Short answer: Royal Mail's Door to Door service quotes around £200 to reach roughly 3,000 homes, which works out at about £66 per 1,000 leaflets delivered. There's a minimum spend of £200 plus VAT per contract, a lead time of about three weeks, and you buy whole postcode sectors rather than a handful of streets. Printing is on top. For a 5,000-home drop in Carlisle you're realistically looking at £330 to £400 for delivery, plus £150 to £250 for print.
How Royal Mail Door to Door works
Your leaflet goes out with the normal post. The postie carries it alongside letters and parcels on their round, so it lands on the mat with the real mail rather than being pushed through on its own by a walker with a shoulder bag.
The mechanics:
- You pick postcode sectors, not streets. A sector is the first half of the postcode plus the first digit of the second half, so CA2 5, CA2 6 and so on. Each one is roughly 2,000 to 3,000 homes. You can't cherry-pick the ten streets nearest your unit.
- You book online through Drop A Leaflet or ring the Door to Door team. You upload the artwork, give them size, weight and thickness, and pick a start week.
- Delivery runs in weekly cycles, Monday to Friday, with about three weeks between booking and the first drop.
- You get the leaflets printed yourself and deliver them to the Royal Mail handover point on the date they give you, boxed and labelled to their spec.
- Minimum charge is £200 plus VAT per contract. New customers sometimes get a discount on distribution for the first six months.
Royal Mail says 83% of people engage with a door drop. That's an industry engagement figure, not a response rate. See our post on realistic leaflet response rates for the difference.
What it costs, all in
| Item | Typical cost |
|---|---|
| Royal Mail delivery, 5,000 homes | about £330 (at ~£66 per 1,000) |
| Print, 5,000 A5 leaflets, 130gsm double-sided | £150 to £250 |
| Design, if you don't do it yourself | £50 to £150 |
| Total | £530 to £730 |
That's before any repeat drop. Nobody responds to a leaflet the first time they see it in numbers that pay for the campaign, so plan for three or four.
For comparison, our own solo leaflet drop to 5,000 Carlisle homes through a local distributor cost £200 for print and £500 for delivery. £700 all in, or 14p a home. Royal Mail would have been a bit cheaper on delivery, but the print and the repeat cost don't change.
Where Royal Mail is the right call
- Rural drops. Postal rounds already go up every farm track. Independent walkers charge a premium for rural Cumbria, if they'll do it at all.
- Big volumes. 20,000 homes and up, the per-1,000 rate is hard to beat.
- Trust. It arrives with the post, so it's less likely to be treated as junk on the doorstep.
Where it isn't
- Small local drops. If you want 1,500 homes around your shop, buying whole sectors means paying for homes you don't want.
- Speed. Three weeks' lead time plus print time. If you need it out next week, forget it.
- Tracking. You get a delivery confirmation, not proof of which streets got done on which day.
- Sharing the mat. Your leaflet lands with everyone else's. Royal Mail limits how many door drop items go out per week, but you're still one of several.
The cheaper option for Carlisle businesses
If you're a local trade or service wanting to reach Carlisle homes, there's a route that costs less than either Royal Mail or a walker and takes the print and design cost off you entirely.
The Cumbrian Card is a shared A4 card on heavy 300gsm stock that goes to Carlisle households across CA1 to CA4. You take one slot on it, we design your ad, and you're the only business in your trade on that card.
| Solo leaflet drop (our own cost) | The Cumbrian Card | |
|---|---|---|
| 5,000 homes | £700 | £299.99 |
| Cost per home | 14p | 6p |
| Design | Extra | Included |
| Extra | Included | |
| Tracking | None | QR code per advertiser |
That's 57% less for the same number of doors, and it's a card people keep on the fridge rather than an A5 flyer that goes in the recycling with the pizza menus. See what leaflet distribution really costs for the full breakdown, or book a slot.
FAQ
How much does Royal Mail charge to deliver leaflets?
Roughly £66 per 1,000, with a £200 plus VAT minimum. Exact pricing depends on the weight and format of your leaflet and how many sectors you book.
How do I get the postman to deliver my leaflets?
Book through Royal Mail's Drop A Leaflet platform or ring the Door to Door team. You can't hand a box to your local postie and ask them to take it round.
How long does a Royal Mail leaflet drop take?
About three weeks from booking to the first delivery week, then the drop runs across a Monday to Friday cycle.
Is Royal Mail cheaper than a leaflet distribution company?
Usually cheaper than a solus (leaflet-only) walker and sometimes dearer than a shared drop. Neither includes print or design. A shared card like The Cumbrian Card is cheaper than both once print is counted.
Can people opt out of Royal Mail leaflets?
Yes. Households can register with Royal Mail to stop unaddressed door drops. Those addresses come out of your count.
Prices quoted are from Royal Mail's published figures and industry guides as of September 2026. Check current pricing before you book.