How to drive down the cost of your mailing
Deregulation of postal services gives organisations the ability to choose a mailing solution that meets their specific business needs.
Mailing houses
Mailing houses offer a full range of mail fulfilment and direct mail services so that you benefit from the lowest postage rates for your UK and overseas bulk mailings.
Bulk postage rates enable the mailing houses to deliver more cost-effective direct mail campaigns on your behalf and improve the return on your investment. They are able to do this through supply contracts with key post carriers in the UK at the same time as maintaining the Royal Mail delivery service standards.
For international mail they negotiate wholesale trade rates in economy, standard and priority mail classes and tend to use routes that are proven to be successful. Mail can be collected from your business address or sent to a centralised distribution centre.
Typically mailing houses will provide bulk mailing services that include polywrapping, envelope insertion and printing.
Bulk mail postage discounts
If you mail more than 4,000 letters or 1,000 large letters in one go, there are a number of options available to your organisation to meet your criteria.
| Name | Delivery | Description |
| Royal Mail Mailsort 1 | Next working day | Business or Advertising Mail 1st Class |
| Royal Mail Mailsort 2 | Two working days | Business or Advertising Mail 2nd Class |
| Royal Mail Mailsort 3 | Within four working days | Business or Advertising Mail Economy |
| DSA Sorted | Two working days | eg UK Mail, TNT OnePost |
| DSA Unsorted | Three working days | eg UK Mail, TNT OnePost |
Additional savings can be achieved by sorting the mail. Low sort attracts the greatest discounts but requires 90% of your addresses and postcodes to be accurate and design, layout and outer are restricted. High sort generates a lower discount, but the requirements for this service are less strict.
Address verification
Mailing houses can verify your mailing list and improve the quality of your database so that you enjoy the best possible postage discounts because you have made it easier for the Royal Mail to handle your post.
Mailsort enables businesses generating high volumes of mail to access reduced postage rates; these rates vary according to how much easier for the Royal Mail your mail is to handle.
Presstream® is a specialist distribution service for publishers of magazines, newsletters, journals and periodicals that maintains the balance between cost, speed and reliability. The better-detailed sorting you do, the greater the savings you’ll receive from the Royal Mail.
Cleanmail rewards you with discounts of up to 12% for making it easier for the Royal Mail to handle your mail. You have to post over 1000 letters, maximum and minimum envelope sizes apply and your franking machine must be enabled to print your licence number in a defined area of the envelope
Packetpost™ provides cost-effective and reliable postage for packets and large letters; prices are generally lower than standard rates and based on the format and average weight of your mail with minimal preparation.
Packetsort™ requires your packets or large letters to be sorted into geographical areas before mailing.
Packetpost Returns™ is an ideal mail service for providing your customers with a “free” returns service which is charged at a flat rate based on an average weight per item so that you can budget for the provision of this facility.
Courier Services
There is a wide range of courier services to suit most requirements and budgets whose offering differs from Royal Mail services in respect of speed, security, tracking, signature, specialist shipping and tailored express services. Because they provide a premium service, couriers are usually more expensive than standard mail services and so are more suitable for packages, high value items or specialist mailouts.
UK Mail is a national business offering same day courier and overnight parcel delivery, mail and international delivery and is now the UK’s largest independent postal operator.
With a national network of more than 50 sites and 2375 vehicles they are able to offer business customers an unique integrated service with a full range of time-sensitive and secure delivery options for parcels and letters – all of which can be tailored specifically to meet the needs of your business.
Their service levels are regularly over 98% and with UK Mail you’ll see significant costs savings derived from easy-to-prepare documentation, flexible collection times, transparent invoicing and dedicated account managers.