What is EDDM? Every Door Direct Mail, explained.

EDDM is a USPS service that delivers a single physical mailer — usually a large postcard — to every household and business on a selected USPS carrier route. There are no addresses on the piece, no list to buy, and no permit required for EDDM Retail (up to 5,000 pieces per ZIP per day).

1. Pick the USPS carrier routes you want to reach. Each route averages 400–600 households. You can pick routes by neighborhood, by radius from your business, or by demographic profile from USPS's free EDDM tool.

2. Design a mailer that meets EDDM size requirements (between 6.25×11 and 12×15 inches).

3. Print, bundle by carrier route, and drop the bundles at the local post office with the required EDDM facing slip.

4. USPS delivers your mailer with the rest of that day's mail to every active address on the route, usually within 3–10 business days.

EDDM Retail postage is approximately 21¢ per piece. Print on heavy gloss stock runs 6–15¢ depending on size and quantity. Design varies widely but is typically a few hundred dollars for a one-off solo mailer. A solo 5,000-piece EDDM campaign all-in lands at $1,400–$2,200. A shared group mailer (where multiple non-competing businesses split a single piece) brings the per-business cost down to around $499 for 5,000 households.

EDDM works when your buyer profile is roughly "anyone in this geography" — restaurants, home services, dentists, salons, gyms, retail, real estate farming, auto repair, local services of every kind. It does not work when you need to reach a specific person, a specific income tier, or a specific business segment — that's a job for targeted addressed mail with a purchased list.

High-rise apartment ZIPs (delivery to community mailboxes dilutes impact), B2B campaigns targeting specific company sizes or titles, and any campaign where the offer requires personalization or addressing the recipient by name. For those cases, use targeted addressed direct mail.