What Kind of Post Office Services and Discounts Are Available?

Mail always gets into people’s hands, making them more likely to at least look it over. Your job is to make it stand out, to get your message the attention it deserves.

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Mailing Services

Why Would I Use Direct Mail?

No other form of communication offers such direct contact for such a small cost.

Direct Mail Options

You can tailor your direct mailing campaign to exactly match your needs. Who receives your mailing, what kinds of businesses, when is it mail and how it's mailed are just a few options.

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Using a Fulfillment House

One of the keys to getting the most out of any direct mailing is making sure you take advantage of the discounts and other efficiencies that are available. The United States Post Office is doing all it can to encourage automated mailings and gives substantial postage discounts to mail conforming to those regulations and specifications. This can save a business a considerable amount of money, but only if the mail meets the USPS’ very specific requirements. Experienced direct mail services know these requirements and have the right equipment to image and sort mail to obtain available discounts.

A direct mail service also knows the different class categories for mailings and can take advantage of the one that best fits your needs, desired costs, and timeframe. The options include:

• First-Class Mail: The most common postage class. Using pre-sorted first-class mail can save you up to 7 cents for the first ounce off the normal retail postage rate. Depending on the level of automation used and the weight of a letter, these savings can go up significantly, all the way to more than 15 cents per letter less than retail postage rates.

• Standard Mail: Standard mail offers deeper discounts to customers sending more than 200 pieces of a single mailing. Unlike first-class mail that has a price increase for each ounce, standard mail offers you the same rate for up to three ounces. Standard mail may be slightly slower than first-class mail; the post office does not guarantee delivery times, but first-class mail generally arrives at its destination in one to five days, while standard mail usually takes between three and ten days. The discounts offered by standard mail, however, may offset the slower delivery time. The exact size of the discount depends on the size and weight of the material being sent, the status of the organization sending the mail, and how the mail is prepared for and delivered to the post office.

• General standard mail can cost less than half as much as retail first-class rates for regular letters.

• Not-for-profit organizations can take advantage of standard mail nonprofit, which offers even further discounts beyond normal standard mail rates. Many of the available options can make standard nonprofit postage less than ten cents per letter for regular-sized envelopes.

The exact postage rate a business pays is dependent on a number of variables, such as: How much does the mailing weigh? How much mail is going into a single area or zip code? Is the mail a post card, letter, or a flat? Is a bar code included on the envelope or mailer? Can the mailings be shipped to their destination state (BMC or SCF Entry) before the destination post office receives them?

A mailing service can work with a business to review all these options and deliver a product that makes sense for you.