How much does it cost to send letters in bulk?

The cost of sending letters in bulk depends on format, weight, postage class and volume. There’s no single flat rate, but the more of these factors work in your favour, the further the price falls below the standard retail cost.

What would it cost to send letters in bulk?

At full retail price, a Standard Letter costs 91p Second Class or £1.80 First Class, while a Large Letter up to 100g costs £1.55 Second Class or £3.30 First Class. Bulk mail rates sit below these figures once a mailing qualifies for pre-sorting and Mailmark® discounts. However, the exact saving depends on the mix of factors below rather than a single fixed number:

1,000 items: At this volume, only Large Letters qualify for bulk pricing, since 1,000 is the minimum for that format. Standard Letters need a higher volume to unlock any discount, so 1,000 Standard Letters would still sit at the full retail rate.
4,000 items: This is the point where Standard Letters become eligible for bulk pricing and fall below retail cost, making it a natural benchmark for smaller campaigns.
10,000 items: Beyond the minimum thresholds, savings from pre-sorting, Mailmark^® and downstream access tend to increase as volume grows. The per-item cost keeps falling, though how far depends on your specific format and weight.

The four cost levers

Format and size: Standard Letters cost less to post than Large Letters, so keeping items within Standard Letter dimensions (240mm x 165mm and under 100g) is the simplest way to control cost.
Weight: Heavier items move into higher price bands, so a lightweight brochure will always cost less to post than a bulky catalogue of the same format.
Postage class: First Class costs more than Second Class, and Economy options cost less again in exchange for a longer delivery window.
Volume: Meeting the minimum of 4,000 Standard Letters or 1,000 Large Letters unlocks bulk pricing and cost per item tends to keep falling as volume rises past that point.

What’s included in a mailing house price and what isn’t

A mailing house’s bulk mailing services price typically covers personalisation, printing and fulfilment such as folding, enclosing and sorting. If you supply your copy and letterhead, the mailing house can put the two together, but designing the letterhead itself isn’t part of the service.

Some extras are charged separately. Design is one and we can arrange it through The Graphic Design House if needed. Data cleansing is another, so check what’s quoted before assuming your list will be cleaned.

Postage is always a separate cost, since it’s paid to the carrier rather than the mailing house and it can account for more than half the total campaign budget. We can advise you on bulk mail postage costs and rates before you commit.

Which bulk mail discounts could apply?

There’s more than one route to a bulk discount. The right one depends on what you’re sending, the quantity and the size of your mail. The main options include Business Mail, Advertising Mail and Subscription and Publishing Mail.

A good mailing house such as The Mailing People will automatically explore the lowest-cost options for you, so you don’t need to determine which applies before reaching out.

Get in touch with us to get a quote tailored to your volume.

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