Best Practices
What are the pros and cons of the different classes of postage?*
U.S. Mail can qualify for an indicia (as opposed to stamps or metering) when there are 200 or more pieces in a mailing. All metered and stamped mail pieces are inherently first class or higher in terms of class of mail. However, when an indicia is used a class of mail must be selected.
Let’s start by identifying the most common classes, the ones we will cover in this article.
- First Class
- First Class presorted
- Standard Class presorted
- Non-Profit presorted
First Class (non-presorted): When mailing between 200 and 499 pieces of mail via First Class, an indicia can be applied but the mail cannot be specified as pre-sorted. In essence each piece goes out at the full price for a postage stamp but you don’t have to apply the stamps or meter them and mail can be entered into the postal system in the same fashion as bulk mail (in a mail tray as opposed to one piece at a time).
First Class presorted: When mailing 500 pieces or more via First Class, mail can achieve pre-sorted status and some level of discount can usually be taken. The reason we say ‘usually’ is because postal discounts have to do with how much work eDOC is able to do that the USPS can forgo. This usually translates into how many pieces of your mailing go into a specific zip code. With more pieces going into a specific zip code, the higher the level of ‘saturation’ and the greater the discount.
For First Class, both presorted and non-presorted, there is a price difference between a letter and a postcard (see our article ‘Postcards, letters and flats according to the USPS’).
Standard Class presorted: All Standard class mail is presorted. For Standard class, there is no differentiation between letters or postcards in terms of pricing. Standard class mail is a less expensive method of mailing but there are some downsides to using it.
» It usually takes longer to deliver, especially non-local pieces
» When a piece of first class mail can’t go to the correct address, it is usually forwarded or returned
Standard Class mail is disposed when it doesn’t make its final destination.
» Before and through the end of year holidays, Standard Class mail always takes longer to deliver
» If there is any kind of postal/delivery issue with a Standard Class mailing, the USPS does not seem to take much responsibility
Standard Class is a less expensive method of mail but there tangible drawbacks.
Non-Profit: Non-Profit mail is very similar to Standard Class mail. It is all presorted; there is no differntiation between letters or postcards. At its core, Non-Profit mail is like Standard Class with a further discount. Only organizations with non-profit IRS status can hold a Non-Profit indicia.
Mail can be complex, eDOC would be happy to work with you to find the best class and method to suit your needs.
* The USPS publishes thousands of pages of rules, regulations, restrictions, specifications and procedures. Many of those pages are revised on a regular basis. This short article does not pretend to represent all of the scenarios possible in mailing with the USPS. None of the statements in this article are correct in all circumstances. This article is intended to be a high level general education of the different classes of mail and is accurate as of July of 2010.
Postcards, Letters and Flats according to the USPS*
These are the terms used by the USPS to designate different physical sizes of U.S. Mail. The specifications for each can be seen below.
In this article we will talk about length and height of mail pieces. It is absolutely critical to understand that to the USPS, length is the direction of the text that the address reads. If that is mis-understood and the aspect ration is ‘out-of-spec,’ postal costs increase dramatically.
As a last note, once a piece of mail exceeds the maximum length, height, or thickness of one shape, it automatically gets classified as the next largest shape.
Postcards:
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Letters:
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Flats:
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Mail can be complex, eDOC would be happy to work with you to find the best class and method to suit your needs.
* The USPS publishes thousands of pages of rules, regulations, restrictions, specifications and procedures. Many of those pages are revised on a regular basis. This short article does not pretend to represent all of the scenarios possible in mailing with the USPS. None of the statements in this article are correct in all circumstances. This article is intended to be a high level general education of the different classes of mail and is accurate as of July of 2010.
