Phantom Mailings allow you to use Canada Post products like Addressed Admail, even if you do not have enough pieces to meet the minimums of that product.
How Phantom Mailings Work
Normally, you require 1,000 pieces of mail for a Canadian, Addressed Admail mailing. However, with a Phantom Mailing it is possible to mail fewer than 1,000 pieces of Addressed Admail, provided you pay for the difference.
For Example:
Suppose you have 975 pieces of mail. You can now mail the 975 pieces as Addressed Admail, but actually pay for 1,000 pieces. The 25 pieces that you pay for, but do not mail, are referred to as Phantom Mail. This way your average rate for the 975 pieces will be far less than the Lettermail or first class rate.
Even better, if you're sending the mail out as LCP, you pay for the Phantom Mail at the lowest LCP rate for the given class of mail. NDG mail is, of course, subject to the flat NDG rate. For more information on LCP mailings, please click here.
The Breakeven
The breakeven will vary by both the size (Short & Long, or Oversize) as well as the weight of the pieces to be mailed. For more information on Short & Long and Oversize, click here. The following examples show the breakeven points for Short & Long mail weighing 30 grams or less (Short & Long # 1), Short & Long Mail weighing more than 30 grams but less than 51 grams (Short & Long # 2) and Oversize mail weighing 100 grams or less.
For simplicity, the calculations all use the standard NDG rates. LCP rates will tend to be slightly lower, however, to avoid over-complicating the examples, we have decided to use only the base NDG rates in these calculations.
Short & Long #1 (30 grams or less):
The base NDG rate for Short & Long is $0.46. Therefore, the minimum Addressed Admail postage costs for this class would be $460 (1,000 X $0.46).
The Lettermail or first class rate for this size is $0.57.
If you divide $460 by $0.57, it will tell you how many Lettermail or first class pieces you could mail for the same price as 1,000 pieces as Addressed Admail. The result is 807.02. Therefore, the breakeven for Short & Long at this weight is really 808 pieces of mail.
Short & Long #2 (greater than 30 grams, but less than 51 grams):
The base NDG rate for this class is still only $0.46. Therefore, the minimum Addressed Admail postage costs for this class would again be $460 (1,000 X $0.46).
The Lettermail or first class rate for this size and weight is $1.00.
If you divide $460 by $1.00, it will tell you how many Lettermail or first class pieces you could mail for the same price as 1,000 pieces as Addressed Admail. The result is 460. Therefore, the breakeven for Short & Long at this weight is 460 pieces of mail.
Oversize (less than 51 grams):
The base NDG rate for Oversize is $0.61. Therefore, the minimum Addressed Admail postage costs for this class would be $610 (1,000 X $0.61).
The Lettermail or first class rate for this size is $1.22.
If you divide $610 by $1.22, it will tell you how many Lettermail or first class pieces you could mail for the same price as 1,000 pieces as Addressed Admail. The result is 500. Therefore, the breakeven for Oversize is 500 pieces of mail.
As you can see from the examples, there can be significant savings with Phantom Mailings. If you have any additional questions on Phantom Mailings, please feel free to contact us.