EDDM cost guide · Indianapolis · 2026

EDDM Cost in Indianapolis: What Every Door Direct Mail Costs Per Piece in 2026

Q: What size does an EDDM postcard have to be?

EDDM pieces must be USPS flats: longer than 10.5 inches, taller than 6.125 inches, or thicker than 0.25 inches, and no larger than 15 x 12 x 0.75 inches. EDDM Retail pieces can weigh up to 3.3 oz. Popular sizes are 6.5 x 9 and 8.5 x 11 inches. A 4 x 6 inch postcard is too small.

Short answer: USPS postage for Every Door Direct Mail is $0.260 per piece at a Post Office (EDDM Retail, effective July 12, 2026), or $0.259 when a mail house enters it at the local Post Office. Postage for 5,000 pieces is $1,300. Printing is quoted separately because it depends on size, paper and quantity.

Get an EDDM Estimate Call 317-635-2282

Rates verified with USPS on October 21, 2026

$0.260per piece, EDDM Retail at the Post Office

$0.259per piece, entered by a mail house (BMEU)

$1,300postage for 5,000 pieces at the Retail rate

USPS postage

EDDM postage rates for 2026

Postage is set by USPS and is the same everywhere in the country. What changes the price is how the mail enters the postal system.

EDDM option	Postage per piece	Who it fits	Limits
EDDM Retail (drop at the local Post Office)	$0.260	Small local campaigns you prepare yourself	200 to 5,000 pieces per ZIP Code per day, flats up to 3.3 oz, no permit
EDDM BMEU, delivered to the local Post Office (DDU entry)	$0.259	Larger campaigns run by a mail house with a permit	200 piece minimum, no daily limit, flats up to 4 oz at this price
EDDM BMEU, entered at a processing plant (no entry discount)	$0.309	Very large or multi-ZIP drops entered in one place	Same as above
Nonprofit EDDM BMEU (DDU entry)	$0.137	Authorized nonprofits mailing under a permit	Requires USPS nonprofit authorization

Source: USPS Notice 123 price list, effective July 12, 2026, and the USPS Every Door Direct Mail page. Verified October 21, 2026. USPS usually changes prices each January and July.

Do the math

EDDM postage by quantity

EDDM postage is a flat price per piece, so the math is simple: multiply the delivery count on your routes by the rate. Here is the postage for common campaign sizes.

Pieces	EDDM Retail ($0.260)	BMEU at local Post Office ($0.259)	Nonprofit BMEU ($0.137)
1,000	$260.00	$259.00	$137.00
2,500	$650.00	$647.50	$342.50
5,000	$1,300.00	$1,295.00	$685.00
10,000	$2,600.00*	$2,590.00	$1,370.00
25,000	$6,500.00*	$6,475.00	$3,425.00

*EDDM Retail allows 5,000 pieces per ZIP Code per day, so larger Retail campaigns must be split across ZIP Codes or days. BMEU mailings have no daily limit. Postage only; printing and mail prep are quoted per job. Rates from USPS Notice 123, effective July 12, 2026.

What changes the rest of your EDDM cost

Size

Larger pieces (8.5" x 11", 6.25" x 11") cost more to print but not more to mail, as long as they stay at or under 3.3 oz for Retail.

Paper and coating

EDDM pieces must be at least 0.007" thick. Heavier cover stock feels better in hand and survives the carrier bag.

Design

Bring print ready art, or have us design it.

Who does the prep

Bundling, facing slips and the Post Office trip take hours if you do them yourself. When we print the job, we handle all of it.

Number of Post Offices

Routes in different ZIP Codes are delivered by different Post Offices. We make every drop, so a spread out campaign costs you no extra trips.

Step by step

How to choose your EDDM routes, step by step

EDDM does not mail to a list. It mails to every address on a USPS carrier route, so picking the right routes is the most important decision in the campaign. The free USPS EDDM Online Tool does the mapping. Here is how to use it well.

Start with your business address, not a ZIP Code

Search by your full street address. That unlocks the Radius menu next to the search box, so you can set how far out to look and see the routes closest to your door first. Searching a city instead lets you pick up to five ZIP Codes at once. Searching a ZIP Code shows every route in it.

1 Your business address. 2 The Radius menu. 3 Routes inside the red circle are closest to your door. Example search: our plant at 929 W 16th Street.

Click Show Table and read the columns

The map is good for seeing shape. The table is where you decide. Each row is one carrier route, labeled like 46202-C001 (ZIP Code plus route).

EDDM route table for ZIP Code 46202 showing residential, business, total, age, household size, income and cost columns — 1 Total is how many pieces to print. 2 Average household income. 3 Estimated postage for the route. Route 46202-C002: 1,087 addresses, $282.62 postage.

Column	What it tells you	How to use it
Residential	Home addresses on the route	Your real audience if you sell to households
Business	Business addresses on the route	High counts mean office or retail corridors
Total	All active delivery points	This is how many pieces you must print for that route
Age	Share of the route in an age range (default 25 to 44)	Click the header to set your own range
Size	Average household size	Bigger households point to families
Income	Average household income	Match it to your price point
Cost	Estimated postage for that route	Postage only, before printing

Age, size and income come from U.S. Census data, so treat them as neighborhood averages, not facts about every household.

Filter out what you do not want

In Map view, open the menus along the top of the results. The Route menu lets you include or skip City routes, Rural/Highway routes and PO Boxes. The Residential menu lets you choose Residential Routes Only, or Residential and Business Routes. Most consumer offers (restaurants, dentists, home services) should start with Residential only.

1 Open the Residential menu. 2 Choose Residential Routes Only to skip business addresses. Selected routes show in blue on the map.
Sort, then pick whole routes

Click a column header to sort it. One catch: the tool sorts Income as text, so a $105.79k route can land below a $36.06k one. Scan the whole column rather than trusting the top row, then check the box on each route you want. You must take a whole route; USPS does not allow part of a route. If a route is mostly businesses you do not want, skip it entirely.

1 Check the box on each whole route. 2 The Order Summary updates as you go: 3 routes, 2,841 pieces, $738.66 postage.
Watch the Order Summary

The Order Summary keeps a running count of routes, delivery addresses, Post Office drop offs and approximate postage. EDDM Retail needs at least 200 pieces and allows up to 5,000 per ZIP Code per day. Go over 5,000 and the tool asks you to remove routes, or the mailing has to go in through a Business Mail Entry Unit with a permit.
Check your Post Office drop offs

Click Post Office Drop-Offs in the summary. It lists every Post Office you must visit and which routes go to each one. Routes are delivered by the Post Office that serves them, so a campaign spread across several ZIP Codes can mean several stops. If Printing Partners is printing your job, those stops are ours; this list just shows you where your mail will enter.

1 The Post Office that delivers these routes. 2 Each route and its postage at that office. When we print your job, this is our stop, not yours.
Save the order and print your counts

Sign in with a free USPS.com account to save the order. Write down the route IDs and the Total count for each one. Your printer needs that total, plus a few spares, before anything goes to press.

Screenshots: USPS EDDM Online Tool, October 2026. USPS updates the tool from time to time, so labels may shift.

Route picking tips from our mail floor

Mail the same routes more than once. One drop rarely does the job. Budget for two or three mailings to the same routes a few weeks apart rather than one mailing to three times as many routes.

Stay close to the door. For restaurants, salons and service businesses, the routes nearest your location almost always respond best. Start with the Radius menu at a mile or two.

Order for Total, not Residential. Even if you choose Residential only, print to the count USPS gives for your selection, plus a few extra for damage and samples.

Need exact people, not neighborhoods? EDDM cannot target by name, renter versus owner or past customers. That is targeted list mail, which costs more in postage but wastes fewer pieces.

Press to mail carrier

We get it to the Post Office

When Printing Partners prints your EDDM job, we take it the rest of the way. You pick the routes (or we pick them with you), and we handle everything between the press and the mail carrier:

Bundle each route in stacks of 50 to 100 pieces, no taller than 6", the way USPS requires.
Put a facing slip on every bundle with the route and piece count.
Prepare the USPS mailing statement and paperwork.
Deliver the bundles to every Post Office that serves your routes, on schedule.

No driving across town, no counting bundles at the counter. If your routes span several ZIP Codes and several Post Offices, that is our trip, not yours.

Will it qualify?

EDDM size rules (USPS flats)

Must exceed at least one: 10.5" long, 6.125" high, or 0.25" thick
No larger than 15" long, 12" high, 0.75" thick
At least 0.007" thick and 3.5" high
EDDM Retail: 3.3 oz maximum
Popular sizes: 6.5" x 9", 8.5" x 11", 4.25" x 14" menus

A standard 4" x 6" postcard does not qualify. Check any size with the Mailpiece Size Checker in the EDDM tool.

Sample EDDM postcard showing the Local Postal Customer line and EDDM Retail indicia in the upper right

Every piece needs the EDDM Retail indicia above and to the right of the address block, and is addressed to "Local Postal Customer". See our indicia guide and mailing design guide.

Your call

Do it yourself or have us handle it

Task	EDDM Retail, you prep it	Printing Partners handles it
Route selection	You, in the USPS tool	We pick routes with you
Printing	Any printer	Printed in our Indianapolis plant
Bundling and facing slips	You	Us
Post Office drop off	You, one trip per Post Office	Us
Quantity limit	5,000 per ZIP Code per day	Larger drops entered as a BMEU mailing, no daily limit
Postage	$0.260 per piece	As low as $0.259 per piece

Straight from USPS

Official USPS links for EDDM

USPS EDDM Retail support: 1-877-747-6249.

FAQ

EDDM cost questions

How much does EDDM cost per piece in 2026?

USPS postage for EDDM Retail is $0.260 per piece, effective July 12, 2026. EDDM entered through a Business Mail Entry Unit at the local Post Office is $0.259 per piece. Printing and mail prep are extra.

How much does it cost to send 5,000 EDDM postcards?

Postage for 5,000 EDDM postcards is $1,300 at the $0.260 Retail rate, or $1,295 at the $0.259 BMEU rate. Printing and mail prep are added on top and depend on the size, paper and finish you choose.

Do I need a mailing permit for EDDM?

No, not for EDDM Retail. You pay postage online or at the Post Office and drop off up to 5,000 pieces per ZIP Code per day. Larger mailings go through a Business Mail Entry Unit and are paid with a USPS Marketing Mail permit.

What is the minimum for an EDDM mailing?

EDDM Retail requires at least 200 pieces per ZIP Code, unless the routes in that ZIP Code total fewer than 200 addresses. You must mail to every address on each route you choose.

How do I choose EDDM routes in Indianapolis?

Use the free USPS EDDM Online Tool. Search by your business address, open the route table, filter to Residential only if you sell to households, then sort by income, age or household size and select whole routes. The tool shows the delivery count, estimated postage and which Post Office each route must be dropped at.

What size does an EDDM postcard have to be?

EDDM pieces must be USPS flats: longer than 10.5", taller than 6.125", or thicker than 0.25", and no larger than 15" x 12" x 0.75". EDDM Retail pieces can weigh up to 3.3 oz. Popular sizes are 6.5" x 9" and 8.5" x 11". A 4" x 6" postcard is too small.

Which Post Office do I take my EDDM mail to?

EDDM mail goes to the Post Office that delivers the routes you selected, and the EDDM tool lists each one. When Printing Partners prints your job, you do not take it anywhere: we bundle it and deliver it to every Post Office on your order.

Ready when you are

Get an exact EDDM price for your routes

Send us your routes, or just your address and target area, and we will quote printing, prep and postage together.

Request an EDDM Estimate Call 317-635-2282

Printing Partners · 929 W 16th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202 · Also see bulk mailing rates and print and mail services.

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EDDM Cost in Indianapolis: What Every Door Direct Mail Costs Per Piece in 2026

EDDM postage rates for 2026