One year from this month postage rates are expected to increase from 13% to 20% which is not good news for catalogers. This will be the first rate increase since mid 2002 (when we had three rate increases within two years!). I chose this topic as the subject of my...
Evaluating a service bureau is a difficult task. Comparing one service bureau with another is even more challenging. Do you compare pricing, services, products? We say, compare everything! Just as pricing on processing is important, the postage discounts will...
People often search our website wanting to know how much it costs to mail a catalog. Therefore, I decided to write a series of articles to help you better understand the cost of mailing a catalog. I will discuss what is included in the final cost of mailing a catalog...
I published an article in May 2020 titled, “How Much Does it Cost to Mail a Catalog”. This is a continuation of that article; Part II. My initial article focused on the actual cost to print and mail a catalog. While the cost per catalog will vary depending on page...
A buyer file, (i.e., house file), is clearly your company’s #1 asset. It’s the gold at the end of the rainbow. The house file is what makes it possible to purchase inventory, make payroll and pay the bills. Yet banks and other lending institutions place little or no...
Service Bureaus play a most important role to catalog companies. However, dealing with a service bureau can be pretty scary. It involves a great deal of trust. Did they select the “right” names? Were a high percentage of the duplicates identified? How do you ever...
It’s a challenging time for catalogers and online merchants. Skyrocketing costs, i.e., paper and postage, high inflation and interest rates have combined to be the perfect storm. If I were a betting man (and I’m not), I would plan for a “late” buying season this year....
There is always a degree of uncertainty in a National election year. Next November is no exception. What impact will this election have on consumer behavior and how will it affect sales is the question. In order to determine the impact of sales during the Presidential...
You’ve heard the saying, “we hear what we want to hear”. At times, we are all guilty of this. We don’t want to face the facts. We want to think what we want to think. In our daily routines we do what is comfortable to us and often times put off dealing with the real...
