When will my postcards hit mailboxes? That’s a great question! Although an exact arrival date can’t be guaranteed, we have put together a list of accurate time frames that can be expected for each type of mail.
Production Process
Once the design, mailing list/carrier routes, and payment details are finalized, we will get your job on the presses. Most of our jobs take 3-4 days to print, bundle, and send out with the necessary postal paperwork, but some larger jobs (10,000 pieces) can take a full week to complete. Your contact at Excel Printing and Mailing will tell you the exact completion date once the job is put into production.
Once your job is printed, we pass it over to the United States Postal Service to deliver into mailboxes. Depending on the type of mail and the postage classification, here are the projected delivery times by the USPS:
First Class
1-3 business days within the contiguous U.S. If you are mailing to Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, or Puerto Rico, you can expect 4 or 5 days.
Standard Mail (Includes EDDM®)
3-10 business days within the contiguous U.S. 13-18 business days if you’re mailing to Alaska, Hawaii, Guam or Puerto Rico. Here’s a map that lets you calculate the estimated time based on the originating post office (We mail out of the Chicago, IL area)
Final notes:
The definition of the USPS “business day” is a hot topic for discussion on the internet. While mail is delivered on Saturdays, many post offices do not accept new bulk mail entries into the postal stream on Saturday. So when counting business days (1-3 for first class mail and 3-10 for standard mail) you should be safe and assume Monday-Friday.
USPS does not guarantee their delivery times. Throughout our working relationship with the post office, we have found the time windows listed above to be accurate. However, things like the weather and the Christmas busy season can raise the likelihood of adding an extra day or two. If you are mailing addressed mail (non-EDDM®) we include Mail Tracker, which shows when each piece is delivered to its mailbox.
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