Bulk mailing guide · United GMG
Bulk Printing and Mailing: How It Works
Clean the list, print it, sort it, drop it — seven steps under one roof.
Rates effective July 12, 2026 · USPS Notice 123
The quote, first
Send the file and the list. The dates come back in writing.
One quote covers the printing, the list work, and the postage — and it fixes the drop date before any work starts.
01 The run
How does bulk mail work?
Bulk printing and mailing is one run under one roof at United GMG: clean the list, print the piece, sort the mail the way USPS wants it, and drop it. Bulk rates take 200 pieces or 50 pounds, sorted postage runs $0.257 to $0.707 per piece, and First-Class delivers in 1–5 days after the drop.
USPS bulk rates start at 200 pieces or 50 pounds. That is USPS rule DMM 243 §3.1.2.
- Send us your mailing list and your print file.
If you already have printed pieces, send those instead. If not, we print them here.
- We clean your list.
We fix bad addresses, update anyone who has moved, and remove duplicates.
- We print the name and address on every piece.
- We fold the pieces, put them in envelopes, and seal them.
- We sort the mail by ZIP code, the way USPS requires.
This sorting is what gets you the bulk rate: $0.467 per piece instead of $0.82 for a stamp.
- We fill out the USPS paperwork and tag the trays.
Postage is paid to USPS before the mail goes out.
- We hand the trays to USPS at our dock in Mount Prospect.
First-Class Mail arrives in 1–5 days. Marketing Mail takes longer; USPS sets that time by where the mail starts and where it is going.
The quote fixes the day your mail goes out.
One thing we do not do: every mailing here goes to a list of names and addresses. We print EDDM formats, but we do not offer EDDM mailing, the USPS service that delivers to every address on a route without a list.
This page is the detailed walkthrough behind our bulk printing and mailing services in Chicago — quantities, list formats, and the full service scope live there.
Step 03, live — 200 pieces or 15,000, same pass.
02 The dates
How long does a 10,000-piece mailing take?
The honest answer is a schedule, not a slogan: the turnaround is set by three dates fixed in the estimate, and once the mailing drops, First-Class arrives on USPS’s 1–5 day service range while Marketing Mail follows the standard for its ZIP pair.
- Date 01File and pieces in hand
- Date 02Proof approved
- Date 03The drop
The clock starts when the list and the pieces are both in hand — customers ask for “the turnaround once the information and graphics are given to you,” and that is exactly where it is measured from. Nothing runs before you approve the proof, so the fastest schedules belong to mailers who review it the day it arrives. Tell us the date that matters and the schedule is built backward from it.
“If we get you the artwork on Friday or Monday, can we drop on Tuesday?”
A real customer email — and the reason the dates are fixed in writing03 The postage
How much is bulk mail postage?
Sorted mail pays less per piece than retail — these are USPS’s own published prices at the Mixed sort tier, the tier most mailings qualify for.
| Mail class | Per piece | ×10,000 pieces |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing Mail, nonprofit | $0.257 | $2,570 |
| Marketing Mail, commercial | $0.467 | $4,670 |
| First-Class, presorted | $0.707 | $7,070 |
| First-Class retail (the stamp) | $0.82 | $8,200 |
Rates effective July 12, 2026 · USPS Notice 123 · postcards presort at $0.495
Deeper sorts price lower than Mixed; the difference shows up in the postage statement, not in a promise. Postage is prepaid to USPS before the mailing drops — on our permit, or on your own permit if you have one — and it passes through at cost on our invoices. What the whole job costs, printing and list work included, is the subject of direct mail pricing — print, list work, and postage together; for which class fits which mailing, keep our guide to USPS mail classes next to this one.
04 The floor
What is the minimum for bulk mail?
Lower than most people expect: 200 pieces, or 50 pounds, whichever your mailing reaches first.
USPS bulk mail requirements · United GMG · Mount Prospect, IL
- Marketing Mail minimum
- 200 pieces or 50 pounds per mailing — USPS’s own eligibility rule, Domestic Mail Manual 243 §3.1.2.
- First-Class presort minimum
- 500 pieces — above it, both classes are in play and the choice is speed against rate.
- Under 200 pieces
- There is no bulk rate to chase — the job mails at retail or metered First-Class. Bring it anyway; small recurring mailings are how long programs start.
- Postage, before the drop
- Prepaid to USPS before the mail drops — on our permit, or on your own permit if you have one.
- At acceptance
- USPS verifies the mailing against its postage statement and tray tags — the paperwork from step 06 is what gets the discounted rate accepted.
The floor is per mailing, not per year — a 500-piece newsletter qualifies every time it mails.
Fold, fill, seal — checked against the proof.
05 The handoff
How do you send bulk mail?
You send three things. The seven steps above do everything else.
The piece
A print-ready file for our presses — setting up bleed in a print-ready file covers the specs — or printed pieces from any printer, shipped flat with a count on each carton.
The list
A spreadsheet, exactly as you have it. Cleaning is step 02 — list cleaning and data management is its own discipline here.
“Please run NCOA and check for duplicates.” — how customers ask for it, verbatimThe dates
The date that matters — an event, a board meeting, a renewal cycle — and whether it is firm. The schedule is built backward from it and fixed in the estimate.
06 Questions we get
Bulk mail questions, answered
Q.01
What is bulk mail?
Bulk mail is mail prepared in quantity — at least 200 pieces or 50 pounds per mailing — and pre-sorted to USPS standards in exchange for a lower per-piece rate. The mailer does the sorting, traying, and paperwork; USPS prices that work back as the discount.
Q.02
What is presorted mail?
Presorted mail is mail sorted the way USPS wants it before it arrives — grouped by ZIP, trayed in delivery order, tagged, and documented. The sort is why a commercial letter mails at $0.467 instead of the $0.82 retail stamp: USPS skips work it would otherwise do itself.
Q.03
How do you bulk mail postcards?
The same seven steps, with one size rule: a presorted First-Class card up to 6 by 9 inches (0.009 inch thick or more) mails at the card rate of $0.495; bigger cards price as letters. Marketing Mail has no separate card rate at all — a Marketing Mail postcard simply prices as a letter, $0.467 commercial.
Q.04
Is there a nonprofit bulk mail rate?
Yes — authorized nonprofits mail Marketing Mail letters at $0.257 per piece against $0.467 commercial, a saving that compounds across an appeal season. The same 200-piece floor applies, and we prepare the mailing under your nonprofit authorization.
Request a quote for your mailing
Attach the piece or its working file, the list or roughly how many records it holds, and the date that matters. The quote comes back in writing with the printing, list work, and postage priced — and the drop date on it.
