How Much Does It Cost to Rent a Mailing List?

Key Takeaways

• Most consumer mailing lists start around $80.00 – $130.00 per thousand names (CPM).
• Most lists have additional selects, segments, and processing fees that might increase the total cost.
• The final price the mailer pays will depend on the list, quantity of names ordered, and any optional data selected.

Introduction

Before deciding upon what your next mailing campaign is going to be and selecting a mailing list, it’s important to figure out the logistics. What is the budget going to be? How many mail pieces are you wanting to mail out? Those are just a few of the important questions that you’re going to ask yourself. Once the budget for the campaign has been figured out, the next question is this: What is the overall cost to rent a mailing list?

Unfortunately, there isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” type of pricing when it comes to finding out how much it will cost to rent a mailing list upfront. Mailing lists are going to come in all different shapes, sizes, and prices. The final price of a list can vary on the list itself, the number of names ordered, and any selects, segments, or additional fees that are ordered for the campaign. Because one of the most important parts of your campaign is choosing a mailing list (see our article on how to select a mailing list here), should you choose a cheaper mailing list? What about a more expensive mailing list?

What Are the Costs Associated With a Mailing List?

There are several terms and additional definitions that can make reading pricing on mailing lists difficult if you’re unfamiliar with the terminology. The base cost is going to be in units “M”, the roman numeral for one thousand. For example, a list that costs “$100.00/ M” will cost one hundred dollars per thousand names as the base price.

There are also other criteria, otherwise known as “selects”, that the mailer can choose to add to their purchase. For example, a handful of additions can be to know the audience’s income, gender, age, interests, hobbies, and net worth. These selects can usually cost anywhere from $5.00/ M to $20.00/ M. Depending on the mailer’s target audience for their mail piece, purchasing these selects could prove to be useful. These selects help mailers narrow their target audience based on characteristics, including age, income, gender, net worth, hobbies, and interests. While these selects increase the overall cost to rent a mailing list, they are often able to improve targeting by reducing the number of individuals who are unlikely to respond to the mail piece. It can be worth considering these selects and segments as you consider how much it will cost to rent a mailing list that you’re looking into. To learn more about mailing list selects, consider reading Geon’s article on what mailing list selects are.

Example: If a mailer wanted to add Net Worth, Age, and Income to a mailing list that already cost $100.00/ M, their new total cost would be $135.00/ M.

Are There Any Other Costs Associated With Renting a Mailing List?

Yes, there are a couple of other expenses that need to be applied when calculating the overall cost to rent a mailing list. The first one are active individuals within a certain time period. For example, you might see the term “Monthly/Quarterly Hotline” on certain lists under the “segments” category. If you add these, that can add individuals who have been active within that time period, potentially boosting engagement with your mail piece.

Other costs include a delivery fee that is common on most orders, running charges, which are the costs that incur to run and produce the names for the order, which is usually in increments of one thousand names at a time. If a mailer places an order from a mailing list and decides to cancel it, some mailers will enforce a cancellation fee. Finally, we have key coding, which are unique codes assigned to every name on your order, which allows the mailer to see which mailing list or segment has gotten a response. This charge usually is incremented in one thousand name increments as well.

Should I Add Any Selects or Segments to My Order?

While the running charges, delivery fee, and key coding aren’t optional add ons for most mailers, the additional demographical data and actives usually are. The choice of whether or not to add these extra costs usually comes down to the mailing campaign that the mailer is running. For example, if the campaign is for a retirement plan, it would make sense to get the age of the individuals that the mail piece is being sent to, as well as potentially the net worth.

Why Do Some Lists Cost More Than Others?

Mailing lists are made up of individuals or businesses that all have a certain number of shared characteristics. As the number of traits that the group have in common grows, the list becomes more desirable, since the remainder of the targeted group would be more likely to interact with the mail piece. If a mailing list has a different price or count than other similar lists, it can be a good idea to reach out to the list manager to confirm details about the list. A good rule of thumb to remember is that, if a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is. For more info on mailing lists, check out Geon’s article on mailing lists.

Is There a Way to Get a Discount on Orders?

Some lists will offer what is known as a net name deal. Net name pricing is when, after a mailer has purchased a certain quantity of names, the future names will come at a discount. For example, Geon will offer an 85% net name after a quantity of 100,000 names have been purchased on an individual list. Net name pricing allows the list owner to reward larger orders by reducing the cost per name once a purchase threshold has been passed. Not every list offers net name pricing, but if a mailer is thinking about ordering a large quantity of an individual mailing list, this could be something to keep in mind to help reduce costs.

Conclusion

Mailing list pricing can be difficult to understand upon first glance, but they typically fall into a few categories: the base mailing list price, optional selects and segments, and fees that go along with processing and delivering the order. By understanding these costs, mailers are able to accurately build their campaign in order get the campaign to align with their budget, without having any surprise fees at the end of the campaign. Understanding these costs will make it easier to budget your campaign and choose options that provide the greatest value for your marketing goals. If you’re unsure on which mailing lists, segments, what selects are worth paying for during your mailing campaign, or calculating what the overall cost to rent a mailing list will be, we would be happy to help you.