If you budget for direct mail on a fiscal-year calendar, the next four months matter more than usual. The Postal Service is in the middle of rewriting when it raises prices, a brand-new promotions calendar is about to open, and — despite the usual headlines about mail’s decline — advertising mail volume is actually growing. Here’s where things stand and what we’d suggest doing about it.
Where rates sit today
The current prices took effect July 12, 2026, when USPS raised market-dominant products by an average of roughly 4.8 percent across bulk categories including Marketing Mail and Nonprofit Mail. On the retail side, the Forever stamp moved from 78 cents to 82 cents. First-Class metered letters went from $0.74 to $0.78, First-Class postcards from $0.61 to $0.65, and EDDM Retail from $0.247 to $0.260 per piece. USPS News: 2026 Postage Rate Changes | Modern Postcard +2
Two structural changes landed alongside the new prices and are easy to overlook. A 25-cent surcharge now applies to Marketing Mail parcels mailed without a valid Intelligent Mail package barcode, and mailers can now combine presorted letters with postcards to hit the 500-piece minimum for presorted Marketing Mail — previously each shape had to reach the threshold on its own. If you run mixed-format campaigns, that second change can pull a mailing into automation pricing that wouldn’t have qualified before. ProMarketing Leads
Commingling also got more valuable. Based on the July 12 rates, the savings from commingling rose by 17 percent for both Regular and Nonprofit Marketing Mail. If your mail isn’t being commingled or drop-shipped where it qualifies, that’s real money sitting on the table. Freedom
The January 2027 question
This is the item to watch. On July 16, 2026, USPS filed a motion with the Postal Regulatory Commission asking to move its annual market-dominant price change from July to January, beginning with a January 2027 adjustment. The filing requested a partial waiver of the rules governing density rate authority — pricing room tied to mail volume. USPS argued a January cycle lines up better with how most businesses plan and budget. Its initial projection for that increase was about 4.5 percent. Cummings Printing
Then the Commission pushed back. On August 21, 2026, the PRC denied the portion of the request that would have let USPS count estimated fiscal-year density rate authority toward a January change. USPS can still raise mailing services prices in January on CPI authority alone — but that would put the increase closer to 1.8 percent rather than 4.5 percent. Mailpro
The practical takeaway: USPS must file roughly 90 days ahead of any change, so a decision should be public by mid-October 2026. Until something is filed and approved, the July 12 figures in Notice 123 remain in effect. Mailpro
Two scenarios are worth planning for. If USPS files in October for a January implementation, your next increase arrives during Q1 — but at a much smaller bite than mailers have absorbed in recent years. If it doesn’t file, rates hold until mid-2027. Either way, if you’ve been setting annual mail budgets around a July increase, your planning cycle may need to account for postage moving sooner than expected. Locked-in print and mail schedules for Q1 deserve a second look now, not in December. Cummings Printing
The 2027 promotions calendar is a genuine opportunity
USPS has finalized its 2027 incentive lineup, and there are meaningful changes. The five core promotions for 2027 are Tactile, Sensory & Interactive; Integrated Technology; First-Class Mail Advertising; Direct Mail Discovery; and Impact Messaging, with Informed Delivery and Sustainability continuing as stackable add-ons. Two 2026 programs are being discontinued: Continuous Contact and Catalog Insights. AmsiveOfficial Mail Guide
The two new ones are worth a close read:
Direct Mail Discovery targets businesses that haven’t mailed recently. Companies that haven’t mailed in the past two years can get 40% off up to 5,000 pieces per mailing, with new mailers eligible for 40% off up to 100,000 total pieces during the promotion window. It runs April 1 through September 30, 2027, with registration opening February 15, 2027. If you’ve been considering testing mail for the first time — or restarting a program that went dormant — this is as cheap an entry point as the channel has offered. Century Direct
Impact Messaging is narrower but easy to qualify for. It provides a 5 percent discount on First-Class Mail and Marketing Mail pieces carrying messaging that promotes the value or effectiveness of direct mail advertising, running May 1 through September 30, 2027. Official Mail Guide
The Tactile promotion also split into tiers. The basic tier offers a 3% postage discount and the advanced tier 5% for more distinctive treatments, running January 1 through June 30, 2027. SPCCentury Direct
These take lead time. Artwork changes, sample submission, and USPS approval all have to happen before your drop date — which means conversations about Q1 and Q2 2027 promotions should be happening this fall.
Marketing Mail is growing
Worth saying plainly, because it runs against the conventional wisdom: in the third quarter of fiscal 2026, Marketing Mail volume rose by 574 million pieces, or 4.3 percent, and posted the largest revenue increase of any category at 12.3 percent — while First-Class Mail and Shipping both saw volume declines. USPS still reported a $2.5 billion quarterly loss, about $600 million better than the same quarter a year earlier, and Postmaster General David Steiner cautioned that the agency continues to face serious liquidity pressure. Quad MX SolutionsQuad MX Solutions
Advertisers are moving toward mail, not away from it. Inbox saturation and rising digital acquisition costs are part of the story, but so is the fact that mail has gotten measurably better at targeting and attribution.
What we’d do in the next 60 days
- Pull your Q1 2027 drop schedule forward in your planning. If a January increase is filed in October, you’ll want to know which mailings could move ahead of the effective date.
- Audit your presort and entry strategy. With commingling value up 17 percent, mail that isn’t being optimized for drop-ship or commingle is paying a premium it doesn’t have to.
- Check parcel barcoding. If you mail Marketing Mail parcels, confirm IMpb compliance or you’re paying 25 cents per piece for nothing.
- Pick your 2027 promotions now. Registration for the earliest programs opens in the first quarter, and creative changes take longer than people expect.
- Test the combined presort minimum. Mixed letter-and-postcard campaigns that previously fell short of 500 pieces per shape may now qualify for automation pricing.
If you’d like us to look at a specific campaign against the current rate structure or map your 2027 mailings to the promotion calendar, get in touch — that analysis is part of what we do.