Catalogs America

Even though paper costs are ratcheting up, printing costs are still at an all-time low. It's pretty straightforward to compare competitive printing bids, but it gets tricky comparing co-mail costs and postage. Why is it so complicated? It seems printers want to keep it that way. Margins in printing are razor thin, and the profits for printers are in their co-mail programs.

This week in the final part of our two-part series on co-mailing economics, I’ll inform you of the various price estimates you need to research from printers to accurately compare savings between co-mail pools. I also pose a list of questions that catalogers need to ask printers when negotiating co-mail contracts. (For part 1, click here.) Cost Estimates It can be difficult to compare savings between different printer’s co-mail pools. To do this effectively, you need to get the following estimates from printers: * estimated gross postage without any savings; * estimated net postage after the printer’s mail pool and co-mail savings; and *

Access Technology Solutions Direct Selling Services 34 Randall Decker (801) 420-9225 www.accessts.com Associated Global Systems Fulfillment 62 Sales (516) 627-8910 www.agsystems.com B&W Press Printer/Specialty Mailer 23 Paul Beegan (978) 352-6100 www.bwpress.com Belardi/Ostroy ALC, LLC Lists 22, 39, 60 Andrew Ostroy (212) 924-1300 www.belardiostroy.com BowTie Inc. Lists 6 Kristina Grubb (949) 855-8822 x3420 www.bowtielists.com Brown Printing Printer 41 Jill Tobin (212) 782-7857 www.bpc.com Catalogs America Printing BC Dan Sayin (727) 864-2000 www.catalogsamerica.com Catalyst Direct Marketing Lists 32, 65, 67 Fred Litzky (201) 405-1414 www.catalystdm.com Chilcutt Direct Marketing Lists 52 Jane McCoy (405) 478-7245 www.cdmlist.com Commerce Register Service Bureau 48 Bob Schweighardt (201) 445-3000 www.comreginc.com Creative Automation Direct Marketing 55 Bob Rajan (800) 773-1588 www.cauto.com Cyber City Teleservices Telemarketing Services IBC Erv Magram (201) 487-1616 www.cctll.com Datamann Software 24 Kathy Reagan (802) 295-6600 www.datamann.com Direct Tech Inventory Management 21 Jack Mahaffey (402) 895-2100 www.direct-tech.com DM Transportation Group Transportation Management 56 Bill Wilson (717) 258-0611 www.dmtrans.com DoubleClick Performics Search/Affiliate Marketing 35 Robin Simkins (312) 739-0682 www.performics.com Dydacomp Development Software 8 Rob Coon (973) 237-9419 www.dydacomp.com Edith Roman Associates Lists 3 Kevin Collopy (845) 731-2684 www.edithroman.com Endicia Mailing Software 57 Sales Department (800) 576-3279 www.endicia.com Foster Manufacturing Production Equipment 6 Ted Borowsky (800) 523-4855 www.fostermfg.com Iverson Language Associates Translation

By Gretchen A. Peck This Special Report includes: Catalog Design Duels, 10 Money-Saving Tips and What's New in Paper. The challenges catalogers face today have been building in recent years. Schedules continue to be compressed, and postage, paper and transportation costs are rising. Moreover, you continue to face obstacles as you attempt to create an efficient digital workflow for producing both your print and electronic catalogs. And all the while, pressures abound to cut time and expense from the process — without, of course, sacrificing even a smidgen of quality. For this Special Report, Catalog Success went in search