Overview of EDDM Size Guidelines

It’s confusing for a marketer to choose the right sized postcard for an Every Door Direct Mail campaign. We’ve put together this primer on the EDDM size guidelines to make it easier to pick a standard postcard size for your marketing campaign.

A mail piece’s dimensions and weight can affect a campaign’s class of mail and postage rates. The United States Postal Service’s Domestic Mail Manual is over 1,300 pages long and isn’t necessarily an enjoyable read. Following these notes regarding eddm size guidelines will make sure you’re not caught by surprise at the post office.

EDDM Retail’s Size requirements

The USPS requirements state that postcards mailed through Every Door Direct Mail need to meet the following guidelines:

  1. Minimum Size: Be greater than either 6 1/8 inches high or 10.5 inches long on one side.

  2. Maximum Dimensions: No side can be longer than 15 inches or 12 inches high.

  3. Weight: Cannot weigh more than 3.03 ounces

  4. Thickness: Must be thicker than 0.007″ and less than .75″ thick.

Postcards that do not fit within these guidelines are not eligible for EDDM rates.

Fun Fact: You can skip the first guideline for EDDM Retail if the mailpiece is larger than ¼ thick. It still must meet the requirements for maximum size, weight, and thickness. This is an interesting postal hack that we haven’t seen a marketer use before. A direct mailer could potentially bulk mail floor samples or blocks of gold to everyone on a carrier route. Let us know if you want to try, and we’ll partner with you on a test!

Illustration of EDDM Size Restrictions

What are the popular EDDM Postcard Sizes?

More than a hundred million postcards are sent through Grow Mail’s EDDM Map Tool annually. We’ve used anonymized data from the postcard marketing campaign to identify the three most popular EDDM sizes:

Size Doesn’t Matter for EDDM Retail Rates

Popular
EDDM Sizes

Surface Area

Postage per 1,000

Postage Per Inch

Standard: 6.25” x 9”

56.25”

$180

$3.20

Large: 6.25” x 11”

68.75”

$180

$2.62

Jumbo: 8.5” x 11”

93.5”

$180

$1.93

Oversized: 12” x 15”

180”

$180

$1.00

*Rates based on 2020 EDDM Retail Rates for 1,000 pieces

Postage can account for more than 80% of the costs for a postcard marketing campaign. So spending an extra penny on a larger sized postcard is a great way to increase your campaign’s performance and lower your cost per conversion.

A woman compares two Every Door Direct Mail postcards
An 12×15 postcard is the largest-sized mailpiece you can mail through Every Door Direct Mail. The oversized postcard’s postage is the same rate as a 6×9 postcard despite being nearly double the size.

Can EDDM Be Folded?

Yes, you can mail a folded brochure through Every Door Direct Mail. The brochure must weigh less than 3.03 ounces and meet the minimum and maximum EDDM size requirements.

Example of a brochure that can be mailed through Every Door Direct Mail
Direct Mailers can fold brochures in order to meet the size requirements for Every Door Direct Mail

We frequently print, fold, and mail 8.5 x 11″ and 11×17″ brochures on behalf of clients. A selection of brochure templates in several different sizes are available here.

EDDM compliant postcard Templates

We’ve put together templates for the most popular postcard sizes. Use them as a foundation for your design to make sure that you mail postcards that are within EDDM’s guidelines:

  • Standard Postcard: 6.25” x 9”:
    PDF

  • Large Postcard: 6.25” x 11”
    PDF

  • Jumbo Postcard: 8.5” x 11”:
    PDF

  • Oversized Postcard: 12” x 15”
    PDF

Don’t have a designer or time to make your own design? You can also use one of our free postcard designs or have one of our designers take care of it for you.

Examples of four popular postcard sizes that meet EDDM guidelines