Industry News
The United States Postal Service (USPS) has revised its rules on whether a mail piece is eligible for Standard A Rates (which is less expensive that First Class mail).
Originally, the rules stated that if a mail piece was personalized, it was considered First Class mail, and could not go Standard A. The exception was non-profit mail (which gets the Standard A rate).
Now with the advent of technology and the ease of personalization, most mailings have a personalized component to it. So the USPS announced that it would allow personalization for Standard A mailings under certain conditions:
- The piece must contain explicit advertising for a product or service (and not a bill). This includes solicitation for a donation
- The personal information must be relevant to the advertising or solicitation
- The personalization must support the advertising or solicitation
The above ruling will go into effect June 1, 2005, to allow mailers and postal workers a chance to become familiar with the rules. Any mailer can get a pre-production review of a mail piece to determine its eligibility.
In addition, the USPS proposed new rules for checks sent out standard mail (these would also include blank checks, balance transfer checks, and convenience checks). In order to qualify for the lower rate, there must be an endorsement such as “Return Service Requested”, “Address Service Requested”, or “Forwarding Service Requested”. That way, if the address is no longer valid, the check will be either forwarded to a new address, or returned to the mailer.
In a related move, the USPS will consolidate all of its Regional Customer Support Centers (RCSC) and the National Support Center (NSC) into one location in New York City. This will centralize all decision making for pricing and classifications into one place.
With these new changes, the Post Office is coming out with an updated Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) early next year.
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