Costs
What direct mail actually costs in Australia
Postage is usually the largest line in an Australian direct mail budget and the one people estimate worst. Here is how the pricing is structured and where the thresholds sit.
Short answer: the Basic Postage Rate for an ordinary small letter is $1.70 and rises to $1.85 on 1 September 2026. Bulk lodgement discounts begin at 300 letters, Promo Post at 4,000 barcoded letters, and Charity Mail is available to endorsed organisations from 300 items. Postage typically accounts for between a third and two thirds of an Australian direct mail budget.
Written by Autopen Australia · Updated
The components
- Postage. Nearly always the biggest single line. See below.
- Production. Printing, or in our case writing. For printed mail this is often the smallest line; for handwritten it is comparable to postage.
- Stationery. Paper, envelopes, inserts. Modest, but it compounds at volume and it is where quality is visible.
- Data. Cleaning, de-duplication, address validation. Cheap, and the highest-return spend in the budget.
- Fulfilment. Folding, inserting, sealing, sorting, lodging.
- Waste. Returned mail. You paid to produce and post every returned piece.
Australia Post letter pricing
The Basic Postage Rate — the benchmark price for an ordinary small letter — is currently $1.70, and Australia Post has confirmed an increase to $1.85 from 1 September 2026 (Australia Post pricing update). Concession stamps and seasonal greeting card stamps are priced separately and are unaffected.
Large letters cost more, and the small-letter threshold is defined by dimensions and weight rather than by what the piece is. This matters more than it sounds: a piece that tips over into large-letter territory can cost substantially more per unit, so the format decision should be made before the design is finalised, not after.
Bulk options and their thresholds
| Option | Minimum | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Bulk mail lodgement | 300 letters | Any business lodging a batch rather than posting individually |
| Promo Post | 4,000 barcoded letters | Promotional mail delivered on the Regular timetable |
| Charity Mail | 300 items | Income tax exempt charities and DGR-endorsed organisations, fundraising or promotional |
| Acquisition Mail | 30,000 articles, with approval | Non-personalised addressed mail targeted to postcodes, suburbs or census districts |
Current rates for all of these are published in Australia Post’s Post charges guide; see the bulk mail options pages. Note also that from March 2025 Australia Post introduced a fee for non-conforming bulk lodgements, so presentation standards are worth getting right.
The barcoding trade-off
The cheapest lodgement rates generally require barcoding and a machine-readable address block. That pulls directly against a clean handwritten envelope, which is the whole point of a handwritten campaign.
At a few hundred pieces the saving is not worth the compromise. At twenty thousand it might be, and the honest answer is to cost it both ways: full postage with a clean handwritten envelope, versus discounted postage with a barcode on it, and see which produces more contribution.
Realistic all-in figures
| Type | Production | Postage | All in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Printed letter, 2,000 pieces | $0.30–$0.60 | $1.20–$1.70 | $1.50–$2.30 |
| Printed letter, handwritten envelope | $1.20–$1.60 | $1.20–$1.70 | $2.40–$3.30 |
| Fully handwritten, 2,000 pieces | $2.90–$3.40 | $1.20–$1.70 | $4.10–$5.10 |
Indicative ranges for planning, not quotes. Production figures for handwritten work come from our own published rate card; printed figures are typical market ranges and will vary by supplier and specification.
Two costs that are not on any rate card
- Returned mail. A 10% return rate on a 5,000-piece campaign is 500 pieces you paid to produce and post for nothing. Cleaning the list is the cheapest line in the budget and it protects the most expensive one.
- Capacity to respond. A campaign that works generates calls. If nobody can take them, you have paid for the postage and thrown away the result.
Common questions
How much does it cost to post a letter in Australia?
The Basic Postage Rate for an ordinary small letter is $1.70, rising to $1.85 from 1 September 2026. Business and bulk rates differ, and volume lodgement options can bring the effective rate below the counter price.
What is the minimum volume for bulk mail discounts?
Australia Post offers bulk mail discounts from 300 letters at a time. Promo Post requires a minimum of 4,000 barcoded letters. Acquisition Mail, which is non-personalised addressed mail targeted geographically, requires a minimum of 30,000 articles and prior approval.
Do charities get cheaper postage?
Income tax exempt charities and organisations endorsed as deductible gift recipients can use Charity Mail for fundraising or promotional mailings of 300 items or more, with a choice of Priority or a lower-cost Regular timetable.
What is a realistic all-in cost per piece?
For printed direct mail, roughly $2 to $3 a piece all in at moderate volumes — most of it postage. For handwritten, roughly $4 to $6. Both fall as volume rises and both depend heavily on which lodgement option you qualify for.
Keep reading
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Charities
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Tell us about your campaign
Send us the shape of it — how many, how long, envelopes or not, when you need it — and we will come back with an exact quote.