How to Determine if Co-mailing is Right for You

Co-mailing (also known as co-mingling) is the process of combining different catalog titles from different catalog companies into one mail stream to generate more carrier route discount mail.

On the surface, co-mailing sounds like a great idea. Why would any cataloger be opposed to co-mailing if it resulted in a greater postage discount? However, co-mailing can be challenging.

Five Requirements

1. All of the catalogs in the co-mailing must be the exact same trim size.

2. The ink-jet areas must be the same on both the order form/page and on the back cover.

3. All of the participating catalogs must have page counts that are within 32 pages of one another.

4. The participating catalogers must have the same distribution pattern, i.e., the same in-home or mail dates. (This is for fulfillment purposes.)

5. One printer must do the ink-jet formatting and list sortation, since its machinery will do the coding. This work can’t be done by a service bureau.

How the Process Works

The co-mailing process occurs during the binding/ink-jetting phase of catalog production. The catalogs simply are processed for mailing together; they are not physically banded or bagged together in any way.

Morever, the mailing lists for co-mailed catalogs won’t be the same. Rather, the mail simply is combined in order to achieve greater postage density, and thus, discounts.

During the co-mailing stage, the process essentially is the same as selective binding. But instead of combining multiple mailing versions of the same catalog, the printer combines multiple catalog titles into one mail stream. This enables more mail to qualify for the carrier route rate.

For example, the piece rate for 3/5 digit mail is $261 per thousand (M), and the carrier route costs $194/M. Catalogs that fall into the carrier route rate structure save $67/M (the difference between $261 and $194).

The below chart, “Example of Potential Savings of Co-mailing,” offers an example of a typical co-mailing cost analysis. While printers may charge different prices from one another, the end result in terms of the potential savings will be similar.

The company with the lower quantity — let’s call it Mailer “B” — is charged more, since the larger mailing — from Mailer “A” — is having a greater direct impact with regard to the savings.

In our example, Mailer “A” will save $4,200, and Mailer “B” will save $2,800 after paying the printer to provide this service.

Please keep in mind that the allocation between the larger and smaller mailers is somewhat arbitrary. Most printers try to pass on the savings to the large mailer on a proportional basis. That’s why Mailer “A” was charged $5/M, while Mailer “B” was charged $16/M.

Pros and Cons of Co-mailing

Pros:
1. You’ll see postal savings due to better presort levels and possibly better drop-ship discounts. More mail will qualify at the carrier route level.
2. You’ll experience better deliverability. More carrier route or five-digit pallets will result, enabling you to penetrate the postal system deeper in the mail stream. Result: increased production flow through the postal system.

Cons:
1. You, the mailer, don’t have control over who your co-mailing partners will be. You can veto who they are, but your printer ultimately makes the decision.
2. One of your competitors could be a co-mailing partner, and thus its catalogs would arrive in customers’ homes on the same day. Of course, this could occur without co-mailing.
3. Your mail date might have to be adjusted by a day or two in order for you to participate in the co-mailing. Thus, your in-home dates could be different from what you originally planned.
4. If the company you’re co-mailing with is late with its creative files and misses its press date, it could be forced out of the co-mailing program.
5. A co-mailing partner may drop out at the last minute for any number of reasons. If so, you’re stuck without a partner, eliminating the savings you counted on.
6. You could see increased manufacturing costs to co-mail, which would eliminate most of the resulting postal savings.
7. Catalogers with large mail streams may not allow a smaller mailing to co-mail with them. Co-mailing clearly favors smaller mailers.
8. Your printer (not your service bureau) must do the pre-sort, which requires you to do a bit more coordination between those two service providers.
9. You may have to re-design your back cover and order form to accommodate your co-mailing partner(s).

A Co-mailing Checklist

Before you decide to co-mail, ask your printer the following questions:
- Do we keep our original mail date?
- Who is/are our co-mailing partner(s)?
- What guarantee do we have that the production of their catalog(s) will be on time?
- What guarantee do we have that they’ll be able to advance their postage check on time?
- What guarantee do we have that they’ll not drop out at the last minute?
- What does the printer charge for this service? Can the potential postage savings be cost-justified for me?
- What’s the size of the mailing and benefit to each partner?

Co-mailing with another, reputable cataloger can be a good thing to do. But evaluate your true potential savings, and consider the risks, too. As long as your printer can provide satisfactory answers to your questions, go for it. The savings from co-mailing really can add up.

Stephen R. Lett is president of Lett Direct, a catalog consulting firm specializing in circulation planning, forecasting and analysis. He spent the first 25 years of his career with leading catalog companies. He can be reached at (302) 537-0375, or by e-mail via his Web site: www.lettdirect.com.