USPS postage,
sorted out in seconds.

The calculator uses the 2026 USPS pricing schedule for Marketing Mail and First-Class Mail letters, flats, and postcards. Rates include the automation discount tiers (5-digit, 3-digit / AADC, Mixed AADC) and destination-entry drop-ship discounts (NDC, SCF, DDU). Co-mingle pool savings are estimated at 12% over Mixed AADC, the midpoint of the typical 8-15% range. Actual postage depends on piece weight, exact dimensions, machinability surcharges, and any active USPS promotions your mailing qualifies for.

First-Class Mail moves through the postal system with priority handling and faster delivery — typically 2-5 days from induction to in-home — and accepts single pieces with no minimum. USPS Marketing Mail is the cheaper commercial bulk class, requires a minimum of 200 pieces or 50 pounds per mailing, and takes 6-14 days for in-home delivery from local entry. Most acquisition direct mail runs on Marketing Mail because the per-piece postage savings outweigh the slower delivery window. Triggered or time-sensitive pieces typically run First-Class.

Pre-sort to 5-digit AADC versus Mixed AADC saves about $0.052 per piece on Marketing Mail letters in the 2026 rate schedule ($0.339 vs $0.391). On a 100,000-piece drop, that is $5,200 in postage savings — every drop, every time, with no other change to the mailing. Going from single-piece First-Class to 5-digit AADC pre-sort saves $0.139 per piece on letters ($0.730 vs $0.591). The platform that runs your mail decides whether that discount actually flows back to your manifest.

Drop-ship pays off as soon as the truck logistics cost less than the per-piece postage savings, which is typically at drop sizes above 25,000 pieces for SCF entry and above 50,000 for DDU entry. The 2026 schedule prices NDC drop-ship at -$0.044/pc on top of 5-digit, SCF at -$0.062/pc, and DDU at -$0.094/pc. On a 100,000-piece DDU drop, the additional postage savings versus origin entry is roughly $9,400. Drop-ship also cuts the in-home window — DDU pieces typically deliver in 1-3 days from induction.

Yes — co-mingle is specifically the small-mailer unlock. By pooling pieces from multiple drops into a shared sortation pass, co-mingle qualifies small drops for automation rates and drop-ship economics that no single drop could reach alone. As few as 200 pieces from a single sender can ride in a co-mingle pool that hits 5-digit pre-sort and DDU drop-ship volumes. Typical co-mingle savings range from 8-15% over standard Mixed AADC pre-sort. The calculator estimates 12% as the midpoint.

The calculator estimates USPS postage only. It does not include: production and printing cost, paper and substrate cost, ink coverage charges, fulfillment and inserting fees, freight to the postal facility, postal-pickup fees, USPS surcharges for non-machinable or odd-shape pieces, or platform / list / data services costs. For a complete cost estimate including production and platform fees, book a demo with DirectMail.io and we will quote your actual mailing.