Many Printers are and have been adding mailing to their list of services. Some are equipped to process mail in-house and many outsource this part once the media is printed. This marriage of the two industries is a relatively new concept mostly brought on by the recent economic downturn. Seeing their profits fall during these hard economic times and watching as their competition are continually closing their doors, a sense of urgency has led them to diversify as much as possible. This means purchasing additional machinery and software as well as hiring new employees or cross-training existing ones and the most daunting of all, becoming well versed in the overwhelming amount of ever changing postal rules.
Where it is appealing to utilize the “One Stop Shop” concept, you could be jeopardizing your marketing efforts by making this choice.
We at Personal Touch Mailing have had to correct many mistakes after receiving printed materials from printers, designers and or customers that were unaware of applicable postal regulations. We have heard many stories of mistakes, delays and outrageous pricing from customers and once we have had a chance to review the costs have found many times that they have paid much higher postage rates due to using a non-local mailing firm. The post office awards you special postage discounts for mailing your local mail locally. We find this “hidden” expenditure the most with internet postcard printers who offer mailing and are mailing from out of state.
In my opinion it is very important to have a reputable mail house quality check your printing before it goes to print to ensure that your expensive media meets all the postal mailing requirements and is optimized in its design to fully take advantage of all postage discounts. I have seen many printed flyers and postcards get throw in the trash or suffer much higher postage and labor costs due to faulty designs and printing.
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