Pressure Seal: Just the FAQ

Even by conservative estimates, that could translate to a cost savings of nearly $10,000 per year (Quill.com offers 500-count boxes of #10 standard windowless envelopes for $7.99 a box). On the higher end—say, #9, double-window, security-tinted invoice envelopes ($41.99 for a 500-count box at Staples)—that could result in savings upwards of $50,000 a year.

You have my attention. But you still need to account for the cost of the pressure seal forms, don't you?

Of course. But pressure seal forms are standalone mailers, while traditional envelope-inserted mail requires both the envelope and the form that is being sent within it. Pressure seal forms effectively eliminate one piece of paper for every mailer that is sent. In addition, because pressure sealers are able to process high volumes of mail more quickly than traditional inserters, the cost-savings in labor will likely offset the cost of the forms.

"Certainly, pressure seal forms have their expense, and when you compare a pressure seal form to the raw cost of a piece of copy paper and an envelope or two, the copy paper/envelope combination might end up costing slightly less than the pressure seal form does, depending on volume," said Waganheim. "But when you involve the labor that's necessary and the cost even of having to pay for a printed envelope, it all seems to work out in the advantage of a pressure seal machine throughput scenario over time."

What about the cost of the machine?

Industrial-volume pressure sealers can be expensive (a Google search for "high-end pressure sealer" returns some models that cost upwards of $89,000). But Christian Simko, director of product marketing and communications for Relyco Sales Inc., Dover, N.H., noted that lower-end pressure sealers, suitable for low-volume mailing operations (1,000 pieces per month), start around $1,500. Either way, Simko believes the labor-cost savings will eventually even things out.