Sending a physical good is an impactful experience for the recipient and the process does not need to be daunting. 
Our experienced team helps coordinate the entire process of creating a custom promotional product package that will be memorable for your audience.
In addition, our team can handle the execution of the assembly and mailing. And these projects don’t need to be expensive to be effective. Our team can make recommendations on how to reduce the cost of the package and postage throughout the process.
Fulfillment Support Services
As shown in this chart, Magellan Promotions offers a wide variety of services to support fulfillment projects, such as:
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- Kitting the products together
- Mailing products to audience via USPS, UPS and other carriers
- Running mailings in batches to multiple lists
- Providing a full range of packaging options
- Including printed insert cards, brochures, letterhead (including variable data)
- Tracking on USPS shipments upon request
- Mailing internationally
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Planning the Timeline
Since mailings are almost always custom and have a lot of moving parts and decision points, the timeline to create one is longer than a typical project. In addition, we have to build in time for the products to be produced, kitted together and individually mailed.
Our team helps make it easy to understand the factors involved for your mailing. We will estimate the time from starting the project to when the audience will receive it. As a rule, the average time from start of a project to the item being put into the mail is 4-6 weeks. It can be faster but it depends on factors, including how quickly we move through the process flowchart and the production time on the selected products. If there is a certain date by which the package needs to be mailed out, our team will work with you on feasible options to help meet your deadline.
Fulfillment Project Stories
Formatting the Mailing List
Our account team will advise on specific requirements for your project’s mailing list. We generally recommend these best practices to format the mailing list:
- Send your data in a spreadsheet
- Saving it in the comma-separated values (CSV) format
- International addresses must be separated from those that are domestic
- Domestic addresses should at least contain data fields for “first name”, “last name”, “address 1”, “address 2”, “city”, “state” and “ZIP code”
- Check with your Account Manager about the specific
The examples above are just a few ways to go about creating a packaged mailer. Explore more examples in our Interactive Mailings Showroom to get inspired with more possibilities for packaging and mailable products.
Shipping with United States Postal Service
Sending out products via the US Post Office can be more cost efficient than sending products via UPS or FedEx but is not nearly as straight forward. USPS can be complicated and costs can vary greatly with small weight and size differences. We have put together helpful information for USPS mailings.
Low Postage Cost for Mailings
Postage on mailing can be one of the biggest costs to a project. However the factors that go into what the postage will be are not easy to spot. Below are a few considerations to keep in mind to keep the cost of postage low.
Boxes
When shipping a box, try to keep the height to 2” or less and the weight under 16oz. To illustrate the cost difference, here are approximate postage charges for inexpensive postage mailing options:
| 4” high box (weighs under a pound) Mails as “Package services Parcel Select” that has an estimated postage of $7.00 per box. | 2” high box (weighs 17oz, over a pound) Mails as “Package Services” estimates out at $7.75 per box. | 2” high box (weighs 12 ounces) Mails as “Marketing Parcels” with estimated postage of $1.81 per box. |
This amounts to a savings over $5 to $6 per box! If the mailing is 1,000 pieces, this is a savings of at least $5,000. In addition, if it were mailed at the non-profit rate, the savings would be even greater!
Large Envelope Mailings
The least expensive cost for mailing envelopes comes when the product weighs 4oz. or less, because we can then mail at either a non-profit (for those who qualify) or presorted marketing rate. To qualify for the best rates, the envelope needs to be ¾” thick and uniform in thickness (no greater than a ¼” variance).
Freight Class Delivery
There are several freight classes from which to choose. To help understand some of the more popular options, here is information about each:
| Nonprofit / Presorted Marketing / Marketing Parcels / Package Services These methods of shipments are often the least expensive methods but deliver in 5-10 days (and sometimes even longer depending on the mail volume at that time of year). | First Class This method usually delivers quicker than the above methods, typically in the 3-5 day range. For a box or large envelope to qualify for first class, it needs to weigh 13oz max and ¾” thick or under. | Priority Flat Rate / Parcel Select This is the most expensive for envelopes and boxes, and usually delivers in 1-3 days. |
Tracking
Tracking is available on most USPS mailings but it is often not as straightforward and as available as a UPS shipment. On economical USPS mailing projects, the report only provides information on when the packages are delivered. For example, if 1,000 pieces were mailed on the 15th, the tracking information that we can provide will show that 250 were delivered on the 18th, 400 on the 19th, 350 on the 22nd. This type of tracking is an additional cost at $70 per shipment.
| We are happy to mail using a client’s USPS non-profit number. Here are a few best practices for this to go smoothly. Let our team know up front on the project so we can make sure to get the information we need right away. While our mail house does prefer to use their permit number for the mailing, we can use a client’s permit. To avoid delays, ensure there are enough available funds to cover the mailing. | The information we need to in order to use a client’s nonprofit number includes the following:
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Decorated Packaging Options
