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Every Door Direct Mail

Every Door Direct Mail, or EDDM, is a USPS service that delivers a business's mailpiece to every address in the areas it picks. The pieces need no names or street addresses. Businesses use it to send postcards, menus, flyers and coupons to the neighborhoods near them.

Updated October 28, 202616 sources

What it is

EDDM is mail for a whole area, not a list of people. It reaches residences and businesses by carrier route, so one mailing can cover a neighborhood, a region or a national campaign. The mailer picks the neighborhoods, and a letter carrier delivers the piece with the day's mail.

Retailers and service businesses use it. A local pizzeria, for example, can send coupons to the neighborhood around it. A national retailer can target homes near a new store.

EDDM has two options, set by volume. EDDM Retail, the option for smaller mailings, takes at least 200 and up to 5,000 pieces per day per ZIP Code. EDDM BMEU takes more than 5,000 pieces per day per ZIP Code. Its mail enters at a Business Mail Entry Unit, or BMEU, a USPS organization that receives, verifies and accepts bulk business mail.

EDDM BMEU is available in these formats:

  • Standard Mail flats
  • irregular parcels
  • Periodicals
  • Bound Printed Matter flats

Standard Mail is the class USPS also names USPS Marketing Mail. Saturation Mail prices apply to EDDM BMEU.

How it works

A mailer picks routes in the EDDM Online Tool, prints pieces addressed to Postal Customer, bundles them and takes them to a BMEU. From there the mail goes to the chosen routes, and letter carriers deliver it with the day's mail.

The six steps of an EDDM BMEU mailing.

  1. Open a BMEU account in the Business Customer Gateway, with a bulk mail permit to pay.
  2. Choose the neighborhoods in the EDDM Online Tool.
  3. Design and print a mailpiece that meets the USPS Marketing Mail flats size requirements.
  4. Choose a drop-off date, and pay with the bulk mail permit at drop-off.
  5. Print the forms and EDDM facing slips the tool gives at order confirmation.
  6. Take the mailing to the BMEU where the permit is held.

Permit and postage

An EDDM BMEU mailing is paid with a bulk mail permit. The permit gives lower postage rates. A mailer applies for one at its local Post Office, on PS Form 3615.

The EDDM Online Tool calculates the postage and prepares the postage statement and its supporting documents. The Enterprise Payment System can pay for EDDM BMEU.

Choosing routes

The EDDM Online Tool is the free USPS mapping tool for EDDM. It shows the delivery routes in a target area and the households on each, for up to five 5-digit ZIP Codes per mailing. It gives delivery statistics for specific carrier routes. It targets customers by demographics such as age, household size and income.

Starting an order in the EDDM Online Tool.

  1. Search for a full address, a city and state, or a ZIP Code.
  2. Open the table of details on the neighborhood routes.
  3. Filter the audience by categories such as age, size, income and cost.
  4. Select the routes; one mailing can use several.
  5. Review the selections in the Order Summary, then save or continue.

Printers and mail service providers also build EDDM orders in mail management software that holds the same ZIP Code and carrier route data. That software usually shows the data as a table, without a map.

The mailpiece

An EDDM piece carries a generic addressee, such as Postal Customer, in place of a name, and goes to every address on the chosen routes. USPS calls this simplified addressing. The city, state and 5-digit ZIP Code are recommended but not required.

A BMEU label starts with a line of asterisks around ECRWSSEDDM and ends with the city, state and 5-digit ZIP Code. Its middle line is one of three addressees:

  • Postal Customer
  • Residential Customer
  • PO Box Holder

Postage shows as a permit imprint indicia, a payment mark authorized mailers use in place of a postage or meter stamp. A sample EDDM BMEU indicia reads PRSRT STD ECRWSS U.S. POSTAGE PAID CITY, STATE PERMIT NO.

The Mailpiece Size Checker in the EDDM Online Tool checks a piece against the USPS Marketing Mail flats size requirements.

Bundles and forms

Pieces reach the BMEU in bundles, each with an EDDM facing slip on top.

Preparing EDDM BMEU bundles.

  1. Stack the pieces in bundles of 50 to 100.
  2. Keep each bundle no higher than 6 inches.
  3. Fill out an EDDM facing slip and attach it to the top of every bundle.
  4. Write the number of pieces in the bundle on its facing slip.

The EDDM Online Tool prints the facing slips, the postage statements and the documentation USPS standards require. These are the forms an EDDM mailing uses:

FormNameOption
PS Form 3615Mailing Permit Application and Customer ProfileEDDM BMEU
PS Form 3602-RPostage Statement, USPS Marketing MailEDDM BMEU
PS Form 3602-NPostage Statement, Nonprofit USPS Marketing MailEDDM BMEU
PS Form 8125Plant-Verified Drop Shipment Verification and ClearanceEDDM BMEU
EDDM BMEU Facing Slipthe slip on top of each bundleEDDM BMEU
PS Form 3587-Bthe retail postage statementEDDM Retail

Tracking

IV-MTR, the USPS mail tracking service, gives visibility only to mail objects with Intelligent Mail barcodes. USPS plans to add tracking visibility for EDDM in a future release.

Rules

BMEU users must have a bulk mail permit to pay for and EDDM mailings.

A mailer who enters EDDM at a BMEU must hold a bulk mail permit and pay with it.

All mailpieces must contain ECRWSS in the address area or within or below the Permit Indicia.

Every EDDM BMEU piece must show ECRWSS, either in the address area or in or below the permit indicia.

"EDDM" must be included after "ECRWSS" on the address label if the mailpiece is 10.5" to 11.5" long.

A piece 10.5 to 11.5 inches long must show EDDM right after ECRWSS on its label.

Mailpieces and bundle makeup must be prepared in accordance with the current U.S. Postal Service® mailing standards.

The pieces and the bundles must follow the USPS mailing standards.

Bundles may not be higher than 6".

A bundle must be no taller than 6 inches.

EDDM BMEU customers should use an existing postage permit indicia.

An EDDM BMEU mailer should print the permit indicia it already holds on the pieces.

What goes wrong

A customer can ask a mailer to take them off its list. The mailer then writes that address in the facing slip's "Do Not Deliver Address" column.

A refund request for an EDDM BMEU mailing goes through the BMEU tied to the permit that paid for it.

Not in the sources

The sources don't say how USPS handles an EDDM mailing that fails acceptance, or how an EDDM Retail mailing is prepared.

Terms

Every Door Direct MailEDDM
gives your business a cost-effective way to saturate a localized area and get your marketing messages directly into the hands of consumers
Every Door Direct Mail – RetailEDDM Retail
For smaller mailings, we offer Every Door Direct Mail – Retail.
Every Door Direct Mail Online Mapping ToolEDDM online tool
Use the tool to target customers by specific demographics, such as age, household size, and income.
Mailpiece Size Checker
to make sure your mailpiece meets the USPS Marketing Mail® Flats size requirements
Business Mail Entry UnitBMEU, BME, PAU, Business Mail Entry, platform acceptance unit
Business Mail Entry Unit (A specialized USPS organization responsible for receiving, verifying, and accepting business (bulk) mail)
Permit ImprintPI, Permit Indicia, permit imprint indicia
a postage payment mark that authorized mailers may use instead of a postage or meter stamp
USPS Marketing MailSM, Marketing Mail, Standard Mail, Standard Mail (USPS Marketing Mail)
A class of mail that weighs less than 16 ounces.
Mail Service ProviderMSP, Mailing Service Providers, Mailing Agent
a business entity, organization, or individual acting on behalf of one or more Mail Owners by providing mailing services for which the Mail Owners compensate the Mail Service Provider.
ZIP CodeZIP, 5-digit ZIP Code, Zone Improvement Plan, Zone Improvement Program, ZONING IMPROVEMENT PLAN, Zone Improvement Plan Code
a system of five-digit codes identifying the individual Post Office or metropolitan area delivery station associated with the address
Business Customer GatewayBCG, BCG (Business Customer Gateway)
where shippers can manage their mailing activity
PostalOne!PostalOne! system
the information management system that provides an electronic linkage between a customer’s mailing information and the Postal Service’s business mail acceptance and induction processes. It produces postage statements and supporting documentation.

Documents

User Guides

Quick Service Guides

Fact Sheets

Contacts

For general questions, USPS lists 877-747-6249. BMEU users with Business Customer Gateway or postage statement questions contact PostalOne! Support, at postalone@email.usps.gov or 800-522-9085. The EDDM marketing site is usps.com/everydoordirectmail.

Sources