Cheapest way to send 20'000 letters - one off

[Wing Commander]

Hi all,

I might have the need to send out about 20'000 letters in one hit but spread out over 3 months or so. This is not an ongoing requirement - just a one off at the moment. Are there any companies I can just send a box of letters to and they frank them and post them? Or is it better to lease a franking machine myself for a few months and do that.

Basically, I want the least hassle and least cost (happy to weigh up the trade off between these two points as they are unlikely to happen simultaneously). Items being posted are 2nd class letters, nothing more than one sheet.

If anyone knows the options available to me and approximate costs and places to go to, I am all ears

Thanks

[Mr Overheads]

Check out the various online mail solutions e.g. iMail by UK Mail

Basically you upload a pdf then they print, fold, stuff, frank, sort, post for you and usually less than the cost of a stamp.

[Jonathan27]

Take a look at Downstream mail, if yo can sort by location you stand a chance of making savings

[Frimley111R]

Hello WC, you can get mailing discounts but, iirc, you'll need to mail 5000+ each time. You can also get discounts if the addresses match the Royal Mail postal address file. And there are other discounts you may be able to get too.

The simplest way to do this (I used to manage 1.5 million p.a.) is to give it to a fulfillment company. They will print and post it all for you. All you need to do is give them the data and letter text. I have some good contacts here and so if you want to do this please send a pm.

[coetzeeh]

Mr Overheads said:

Check out the various online mail solutions e.g. iMail by UK Mail

Basically you upload a pdf then they print, fold, stuff, frank, sort, post for you and usually less than the cost of a stamp.

+1 for Imail - cost you approx 34p per item all in.

[Jakg]

Is there a similar solution for one-off mailings?

PC2Paper quote £0.74 to post a single-page letter (stamp is £0.50 on it's own).

24p to print, fold, pack and post isn't bad including the envelope and paper.

[Broccers]

It all depends on your database quality so ignore the above costs until you've established that factor.

This is what we mainly do for people day to day so if you are stuck drop me an email.

[JustinP1]

Jakg said:

Is there a similar solution for one-off mailings?

PC2Paper quote £0.74 to post a single-page letter (stamp is £0.50 on it's own).

24p to print, fold, pack and post isn't bad including the envelope and paper.

The going rate for large quantities is approximately 20p for postage and 6p to supply and print the envelopes from your database, as well as of course getting them in the post.

[Jakg]

JustinP1 said:

The going rate for large quantities is approximately 20p for postage and 6p to supply and print the envelopes from your database, as well as of course getting them in the post.

I should of said that I meant one-off as in individual letters - i.e. not bulk (I know the exact opposite of this thread).

[Wing Commander]

Just to follow this up as I have been crap - thank you to all of you for the suggestions. Based on the costs, I have decided that this method of advertising is going to have to wait.

Thanks again