What is commingling and why should you be using it?

Commingling has been around for many years and until now was mainly used as a way for smaller mailers to presort their mail. The reason for its increased popularity is due to the recent rate changes for BMC and SCF discounts. As a result, it’s now more financially attractive for most mailers to commingle their mail.

So to define commingling: it’s the act of taking your direct mail and sorting it with other company’s mail to qualify for postage discounts.

In theory, this can apply to nationwide mailings of all sizes, but usually really large mailings (1 million plus pieces) already have a significant portion of their mailing going to the BMC or SCF level. The portion that isn’t, however, would benefit from commingling.

The way it works is this:

You take your mail file and sort it into zip code sequence. Then the mail house will image only the bar code and address information on to the addressing panel. There is no Optional Endorsement Line imaged.

Your vendor will then pick up the mail and put it on sorting equipment that takes each individual piece of mail and sorts it to either the BMC or SCF level based on what they’ve received from other mailers. As a result, this gives you deeper postal penetration and discounts.

Furthermore, here’s a PDF that gives you some visual examples of how commingling affects delivery.

Download the PDF Here.

And we also recommend you watch our 5-minute commingling video.

If you aren’t currently commingling your mail, it’s definitely worth speaking with your print and mail vendor because the postage savings can be substantial.

If you’d like to speak to us about what your postage rate would be using commingling, please contact Matt Cote: 973-305-1500 x207 or matt (at) ballantine.com.

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We surveyed our clients and marketing contacts regarding what direct mail formats are currently working for them in 2008. We then compiled the data into a 10-page PDF report.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

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If you haven’t done so already, you should consider incorporating drop shipping into your direct mail plans.

Drop shipping is the act of sending qualified mail to either a BMC or SCF surpassing your local post office as the point of entry. This results in postal cost savings.

The sample analysis below shows the difference of postage between a mailing being shipped local entry (your local post office) and the same mailing going out as a drop shipment (drop shipping). 

As you can see, the postage savings can be pretty substantial.  We chose a job that was prepared and mailed as a drop shipment for this analysis.

Drop shipment:                            Local Entry:

Quantity: 1,250,026 pieces              Quantity: 1,250,026 pieces

Drop ship penetration                      Drop ship penetration

BMC: 52.82%                                 BMC: 0%

SCF: 43.09%                                 SCF: 0%

Local: 4.09%                                 Local: 100%

Postage: $240,022.15                     Postage: $284,433.04

This particular mailing has a postage savings of $44,410.89 less freight preparation and fuel surcharge.  In most cases these costs remain less than half of the postal savings.

If you have any questions about drop shipping, please contact Matt Cote: matt (at) ballantine.com