9x12 Method Printing: Prices and Packages

Hey, real talk. The part of this business nobody gets excited about is also the part that burns the most first-time operators. You sell 16 slots, you collect $8,000, you feel amazing, and then you find out you have to get quotes from printers who have never heard of EDDM, figure out the postal paperwork, bundle 5,000 cards in your garage, and haul boxes to a post office clerk who may or may not know the process. 9x12 Method Printing exists so you never have to do any of that. It is the print and fulfillment service we built at print.9x12method.com, with published prices for both card sizes at every quantity. Let me walk through the full price list, exactly what each package includes, turnaround times, and the honest cases where the cheaper package or a local printer is the better call.

Full transparency, this is my service and I make money when you use it. I will tell you when not to.

What 9x12 Method Printing is

A print and fulfillment service for exactly two products:

9x12 standard size postcards
6x11 community postcards, the community card size

And two packages:

All Inclusive (the recommended one): printing, packing, postage, and complete USPS fulfillment. The cards ship straight to the post office for Every Door Direct Mail delivery.
Print Only: printing, with the cards shipped to your door. You handle the mailing side yourself.

The full price list

9x12 standard size

Quantity	Print Only	All Inclusive
1,000	$509	$779
2,500	$859	$1,649
5,000	$1,309	$2,999
10,000	$2,399	$5,799

6x11 community postcard

Quantity	Print Only	All Inclusive
1,000	$369	$619
2,500	$639	$1,449
5,000	$839	$2,499
10,000	$1,599	$4,899

The All Inclusive prices include postage. There is no separate check to the post office.

The standard runs and what you keep

The 9x12 Method is built around two standard runs: a 9x12 card to 5,000 homes and a community card to 2,500 homes. Here is the profit math on each with All Inclusive printing.

	9x12 card	Community card
Homes reached	5,000	2,500
Slots	16 at $500	~16 at $250
Revenue	$8,000	$4,000
All Inclusive print and mailing	$2,999	$1,449
Profit	$5,001	$2,551

Same number every time. No printer calling you back saying the paper price went up. No surprise postage bill. You know your profit the moment you sell your sixteenth slot.

Predictable math is underrated. When you know the cost before you sell a single slot, you can price, plan, and scale without guessing.

It is also worth noticing how the per-home cost drops as quantity goes up. A 9x12 All Inclusive run works out to about 60 cents per home at 5,000 and about 58 cents at 10,000. A community card at 2,500 homes is about 58 cents per home.

What each package includes

All Inclusive (recommended)

High-quality printing on premium cardstock
Expert packing for safe delivery
Postage costs covered, no extra fees
Complete USPS fulfillment handled
Direct shipping to the post office
Full tracking information
Photos of your prints for your records
Extra sample cards sent to you for prospecting

That last one is quietly valuable. A physical sample card is the single best sales tool you have when you walk into a business, and All Inclusive puts extras in your hands for the next card's prospecting.

Print Only

What you get:

High-quality printing on premium cardstock
The cards shipped directly to your door

What you handle yourself:

Labeling and mailing prep
Postage, roughly 22 cents per card
Mailing logistics and the EDDM paperwork, plus the trip to the post office

Turnaround times

Package	Printing	Shipping
Print Only	3 to 4 days	2 to 3 days to your door
All Inclusive	4 to 6 days	2 to 3 days to the post office

Once cards are at the post office, Every Door Direct Mail delivery typically runs another 3 to 5 business days. So with All Inclusive, plan on roughly 6 to 9 days from order until your cards reach the post office, then the delivery window on top of that.

Print Only vs All Inclusive: the real math

Here is the honest comparison, because Print Only is genuinely cheaper if you are willing to do the work.

9x12 card to 5,000 homes: Print Only is $1,309, plus postage at roughly 22 cents a card, about $1,100. That lands around $2,409 before your time. All Inclusive is $2,999. So All Inclusive costs roughly $590 more.

Community card to 2,500 homes: Print Only is $639, plus about $550 in postage, around $1,189. All Inclusive is $1,449. Roughly $260 more.

What that difference buys: you skip the labeling and prep, the EDDM paperwork, bundling, and the post office trip, and you get tracking information, photos of your prints, and extra sample cards. For most operators that is several hours per card.

Choose All Inclusive if you are on your first few cards, running more than one card a month, or you would rather spend those hours selling slots on the next card. This is what most operators pick.

Choose Print Only if you already understand EDDM, you are comfortable with the paperwork and the post office drop, and the savings matter to you. On a 9x12 run, keeping roughly $590 is real money, and there is nothing wrong with earning it by doing the logistics yourself.

How ordering works

The order flow on the site is four steps:

Size. 9x12 standard or the 6x11 community postcard.
Quantity. 1,000, 2,500, 5,000, or 10,000.
Package. Print Only or All Inclusive.
Review. Confirm everything before you submit.

There is also a Profit Calculator on the site. Plug in your slot count and price and it shows what you keep. Use it before you start selling so you know exactly what a full card is worth.

Choosing a quantity

The standard runs (5,000 for a 9x12, 2,500 for a community card) are what the 9x12 Method math is built on, and they are what most operators should use. The other quantities exist for real situations.

Smaller town or thinner route selection. If your target area genuinely only supports 2,500 homes of good routes, a 9x12 at 2,500 is $1,649 All Inclusive. Price your slots for the smaller reach.

Bigger market or a strong card. Some operators go well past 5,000. Inacio has mailed drops of more than 35,000 homes in his market. A 10,000-home 9x12 is $5,799 All Inclusive. At that reach advertisers can justify higher slot prices.

Community card at 5,000 homes. $2,499 All Inclusive, about 50 cents per home. Useful once you have proven a neighborhood and want to widen it.

Whatever you pick, make sure the quantity matches the household count of the routes you selected. I covered how to choose routes in EDDM route selection.

Cardstock and file specs

14pt cardstock with UV gloss. Substantial in the hand, survives postal processing, and the gloss makes colors pop.
CMYK color, 300 DPI images, 0.125 inch bleed on all sides, with every phone number, QR code, and expiration date kept at least a quarter inch inside the trim.
A clear mailing area on the back for the postal indicia and return address.

Full file prep is in 9x12 postcard printing specs, and the community card layout specifically is in community card design.

The cash flow part (this is why you need zero capital)

You collect payment from all your advertisers before you place the print order. On a 9x12 card that is $8,000 in hand. Then you pay the $2,999 out of money you are already holding.

You never front capital. You never put printing on a credit card and hope you fill the card. The advertisers fund the print run.

My rule on this is blunt: collect up front, always. Never start design or place a print order for an advertiser who has not paid.

What the print service does not do

It does not sell your slots. That is your job, and it is the job that makes the money. See how to sell ad space on postcards.

It does not pick your neighborhood. You select your mail routes with the free USPS tool.

It does not design the ads. Members of the community get the free Design Wizard, which generates print-ready 3:4 portrait ad designs, and there is also a $25 per ad design service with revisions until the advertiser is happy. Or build them yourself using the rules in postcard ad design.

It does not track results. Put a QR code from ScanLab on every slot so you have scan data for renewals.

Common mistakes when ordering

Ordering before artwork is final. The most expensive mistake on this list.

Coupon expiration dates too close to the mail date. Set expirations four to eight weeks past the in-home date, and remember to account for the turnaround above.

Not scan-testing QR codes on a proof. A code that looks fine on screen can fail in print.

Mismatched quantity and routes. Order the quantity that matches your selected household count.

Paying for printing out of pocket. If you are fronting print costs, you ordered before your advertisers paid. Flip the order.

Full transparency, I built this service because operators kept asking for it. The fulfillment side was the biggest bottleneck in the business, and removing it lets people focus on the only thing that makes money, which is selling slots. You do not have to use it. For the rest of the toolkit, see the 9x12 Method tools overview, and if you want support running your first card, that lives in the 9x12 Method community.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does 9x12 Method Printing cost?

All Inclusive pricing, which includes postage and USPS fulfillment, is $2,999 for a 9x12 card to 5,000 homes and $1,449 for a 6x11 community card to 2,500 homes. Other All Inclusive quantities for 9x12 are $779 for 1,000, $1,649 for 2,500, and $5,799 for 10,000. Community cards run $619 for 1,000, $2,499 for 5,000, and $4,899 for 10,000. Print Only pricing is lower because you handle postage and mailing yourself.

What is the difference between Print Only and All Inclusive?

All Inclusive covers printing, expert packing, postage, complete USPS fulfillment, direct shipping to the post office, tracking information, photos of your prints, and extra sample cards for prospecting. Print Only covers printing and ships the cards to your door, leaving you to handle mailing prep, postage at roughly 22 cents per card, the EDDM paperwork, and the post office drop.

How much profit is left after printing a 9x12 card?

A full 9x12 card with 16 slots at $500 brings in $8,000. All Inclusive printing and mailing to 5,000 homes is $2,999, leaving $5,001 in profit. A full community card with 16 slots at $250 brings in $4,000, and All Inclusive printing to 2,500 homes is $1,449, leaving $2,551.

How long does 9x12 Method Printing take?

All Inclusive orders take 4 to 6 days to print plus 2 to 3 days of shipping to the post office. Print Only orders take 3 to 4 days to print plus 2 to 3 days of shipping to your door. After cards reach the post office, Every Door Direct Mail delivery typically takes another 3 to 5 business days.

Is Print Only cheaper than All Inclusive?

Yes, if you are willing to do the mailing work. For a 9x12 card to 5,000 homes, Print Only is $1,309 plus roughly $1,100 in postage, about $2,409 total, versus $2,999 All Inclusive, a difference of around $590. For a community card to 2,500 homes the difference is about $260. All Inclusive buys back several hours per card plus tracking, print photos, and extra samples.

Do I need money upfront to use 9x12 Method Printing?

No. You collect payment from your advertisers before placing the print order, so on a 9x12 card you are holding roughly $8,000 when you pay the $2,999 All Inclusive price. The advertisers fund the print run, which is why the model requires no startup capital. Never place an order or start design for an advertiser who has not paid.

That is 9x12 Method Printing. Two sizes, two packages, published prices at every quantity, and the whole logistics side off your plate if you want it. Get every ad approved, collect every payment, then order.

Keep stacking wins. Let's go.