- EDDM (Every Door Direct Mail) lets you mail to every address on selected USPS carrier routes, no purchased mailing list required.
- Most local campaigns combine 6.25×11 or 6×9 postcards, indicia-compliant art, bundle labels, and retail or BMEU drop-off at the post office.
- Total cost per door is postage plus print; design for one clear offer and a scannable QR so you can measure response beyond the mailbox.
EDDM direct mail printing is how local businesses saturate neighborhoods without buying address lists. You pick USPS carrier routes on a map, print compliant flats, bundle for the carrier, and pay EDDM postage at drop-off. This guide covers workflow, postage math, design, and bundle prep. Pair it with our how to send print-ready files checklist when you export postcard art.
What is EDDM in plain language?
Every Door Direct Mail delivers one marketing piece to every address on selected USPS routes without a name list. Pick routes, print compliant mailers, bundle with labels, and pay EDDM postage at drop-off.
What is EDDM (Every Door Direct Mail)?
EDDM sits between shared mail saturation packages and expensive list buys. You control which routes receive your piece, when you drop, and what offer appears on the card, without paying list brokers or hygiene vendors. The trade-off: you cannot suppress individual addresses or personalize beyond a single message to the whole route.
How EDDM differs from traditional direct mail
Traditional list mail targets named households with higher postage and data costs. EDDM trades personalization for reach: one creative per route bundle with simplified USPS retail entry paperwork.
Who uses EDDM and why it works
Home services, healthcare, restaurants, and real estate teams use EDDM when offers fit a geographic radius. Response improves with a clear deadline and one tracked phone or QR on the card.
| Campaign type | EDDM fit | List mail fit |
|---|---|---|
| New location awareness | Strong, saturate surrounding routes | Moderate, if you have mover data |
| Seasonal service promo | Strong, repeat drops by route | Strong, if past customer file exists |
| Hyper-personal offer | Weak, single message only | Strong, variable data wins |
| Tight budget, no list | Strong, postage + print only | Weak, list cost adds up |
How the EDDM program works step by step
Think in four beats: choose routes, design compliant art, print and bundle, drop at USPS. Skip a beat and you rework at the counter.
Step 1: choose your carrier routes (no mailing list needed)
Start at the official USPS carrier route selection tool (linked from USPS EDDM business resources). Enter your business address or target ZIP, draw routes on the map, and note residential versus business versus total delivery counts. Export or write down route numbers and piece counts, you will print exactly that many mailers per drop, plus a few extras for spoilage. Many first campaigns cover five to fifteen routes; a dense urban route can exceed four hundred stops, so math adds quickly.
Step 2: design your EDDM mailer
Design for the mailbox, not the Instagram feed. One side carries the offer; the address panel side must leave room for the EDDM indicia, facing identification, and postal clear zones. Photography should survive fluorescent porch light; type should read at arm’s length. If you are exporting from Canva or InDesign, build at final trim with bleed on full-color edges and keep critical copy inside safe margins, same discipline as the print-ready checklist linked in the intro.
EDDM size requirements: what USPS requires
Common EDDM postcard size templates include 6.25×11 inch flats (standard EDDM retail), 6×9 inch postcards, and 6×11 inch formats depending on current USPS specs and whether you enter at retail or Business Mail Entry Unit (BMEU). Height, length, thickness, and weight must fall within published ranges; indicia placement and “EDDM RETAIL” or “EDDM BMEU” markings must appear in designated areas. Sizes change occasionally, confirm against the live USPS quick reference before you print ten thousand pieces.
Step 3: print your EDDM postcards
Order from a shop that prints at EDDM-compliant dimensions on stock heavy enough for mail processing, typically 100 lb cover or equivalent for postcards. Ask whether indicia art is supplied as a template overlay or included in the proof. Bundling requires pieces facing the same direction in stacks of fifty or one hundred depending on entry type; rubber bands and facing slips are not optional extras, they are acceptance requirements.
Step 4: drop off at your local post office
Complete bundle labels online or at the counter, attach one label per bundle, and pay postage for the total count. Carriers receive sorted bundles by route; your mail lands within days, not weeks, when paperwork matches piece counts.
EDDM retail vs EDDM BMEU: which to choose
EDDM retail suits most small businesses: walk-in acceptance at participating post offices, simplified payment, piece minimums and maximums per bundle aligned with retail entry. EDDM BMEU entry targets higher volumes dropped at a Business Mail Entry Unit, often better per-piece postage at scale but more paperwork and drop logistics. If you are mailing under a few thousand pieces from your first campaign, retail is usually the learning path; BMEU becomes attractive when you are saturating entire ZIP codes monthly.
EDDM cost per door by quantity band
Illustrative total cost index (print + USPS EDDM postage) at common route sizes.
| 100 | 118 | 142 |
| 6×11 postcard | 8.5×11 flyer | 9×12 oversized |
| 100 | 112 | 135 |
| 6×11 postcard | 8.5×11 flyer | 9×12 oversized |
| 100 | 108 | 128 |
| 6×11 postcard | 8.5×11 flyer | 9×12 oversized |
Postage rates change; confirm current USPS EDDM retail/BMEU pricing before budgeting.
EDDM postage and cost breakdown
Cheap EDDM printing quotes mean little without postage in the same spreadsheet. Always calculate total cost per door.
Current USPS EDDM postage rate
USPS publishes EDDM retail and BMEU per-piece rates that update periodically, verify the live rate table before budgeting. Retail entry historically lands in a lower per-piece band than many first-class letter campaigns, which is why saturation stays affordable. Post offices accept payment at drop; some campaigns accrue surprisingly fast when ten routes multiply by four hundred doors each.
Total cost per door: printing + postage
Example math for planning (substitute your live postage rate): 2,000 doors × $0.20 postage = $400 postage. Printing 2,000 6×9 postcards at $0.08 each = $160 print. Design and prepress $0 if you use complimentary layout on your first drop. Total $560, or $0.28 per door touched, before response. Compare that to digital CPM in your metro; EDDM often wins on local awareness even at modest conversion rates.
How quantity breaks change your per-door math
Print cost per piece usually drops at volume breaks while postage stays flat per door. Model tiers before you commit to a route count and bundle spoilage into your highest realistic quantity.
| Line item | Typical range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Postage (EDDM retail) | USPS published rate | Paid at drop; confirm annually |
| Print (6×9 color both sides) | Low cents per piece at volume | Heavier stock costs more |
| Design | $0 with shop template | One strong offer per drop |
| Spoilage buffer | 1–2% extra pieces | Damaged in bindery or handling |
Best businesses for EDDM marketing
Not every brand needs every door. EDDM shines when lifetime value justifies broad local reach and the offer is easy to understand in three seconds.
Restaurants, pizza delivery, and food businesses
Coupon nights, grand openings, and delivery radius reminders fit EDDM perfectly. Pair the mailer with a menu insert offer code tracked at register. See our upcoming restaurant print guide for table-tent and takeout tie-ins.
Home services: plumbers, roofers, landscapers
Seasonal tune-ups, storm damage inspections, and lawn package renewals benefit from repeated route drops every quarter. Phone-number-forward creative beats QR-only when your audience skews older homeowners.
Healthcare, dental, and wellness
New patient specials and cleaning reminders work when compliance lines stay readable. Avoid tiny disclaimer type; use the back panel for legal copy so the front stays bold.
Real estate agents and mortgage brokers
Farming “just listed” corridors with EDDM keeps your face on the counter when listings hit. Combine with open-house flyers on the same brand template for consistency.
EDDM design tips for maximum response
Mailbox competition includes bills, grocery ads, and political mail. Your card must announce one promise immediately.
The best EDDM offers that drive calls
Specific beats vague: “$39 furnace tune-up through March 31” outperforms “Quality service you can trust.” Add deadline, geography, and one contact path. Repeat the phone number on both sides, many readers flip the card at the trash can and only then decide to call.
QR codes on EDDM mailers
Add a QR linked to a mobile landing page with the same offer as the card, UTM parameters for tracking, and a click-to-call button. Size the code inside safe zones; test scans under kitchen lighting before you print five thousand. Phygital follow-through, mail to landing page to booking, extends EDDM beyond the kitchen counter.
Map the funnel on paper before you design: mail side headline matches landing page headline; landing page form fields match what your staff can fulfill in forty-eight hours. Drop the QR if the mobile page is not ready, dead links waste the cheapest saturation channel you have.
Retargeting pixels on the landing page can reinforce the mail message for visitors who scanned but did not convert immediately. Print starts the story; digital completes it when the need ripens three days later.
“We mailed six routes for a dental recall campaign and logged thirty-eight booked appointments in three weeks. The proof caught an indicia panel swap before five thousand cards hit bindery.”
Maria T., dental office manager, Phoenix
EDDM printing at Cheap Fast Printing
When you are ready to print, order EDDM postcards at compliant sizes with bleed, bundle-ready stacking, and optional indicia artwork on proof. Upload camera-ready PDFs or rough creative for complimentary layout, human-reviewed, not auto-sent to press. Fast turnaround matters because your drop appointment at the post office is a fixed slot in your launch calendar.
Free design, fast turnaround, affordable pricing
Our EDDM postcard printing product line includes common 6×9 and 6.25×11 formats sized for retail entry. Request a proof before payment on pay-later checkout; revise indicia placement or headline hierarchy without rerunning the whole campaign brief. For mixed mail and handout campaigns, bulk postcards at non-EDDM sizes can support front-desk stacks while EDDM handles the neighborhood.
EDDM glossary and USPS resources
Carrier route: USPS-defined delivery path; EDDM counts are tied to route numbers.
Facing slip: Document on top of a bundle showing route and count.
Indicia: Printed postage permit block replacing stamps.
Retail entry: Drop at a participating post office window.
BMEU: Business Mail Entry Unit for higher-volume drops.
Order our free print sample package to feel paper weights and finishes before you commit to a large run. Cheap, fast, and quality all start with the right stock choice.
Upload EDDM art or notes. We size indicia panels, proof both sides, and ship bundle-ready stacks before your USPS appointment.
Frequently asked questions
What is EDDM and how does it work?
Every Door Direct Mail is a USPS program that delivers marketing flats to every address on selected carrier routes without a purchased mailing list. You choose routes, print compliant mailers, bundle them with labels and facing slips, and drop them at a post office with EDDM postage. Carriers deliver within days when paperwork matches counts.
Do I need a mailing list for EDDM?
No. EDDM uses USPS carrier route data, not your customer database. You mail the same piece to every stop on the route, homes, apartments, and businesses included. List-based direct mail is a different workflow with variable addresses and often higher data costs.
What size postcards work for EDDM?
Common sizes include 6.25×11 inch flats, 6×9 inch postcards, and 6×11 inch formats depending on retail versus BMEU entry and current USPS specs. Confirm height, length, weight, and thickness against the live USPS EDDM quick reference before printing. Compare specs on your proof, keep notes on what worked, and scale quantity only after a small test drop or sample feels right in hand.
What is the difference between EDDM retail and BMEU?
Retail entry is walk-in acceptance at participating post offices with simplified payment, ideal for most small businesses. BMEU entry targets larger volumes dropped at a Business Mail Entry Unit, often with different paperwork and postage tiers. Choose based on piece count and drop logistics.
How much does EDDM cost per home?
Total cost per door equals USPS EDDM postage plus print cost per piece, plus any design or spoilage buffer. Postage is published by USPS and paid at drop; print varies by size, stock, and quantity. Always calculate both lines before comparing to digital ads.
Can I track results from EDDM mailers?
Yes. Use unique phone numbers, offer codes at register, and QR codes with UTM-tagged landing pages. EDDM is geographic saturation, not personalized URLs, but simple tracking still shows which routes and offers pulled response. Match each drop to a unique phone, QR, or offer code in your CRM so you compare routes on cost per lead, not guesswork after the fact.
How often should local businesses run EDDM?
Quarterly drops are common for home services and dental; restaurants may mail monthly during launch windows. Repeat the same routes with fresh offers so households recognize your brand without tuning out identical creative. Review results after every drop, then adjust cadence: monthly for launches, quarterly for maintenance campaigns, never identical creative twice in a row.
Can you print and prep EDDM postcards for USPS?
Yes. Order EDDM-sized postcards with compliant bleed and indicia placement on proof. Upload PDFs or request complimentary layout, approve a digital proof, then receive bundle-ready stacks for your post office appointment. Bundle-ready stacks, facing slips, and indicia proofs should be confirmed before your post office appointment so acceptance is smooth.