How much does postcard advertising cost in Philadelphia?

Short answer: mailing your own postcard to about 5,000 Philadelphia homes costs about $1,300 in postage alone at the USPS EDDM Retail rate, before printing and design. A spot on a shared card like Mailbox Finds costs $349 to $849 all in, for the same 5,000 homes.

Solo mailer: what you pay for

Most neighborhood postcards go out through USPS Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM), which delivers to every address on the carrier routes you pick. USPS lists EDDM Retail postage at $0.26 per piece for flats up to 3.3 oz (USPS Every Door Direct Mail). At 5,000 pieces, that is $1,300 before anything else.

On top of postage you pay for printing, which varies a lot by size, paper and quantity, so get two or three quotes. Then there is design, unless you do it yourself, and your time: EDDM Retail pieces must be bundled and dropped off at the post office, and USPS caps EDDM Retail at 5,000 pieces per day per ZIP code (USPS Every Door Direct Mail).

Shared card: what you pay for

On a shared card, sixteen businesses split the printing and postage. On Mailbox Finds, a standard spot is $449 (about 9 cents a home), a premium front spot is $699, a double spot is $849, and founding advertisers pay $349. Design, printing, postage and the post office drop are included. The trade-off: you share the card with fifteen other businesses, though never with a competitor in your category.

Which makes sense?

If you want the whole card to yourself and have the budget, a solo mailer is great. If you want to show up in every mailbox in your neighborhood for a few hundred dollars and nothing to manage, a shared card is the cheaper way in. See our pricing or run your own numbers.

Written by Kelly, founder of Mailbox Finds. Prices quoted from public sources linked above; check them before you budget.