How much does direct mail cost in 2026?
The honest answer: direct mail can cost anywhere from $300 to $50,000 for a single campaign, depending on the format, audience, and whether you're going solo or sharing the card with other businesses. Let's break it down so you can pick the right tier for your business.
Cost components
Every direct-mail campaign has four cost components:
- Design — getting the creative built. $0–$2,000.
- Printing — physical production of the cards. $0.10–$0.50/card.
- Mailing list — only for targeted mail. $0–$1,500.
- Postage — USPS delivery. $0.18–$0.70/card.
Cost by format
Solo standard postcard (your own card, 3,000 homes)
- Design: $300–$800
- Printing: $400–$700 (3,000 cards on 14pt glossy)
- Postage: $540 (EDDM-retail @ 18¢/piece)
- List: $0 (EDDM doesn't need one)
- Total: $1,240–$2,040
Solo first-class targeted mail (3,000-home list)
- Design: $300–$800
- Printing: $400–$700
- List: $150–$1,500 (depends on data quality)
- Postage: $1,950 (first-class @ 65¢/piece)
- Total: $2,800–$4,950
Shared postcard (Banjo Tech Standard tier)
- Design: included
- Printing: included
- Postage: included (USPS EDDM)
- List: not needed
- Category exclusivity: included
- Total: $300
Shared postcard premium (Banjo Tech Premium double-wide)
- Same all-inclusive bundle
- Twice the visual real estate
- Total: $500
Shared postcard half-page (Banjo Tech Half-page)
- Same all-inclusive bundle
- Half of the front of the card — dominant visual presence
- Total: $1,000
Cost per home reached
A more useful number than total spend:
- Banjo Tech Standard: 10¢ per home
- Banjo Tech Premium: ~17¢ per home
- Banjo Tech Half-page: ~33¢ per home
- Solo EDDM (typical): 40–70¢ per home
- Solo first-class targeted: $0.93–$1.65 per home
- Door hangers (manual delivery): 50¢–$2 per home
Why shared is so much cheaper
Three businesses on a card splits the design and printing fixed costs three ways. Ten businesses on a card (which is roughly what we run) splits them ten ways. The postage, also fixed per-piece, ends up split per-business too. Add category exclusivity (so you still get to be the only plumber on the card) and you're basically getting solo-card results at a tenth of solo-card cost.
What about "cheap" postcards from online printers?
Print-only services (VistaPrint, GotPrint, etc.) advertise postcards at $0.05–$0.15 per card printed. That's real, but it doesn't include design, postage, or list/route work. By the time you add EDDM postage, design help, and your time, the all-in is in the same $1,500–$2,500 range as any other solo campaign.
What about door hangers?
Door hangers run 50¢–$2 per home, depending on whether you walk the neighborhood yourself or hire a delivery service. Cheaper to print, more expensive to deliver per piece, and fewer end up actually read because most get pulled off the handle and recycled before anyone looks at them. A USPS-delivered postcard tends to get read; a door hanger tends to get tossed.
What about digital ads?
See Direct mail vs. Facebook ads and Direct mail vs. Google ads for the side-by-side. TL;DR: Facebook is cheaper per impression on paper but the impressions are worth less. Google is the right tool for high-urgency search but $80–$400 per booked job is normal in home services.
Summary table
| Format | Total cost | Per home |
|---|---|---|
| Banjo Tech Standard | $300 | 10¢ |
| Banjo Tech Premium | $500 | ~17¢ |
| Banjo Tech Half-page | $1,000 | ~33¢ |
| Solo EDDM postcard | $1,240–$2,040 | 40–70¢ |
| Solo first-class targeted | $2,800–$4,950 | $0.93–$1.65 |
| Door hangers | $1,500–$6,000 | 50¢–$2 |
For a local service business looking to start with direct mail, a Banjo Tech shared card is dramatically cheaper than every other physical option, and competitive with — usually better than — comparable digital spend.