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Why do leaflet delivery prices differ from one job to another

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When you ask for a quote or see “prices from…” on our Quick Quote page, you may wonder why the cost of a door drop varies at all. The truth is, there are an enormous number of variables when it comes to leaflet distribution.

The area for distribution is a key variable, along with the size and weight of the item being distributed and the travelling distance into the area.

For a start, our distributors all receive the minimum wage or more for their duties, but although this is the main cost of your distribution, there are other costs to be considered, from the supervisors and their vans to fuel, office admin, warehouse and software; these need to be factored into the leaflet distribution price, making the cost higher than just the wage that our leaflet distributors receive.

One of the main factors in determining cost is the area for distribution. Take an urban area like Islington, London, for example, where our distributors are likely to deliver around 1,000 leaflets in a day. When you take an extremely rural area such as Essendon, in Hertfordshire, the number of leaflets each distributor can deliver is drastically reduced. Some distributors may only deliver 300-500 in the same period, due to the housing density and type, or consider an area of suburbia where we may deliver 600-800 leaflets. More rural areas take us longer to deliver and therefore our staffing costs are increased.

We also need to consider the travelling time into an area (which can mean we have fewer hours to distribute), as well as fuel into the location and additional costs such as parking or ULEZ & congestion charge when entering London.

The type of item being delivered is also relevant when it comes to leaflet delivery prices. Take, for example, the difference between an A5 leaflet and a magazine. The size and weight of the magazine means that distributors are able to carry fewer items and will be slowed, if only slightly, by the weight of their load. It will also be necessary for them to return to their supervisor’s van more regularly to collect more stock, which also adds to their distribution time and therefore to the leaflet delivery prices.

More targeted distribution may also impact the speed of deliveries and therefore the cost. When delivering to a certain property type such as houses only or excluding council properties, our distributors still have to walk the full map area, despite not delivering to every property. They may also be slowed down as they need to think about which houses to deliver to, as opposed to delivering to every letterbox, where they may be able to just switch off mentally.

If we are delivering addressed mail, this process is only made more complicated as distributors are required to locate the specific property and ensure they are distributing the correct item through the correct door. Along with this, letters need to be arranged in walk-sort order before they can be distributed. Though these small differences in both planning and delivery may not be considered by clients, each change can add a little more to leaflet delivery times and therefore to prices.

If you live in a row of terraced or semi-detached houses, you may not consider the number of steps some homes have from street to letterbox or the length of driveways on certain roads. Opening and closing gates, and walking down long pathways in rural locations to reach just one or two doors all add to distribution times and leaflet delivery prices.

With so much to consider when thinking about leaflet delivery prices, you may be wondering if leaflet distribution is worthwhile. This article from the DMA may prove useful as it takes an honest look at the response rate from leaflet distribution.

Response rates to campaigns vary from industry to industry according to a long list of factors from the season to the region, to leaflet design and whether an offer or call to action is included or not. Taking all of this into account, leaflet distribution best way to reach potential customers in their own homes.

We would be happy to supply you with leaflet delivery prices for your next-door drop campaign. Give one of our experienced team members a call today at 020 8440 0400 or email enquiries@letterboxdistribution.com