am NOT looking forward to carrying all of those heavy boxes into the post office with all the other stupid people waiting on line.
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  • Profile picture of the author sconer
    The last time I did 4,000. This time I am going to do about 5,000.

    That's a good idea about counting out the cards by using a stack. That's the same way that dealers count chips in Las Vegas so it's good enough for me
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  • Profile picture of the author NewParadigm
    I'm doing 5,000 EDDM larger postcards fairly soon. I am using a printing service, they don't charge much extra to print/sort/deliver etc... Yep the post office said standard postcard size isn't allowed. USPS has an informative site on EDDM as well as a map/list of routes for you to choose.
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    In a moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing. ~ Theodore Roosevelt

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