Report · September 2026
The 2026 Shared Postcard Advertising Report.
What it costs to mail a neighborhood, how much ad mail people read, which local businesses buy ad spots, and how operators sell them. Original data from 155 member wins and 435 operators, plus USPS and Census figures. Every number is sourced.
EDDM postage per home
$0.26
Effective July 12, 2026
EDDM pieces, FY2025
~3B
About $617M in revenue
Ad mail households read
51%
2025, up from 46% in 2020
Median 9x12 spot price
$500
19 documented sales
Operators on the map
435
47 states and DC
Key findings
Ten things the data says.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
Households read 51% of their ad mail.
In 2025, households said they read 51% of advertising mail, up from 46% in 2020 and 47% in 2015.7
- 5
Coupons more than double stated interest.
Households rated 20% of ad mail with a coupon very likely to get a response, versus 8% without one. That is stated intent, not a measured response rate.7
- 6
The buyers are small, local, and everywhere.
The U.S. has 618,476 restaurants, 135,665 dental offices, and 111,207 plumbing and HVAC contractors, and 88% to 95% of the trade and dental businesses have fewer than 20 employees.8
- 7
The typical 9x12 spot sold for $500.
Across 19 documented single-spot sales, the median price was $500, with a range of $350 to $900.11
- 8
No single sales channel wins.
In documented sales that name a channel, phone and cold email are each credited 18 times, Facebook groups 14, and door-to-door 12.11
- 9
Home services buy the most spots.
Of 40 wins that name the advertiser's industry, 15 involve home services, 9 food and drink, and 7 real estate, mortgage, or insurance.11
- 10
435 operators in 47 states and DC.
The Our Local Spotlight map lists 435 active operators, and 280 of them joined in 2026. California, Texas, and Florida hold a third.12
1 · The channel
Every Door Direct Mail, by the numbers.
EDDM lets a business mail every address on a carrier route without a mailing list. USPS started it as a market test in March 2011, first called Marketing Mail Made Easy.4 In fiscal 2025 it carried nearly 3 billion pieces.3
Postage per piece has climbed from $0.160 in Jan 2013 to $0.260 today, with one real cut along the way: July 2022, from $0.200 to $0.187.1,2 For a shared card, postage is the one cost every operator pays no matter who prints: 5,000 homes at $0.26 is $1,300.
EDDM Retail postage per piece, 2013 to 2026
USPS price for EDDM Retail flats up to 3.3 oz, at each price change.
Source: USPS Notice 123 price lists, current and archived 1,2
Show the data table
| Item | Per piece |
|---|---|
| Jan 2013 | $0.160 |
| Jan 2014 | $0.175 |
| May 2015 | $0.183 |
| Apr 2016 | $0.176 |
| Jan 2017 | $0.177 |
| Jan 2018 | $0.178 |
| Jan 2019 | $0.187 |
| Jan 2020 | $0.191 |
| Jan 2021 | $0.192 |
| Aug 2021 | $0.200 |
| Jul 2022 | $0.187 |
| Jan 2023 | $0.189 |
| Jul 2023 | $0.198 |
| Jan 2024 | $0.203 |
| Jul 2024 | $0.223 |
| Jul 2025 | $0.247 |
| Jul 2026 | $0.260 |
2 · The mailbox
Less ad mail, more attention.
USPS Marketing Mail volume has fallen a quarter since 2019, but revenue has held close to flat. In the home, the result is fewer ad pieces per household, and a larger share of them get read.
Share of advertising mail households read
The rest is set aside for later or thrown away.
- 201547%
- 202046%
- 202551%
Source: USPS Household Mail Survey 2025 7
Show the data table
| Item | Share read |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 47% |
| 2020 | 46% |
| 2025 | 51% |
What this means for a shared card
- Fewer competitors in the mailbox. About 393 ad pieces reached each household in 2025, down from about 659 in 2015.7
- Offers matter. Households rated 20% of ad mail with a coupon very likely to get a response, versus 8% without. That's what people say they'll do, not a measured response rate.7
- Big pieces stand out. A 9x12 card is a USPS flat, larger than the letters and standard postcards around it.
3 · The buyers
Local businesses that buy card spots.
Shared postcards sell to small, local businesses that serve a neighborhood. These are the U.S. employer establishments in the industries operators sell to most, and nearly all of them are small.
| Industry | Establishments | Under 20 employees |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurants and other eating places NAICS 7225 | 618,476 | 67.0% |
| Real estate agents and brokers NAICS 531210 | 163,894 | 98.8% |
| Dentists NAICS 621210 | 135,665 | 95.1% |
| Residential remodelers NAICS 236118 | 135,337 | 97.6% |
| Insurance agencies and brokerages NAICS 524210 | 133,728 | 95.9% |
| Landscaping services NAICS 561730 | 117,969 | 93.1% |
| Plumbing, heating, and air-conditioning contractors NAICS 238220 | 111,207 | 88.7% |
| General automotive repair NAICS 811111 | 84,859 | 97.9% |
| Beauty salons NAICS 812112 | 84,176 | 96.6% |
| Electrical contractors NAICS 238210 | 83,342 | 88.1% |
| Fitness and recreational sports centers NAICS 713940 | 41,556 | 78.5% |
| Chiropractors NAICS 621310 | 39,913 | 99.2% |
| Painting and wall covering contractors NAICS 238320 | 38,280 | 95.4% |
| Automotive body, paint, and interior repair NAICS 811121 | 35,029 | 93.1% |
| Veterinary services NAICS 541940 | 34,296 | 80.2% |
| Pet care (except veterinary) NAICS 812910 | 25,551 | 91.9% |
| Roofing contractors NAICS 238160 | 25,519 | 90.3% |
| Car washes NAICS 811192 | 19,807 | 89.6% |
| Exterminating and pest control NAICS 561710 | 16,535 | 88.4% |
| Retail bakeries NAICS 311811 | 9,219 | 86.4% |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023, employer establishments only 8. Plumbing and HVAC share one industry code.
Across all industries, the SBA counts 36.2 million small businesses in the U.S. (2022 data).9 BIA Advisory Services forecasts $186.1 billion in U.S. local advertising spending in 2026, a forecast, not a measurement.10
4 · The operators
What 155 member wins show.
The 9x12 Method wins database holds 155 unique wins from 93 members, 102 of them paid or committed ad sales. We coded each one for how the sale was made, who bought, and the price.
How members closed sales
Channel credited, in the 72 of 102 documented sales that name one.
- Phone and cold calls18
- Cold email18
- Facebook groups14
- Door-to-door and walk-ins12
- Warm network and referrals10
- Inbound (website, Google, word of mouth)5
- Facebook ads5
- Facebook Messenger and DMs4
- Other (texts, Facebook Live, flyers)3
Source: 9x12 Method wins database 11
Show the data table
| Item | Sales |
|---|---|
| Phone and cold calls | 18 |
| Cold email | 18 |
| Facebook groups | 14 |
| Door-to-door and walk-ins | 12 |
| Warm network and referrals | 10 |
| Inbound (website, Google, word of mouth) | 5 |
| Facebook ads | 5 |
| Facebook Messenger and DMs | 4 |
| Other (texts, Facebook Live, flyers) | 3 |
Who bought the spots
Advertiser category, in the 40 wins that name the industry.
- Home services15
- Food and drink9
- Other local services8
- Real estate, mortgage, and insurance7
Source: 9x12 Method wins database 11
Show the data table
| Item | Wins |
|---|---|
| Home services | 15 |
| Food and drink | 9 |
| Other local services | 8 |
| Real estate, mortgage, and insurance | 7 |
Median single 9x12 spot
$500
19 sales, $350 to $900. Double spots sold for $900 to $1,000.
Facebook, all channels
23
Facebook groups, ads, DMs, and Live combined.
Only five wins say how long the card took to fill, from under two weeks to about six weeks. That's too few to call typical, so we don't.
5 · The network
Operators on the Our Local Spotlight map.
Our Local Spotlight is the public map of shared postcard operators. As of September 25, 2026, it lists 435 active operators in 47 states and DC, and 280 of them joined in 2026.
Active operators on the map, by month joined
Running total of today's active operators by the month their listing was added. Operators who left are not counted.
Source: Our Local Spotlight partner map 12
Show the data table
| Item | Operators |
|---|---|
| Jul 2025 | 97 |
| Aug 2025 | 110 |
| Sep 2025 | 122 |
| Oct 2025 | 132 |
| Nov 2025 | 142 |
| Dec 2025 | 155 |
| Jan 2026 | 168 |
| Feb 2026 | 187 |
| Mar 2026 | 222 |
| Apr 2026 | 248 |
| May 2026 | 298 |
| Jun 2026 | 331 |
| Jul 2026 | 386 |
| Aug 2026 | 416 |
| Sep 2026 | 435 |
States with 10 or more operators
California, Texas, and Florida hold 146 of 435, about a third.
- California54
- Texas49
- Florida43
- North Carolina24
- Georgia19
- Arizona17
- Ohio14
- Michigan13
- New Jersey12
- Pennsylvania11
- Massachusetts10
- Oklahoma10
- Washington10
Source: Our Local Spotlight partner map 12
Show the data table
| Item | Operators |
|---|---|
| California | 54 |
| Texas | 49 |
| Florida | 43 |
| North Carolina | 24 |
| Georgia | 19 |
| Arizona | 17 |
| Ohio | 14 |
| Michigan | 13 |
| New Jersey | 12 |
| Pennsylvania | 11 |
| Massachusetts | 10 |
| Oklahoma | 10 |
| Washington | 10 |
6 · Card economics in 2026
One card, start to finish.
Printing and mailing a 5,000-home 9x12 card cost operators about $4,000 in 2025. Today it's $2,999 All Inclusive, with the $0.26 postage built in.
| 9x12 card | Community card | |
|---|---|---|
| Homes | 5,000 | 2,500 |
| Ad spots | 16 at $500 | About 16 at $250 |
| Collected | $8,000 | $4,000 |
| All Inclusive print and mail | $2,999 | $1,449 |
| Profit | $5,001 | $2,551 |
Standard 9x12 Method numbers on a sold-out card 13. See every print price.
Methodology
How we built this report.
Cite this report
9x12 Method, “2026 Shared Postcard Advertising Report,” September 2026, https://9x12method.com/shared-postcard-advertising-report/
Free to cite and chart with a link back to this page.
Internal data. The 9x12 Method wins database has 221 entries compiled from community win posts. After merging entries that repeat across sections, that is 155 unique wins from 93 members, and 102 of them describe a paid or committed ad sale. We hand-coded each win for sales channel, advertiser industry, win type, price, and fill time. Operator counts come from the live Our Local Spotlight map on September 25, 2026, counted by state as totals only. Print prices come from the 9x12 Method price sheet and dated price announcements.
External data. USPS Notice 123 price lists (current and archived, 2013 to 2026), USPS Form 10-K reports (FY2020 to FY2025), USPS Postal Facts, the USPS Office of Inspector General's 2012 EDDM audit, the USPS Household Mail Survey 2025 (about 5,000 diary households), the Census Bureau's 2023 County Business Patterns, the SBA Office of Advocacy, and BIA Advisory Services. We left out mail response-rate benchmarks because we could not open a primary source for them.
Caveats
- The wins database is a set of celebrated wins, so it leans toward fast and big results. The counts describe posted wins, not typical results.
- Not every win states every detail: 94 of 155 name a channel, 40 name an industry, 19 sales state a single-spot price, and 5 state a fill time.
- Member results, prices, and fill times are self-reported. Channel, industry, and win-type labels are our own coding.
- The Our Local Spotlight monthly totals count today's active listings by the month they were added, not a history. July 2025 includes the launch import.
- Household Mail Survey response figures are stated likelihood, not measured response rates.
- USPS Postal Facts prints EDDM revenue as “$617,161,072 million,” an evident typo for about $617 million.
- Marketing Mail figures use the latest restated value for each year and exclude Marketing Mail parcels.
- County Business Patterns counts employer establishments only, so one-person businesses without employees are not included.
- The SBA figure is 2022 data, and the BIA figure is a forecast.
Sources
Every number, sourced.
- 1.USPS, Notice 123 Price List, effective July 12, 2026 (EDDM Retail flats up to 3.3 oz)
- 2.USPS, Notice 123 Price List archives on Postal Explorer, January 2013 through July 2025 (for example, the July 10, 2022 edition)
- 3.USPS Postal Facts, Fact #291, "Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM)," May 15, 2026
- 4.USPS Office of Inspector General, Audit Report MS-AR-12-004, Every Door Direct Mail Retail, May 7, 2012
- 5.USPS, Form 10-K, fiscal year 2025 (FY2024 and FY2025 Marketing Mail volume and revenue)
- 6.USPS, Form 10-K reports for fiscal years 2020 to 2024 (FY2019 to FY2023 figures, latest restated values)
- 7.USPS, Household Mail Survey 2025 (formerly the Household Diary Study), Mail Use & Attitudes, filed with the Postal Regulatory Commission April 1, 2026
- 8.U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023, national file
- 9.SBA Office of Advocacy, Frequently Asked Questions About Small Business 2026 (2022 data), February 3, 2026
- 10.BIA Advisory Services, press release, September 14, 2026 (forecast)
- 11.9x12 Method wins database: 155 unique member wins from 93 members, compiled from community win posts, hand-coded (internal)
- 12.Our Local Spotlight public partner map, read September 25, 2026
- 13.9x12 Method print price sheet, September 2026, and dated 2025 to 2026 price announcements (internal)
Member results shared here are standout results, not typical results and not a guarantee. Most first cards take about a month of steady outreach. What you earn depends on your market, pricing, effort, and follow-up.