| General |
| How do I contact Cactus Mailing? |
Address: Cactus Mailing Company 16121 N 78th St, Suite 103 Scottsdale, AZ 85260
Phone: 866-443-1442
Fax: 480-443-2518
E-mail: info@cactusmailing.com |
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| What methods of payment are accepted? |
| We accept VISA, Master Card, Discover and American Express. We also accept payment by check. You can either mail or fax the check to us. Payment is required in full prior to starting your project. |
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| When will my credit card be charged? |
| Due to the nature of printing being non-resellable (we can’t sell your company’s postcards to someone else)- we require full payment prior to starting your project. |
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| What is your refund policy? |
Design service fees, are fully refundable up until the time you review the first draft. After you have reviewed the first draft and either approve it or request revisions, design service fees are no longer refundable. For printing and mailing services you may cancel your order any time prior to approving your proof for printing. You will receive a refund of all monies paid minus any costs incurred by us to that point and a fifty dollar project cancellation fee Once you approve your proof for printing, there will be no refunds of any kind. |
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| How long will it take to complete my order? |
It typically takes 1 to 2 business days for list processing, proofing, and invoicing and 6 to 8 business days to print and mail (or ship) the postcards. If you are having design services performed it will take additional time depending on the level of service you have selected. If you need a faster turnaround than the standard 6 to 8 days please contact one of our sales consultants. |
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| Do you offer other products such as self-mailers and personalized laser letters? |
| Yes, at Cactus Mailing we offer a full range of direct mail products and letter shop services. To request a quote for these services click here: Request a quote. |
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| Printing Questions |
| What is a bleed? |
| Bleed is the term for printing that goes right to the edge of the paper. The way to do this is to make your document .125 inches too big in all 4 directions. For example, the layout dimensions for a 4in x 6in postcard would be 4.25 in. x 6.25 in. Then, when the design is created, images are stretched all the way to the edge. After printing, the additional .125 in. on each side is trimmed off. This gives the appearance that the image "runs" right off the edge. |
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| What if I don’t need full color on both sides? |
Our process is setup to provide significantly discounted 4/4 color printing. Therefore there is no difference between our 4/4 and 4/1 pricing. In many cases you will find our 4/4 pricing is less than other company’s pricing for 4/1. |
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| What type of files formats do you accept? |
| We accept the following PC file formats: Adobe Photoshop Adobe Indesign Adobe Illustrator Adobe Pagemaker Adobe Acrobat (Print optimized PDFs) We accept files from the following programs ONLY if outputted and submitted as print optimized PDFs: Microsoft Publisher Corel Draw Quark Express We accept MAC files only if outputted as print optimized PDFs. For more information see our Design File Guidelines. |
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| Do you offer hard copy proofs? |
| We do not offer hard copy proofs. All of our proofing is done via Proof-it-Online - a state-of-the-art online proofing system. Online proofing provides an adequate proof to ensure the color of the printed product will be reasonably close to the online proof. Remember minor variations in color are inherent to the printing process. |
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| How long will it take to receive my proof? |
Once we receive your design files (or we complete the design), you will normally receive the proof by the end of the next business day. |
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| How accurate will the color match my artwork? |
| We will reproduce colors as closely as possible, however due to limitations in the printing process we cannot guarantee an exact color and density match. |
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| Can I get a sample of your products? |
| Sure! Just click on the link below, fill in the requested information, and we’ll send you a complete sample packet. Request a Sample Packet |
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| Design Questions |
| What if my images are not in an electronic format? |
| If you do not have the artwork and images for your postcard design in an electronic format, you can send the images to us. When we receive the images we will perform a high quality scan of them and then send the hardcopy images back to you. Note: There is an additional per image charge for performing scans. |
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| Can I use images and artwork I find online? |
| Most of the images that you find online are low quality (resolution) images. Although these images look fine when viewed on a monitor, they are not suitable for print. Images submitted for print should have a resolution of at least 300 dpi. |
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| What if I don’t like the postcard design or want some changes made? |
During the postcard design process we will send you a draft of the design for your review and approval. If you feel the design needs changes you can request revisions. For our Express Postcard Design service, you can request up to 2 sets of revisions. Our Full Postcard Design service allows unlimited sets of revisions. |
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| Mailing Questions |
| What does your postcard mailing service include? |
| Our postcard mailing services include processing your mailing list (CASS certification and PAVE presorting), addressing and barcoding the postcard, packaging into trays, and delivery to the post office. |
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| Do you use labels to address the postcards? |
| No, we print the addresses onto the postcards. We print the addresses on the postcards instead of applying labels, as we believe it results in a more professional looking mail piece. |
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| Do I need my own postage permit? |
| No, why spend $150 in fees to get your own permit when you can use ours for free. If we are mailing your postcards you are welcome to use our permit. We will add our permit info to your design prior to printing. |
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| Can I mail the extras using your permit? |
| No, unfortunately even though the permit information says "US Postage Paid" it isn’t actually paid until we deliver them to the post office. If you put them in a regular mailbox they will not get delivered. However, you can cover the permit information with a stamp and then mail them. |
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| Where will my postcards be mailed from? |
| All of the postcards we mail are mailed from the main Post Office in Phoenix Arizona. |
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| How long will it take for my postcards to be delivered? |
| If you select First Class, your postcards will typically be delivered in 3-5 business days. If you select Standard Rate, your postcards will typically be delivered in 7-10 business days. Where the delivery actually falls in this range depends on how far from Phoenix AZ (where the postcards are mailed from) the recipient is. In other words, postcards being delivered to recipients on the West Coast will be delivered sooner than those on the East Coast. For Estimated Delivery Times based on information published by the Postal Service click here. |
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| What type of postage rate should I select? |
| If you are mailing our Standard size postcard (4in x 6in), you should select First Class. This size postcard qualifies for a special First Class Card rate. This results in virtually no cost difference between First Class and Standard rate when mailing this size postcard. So why not take advantage of quicker delivery at the same cost? If you are mailing our Large size postcard (5.5in x 8.5in) you should base the decision on how quickly you need them delivered. If your mailing is time sensitive and your need the postcards delivered within a week you should select First Class. However, if waiting up to 2 weeks and maybe even up to 3 weeks to have your postcards delivered is acceptable to you; Standard rate will provide you a considerable cost savings. |
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| What is NCOA? |
| Every year, over 40 million Americans change their addresses! At Cactus Mailing, we have access to the NCOA service offered by the Postal Service. This service provides updated addresses for families, individuals, and businesses that have moved (as long as they filed a change of address form). The Postal Service maintains a database of all change of addresses submitted over the last 13 months. When a mailing list is submitted for NCOA processing it is matched against this database and the new address is provided (when available). Keeping in mind that the Postal Service does not forward standard (bulk) rate mail, this service can provide a substantial cost savings by reducing the number of undeliverable mail pieces. |
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