Step 1: How to create your EDDM account
Create your USPS EDDM account
Important! Create your account with the USPS EDDM Service before you design your artwork and order your printing.
You will be given two options. Personal or business. Were not attorneys or accountants so can't say much more beyond common sense. If you have a business that is paying the postage (and your accountant or attorney advises you can do that) or you have a 301C Non-Profit that qualifies, you may want to select the "business" option. Otherwise select the "personal" option. We did that and it has worked well for us with no hassles in ordering online and dropping off the order over the counter in the past year. We collect no funds, claim no deductions and are not a business or 301C.
Tip! Later, you will see that there are two ways you can create your own EDDM mailings and get them to USPS for delivery: Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM Retail) that will be dropped off at a local post office or with EDDM (BMEU) entered at a Business Mail Entry Unit (BMEU), which is a large regional USPS bulk mail location. You can ignore BMEU as typically it is for businesses that provide bulk mail services for others. It requires you get a yearly bulk mail stamp. It deals with much larger repetitive volumes of bulk mail than you will be doing.
Important! Now that you have completed the sign up process go to "Step 2: EDDM routes" to select and save your local postal EDDM carrier delivery routes. You are not making any financial commitment at this time. There is no obligation or hassle. You can change the routes selected at a later time while finalizing your "Pay at the Post Office" order if needed. So why do this now? So you can pre-determine the postal delivery routes and know their total count number before you design your artwork, select a commercial printer and order printing.
EDDM Retail is one flat rate price for all.
For EDDM Retail there is one flat rate price per piece for all persons, non-profits and businesses. You may find some vendors try to tell you that there is a better rate "if you do this or that". We spent much time on the phone. Asked many questions and talked in person to our local USPS. We spoke with salesmen and went to numerous websites and found out that either they are confused or misleading. What they may be referring to is BMEU rates or more likely normal bulk mail rates where you pay them to place the specific residents address on each Gospel Postcard then they drop ship them directly to a BMEU metro location BUT you never see or handle them. If anything goes wrong there is no "stop & correct" button so you are either stuck in the middle or out in the forest with nothing you can do. We were quoted for 5000 postcards in the $600 range for them to do that to the postcards (nearly the cost of the printing), plus other costs. The numbers appeared to be at best the same and at worst more then EDDM. With EDDM Retail YOU walk into the local USPS yourself with your order and so control all the steps, affirm the quality and integrity of the mailing and have last minute control over the mailing if something goes wrong with the artwork or printing. Plus, we think even more importantly, as we count out each Gospel postcard into bundles of 100 we are personally touching them while praying over them to reach the hearts and minds of those who receive them. EDDM is a much better method for this type ministry!
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