The USPS offers significant discounts for third class bulk mailings. Various levels of discount are available based on area saturation, barcoding, address cleaning, including +4 and CR info, and physical sorting.

Regardless, it is almost always cheaper to mail less pieces, but having experience in direct mail, I know a 1 or 2% hit rate is considered good.

Even at a discounted rate, they are paying at $.173 per piece + paper + envelope + labor so the math is hard to justify.



>>I've been wondering the same. If we assume past, current, and future subscribers are being bombarded, the mailing costs plus equipment plus people plus NYC office space must add up to a sizeable figure at some point.
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>>>I received 4 renewal notices this last week, not to mention all the notices before that. It may be cheaper just to mail out the magazine at that rate.
>>>
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>Don't know if it's the same in the US, but up here bulk mailers get a greatly discounted rate if they send out more than, say, 5,000 pieces in a mailing. I imagine mass printings have similar discounts.
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>So, it may actually cost less money to bombard 5,500 people, even if 2,000 of them are "dead", than to cull the list and send just to the "active" 3,500.