Does your non-profit customer need to pay for a permit?
No. As long as they have a Non Profit Authorization Number from the Post Office, they do not need a permit. We can obtain a CRID or ghost number for them and use our permit number and your customer will get the non-profit rate. This saves them $225 a year in permit fees. If they don’t have a Non Profit Authorization Number, we can send you the form and help expedite the process.
What’s the difference between Standard (Bulk) Mail and Non-Profit Mail?
ONLY the price. Non-Profit is a sub-category of Standard Mail and goes out at the same speed. The cost of Non-Profit is about half that of Standard. The term Standard Mail is the same as Bulk Mail. The post office prefers using the term Standard Mail.
Why are there so many rates for my mail?
The Post Office gives discounts based on saturation level — if so many pieces are going to an area that shares the first three digits of a zip code, there is one discount. If there are so many pieces going to an area that shares a five digit zip code, there is an additional discount, etc. It gets complicated so we rely on our postal software to figure out the best rate for your mail.
Complete USPS rate info is available at http://pe.usps.com
How fast does the mail go out?
According to the post office’s own standards, First Class Mail takes 1-3 days to reach its destination. Standard Mail can take 3 – 10 days. In our experience, local Standard Mail going to the Valley and Greater Los Angeles area has been only taking a day or 2 longer than First Class. There is no guarantee that this will always be the case and when there is heavy political mail during elections or holiday mail, Standard Mail will be slower.
What is the Maximum Size for Automated mail?
Automated Mail comes in two sizes – Letter and Flat. Maximum size for Letter Mail is 11.5” x 6.125.” Maximum size for Flat Mail is 15” x 12.” Postage on flats is 1.5 – 2 times more than on letters, depending on how the list sorts. Maximum thickness for Letter Mail is 0.25” and for Flats 0.75.”
What’s the difference between automated mail and non-automated mail?
Automated Mail runs on the USPS’s automated scanning and sorting equipment. There is less human intervention, so the Post Office passes the savings on to the customer. If a mail piece cannot be automated, it can still qualify for a pre-sort discount, but there will be no discount for automation. Some examples of mail pieces that cannot be automated:
1) No barcode
2) Oversize or too thick
3) Uneven thickness — the inserts inside are not uniform thickness
4) Letter size pieces that are below an aspect ratio of 1.3. Length divided by Width must equal 1.3 to 2.5.
See other side for template.
What is the rate for postcards?
The Post Office offers a special First Class rate for small postcards that fall between 5” x 3.5” and 6” x 4.25.” Maximum paper thickness is 14 pt (16 pt will NOT qualify). This special rate applies to FIRST CLASS ONLY and the top rate is 48 cents and it can get as low as 35 cents. There is no special postcard rate for Standard Mail or Non Profit.
What are the minimum quantities for a permit (mail indicia) mailing?
Minimum quantity for any permit mailing is 200 pieces. Any quantity less than that and the mail piece needs a stamp. For First Class PRESORT, the minimum quantity is 500. You can mail less than 500, down to 200, with a permit, but the cost will be the same as a stamp — 49 cents. Standard and Non-Profit Mail qualify for presort rates at the 200 minimum.
Bonus Question:
When can I get Free postage from the USPS?
On first class presort letters, you get up to 2 ounces of mail for the price of 1 ounce. Pay for the first ounce, get the second ounce free. It ONLY applies to First Class Letter Size automated presort, so it must have a barcode and be run through a presort program
