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Shape Matters!
Return to News Items August 1, 2007New postage rates are here. And depending what you mail, you're feeling the pinch a little ... or a lot.
With this rate case, which went into effect May 14, 2007, the USPS told us shape matters. In the most sweeping - and complicated - adjustment to come from the USPS since 1996's classification reform, it provides the biggest inducement yet for mailers to give forethought to mail piece design.
Of course, there have always been clear advantages to letter-sized rather than flat-sized mailings. But now it's amplified, shifting from a weight-based to shape-based model. For example, first class postage for one ounce letter is 41 cents, while a one-ounce flat is 80 cents. A two-ounce letter is 58 cents, while a two-ounce flat is 97 cents.
As in first-class mail, standard and nonprofit mail pricing also has a greater recognition of shape, and a reduced reliance on weight. An automated standard letter weighing less than 3.3 ounces is 25.2 cents, while the same weight automated flat is 47.7 cents. A nonprofit letter is 16.1 cents, while a flat is 35.4 cents - nearly double.
But if your mail piece is too thick, or too rigid, or too bumpy, it could fail to qualify as a flat and become the dreaded not flat-machinable. The rate for those pieces under 3.3 ounces is $1.02.3 per piece. That's right, we moved into dollar territory. And if it doesn't qualify for that, and becomes a parcel, you're looking at $1.129 per piece.
Yikes.
So what can you do on the front end to save postage on the back end? In a nutshell, downsize. If you're creating parcels, redesign the mailer to fit into the flat category. if you're designing flats like catalogs and newsletters, consider refolding the mail piece to 8.5 x 5.5. Or perhaps it can be redesigned to letter size. Can items currently being inserted into a 9x12 fit into a 6x9 or #10 business envelope?
One optimistic, glass-half-full kind of guy at a recent rate seminar declared that this rate case is full of "opportuntities." And he's right - there are a myriad of opportunities to save serious postage while looking like the best direct mail designer in the world.
And don't think you have to learn all these new postal regulations by yourself. We at Post Haste Mailing have stayed up late studying the new Domestic Mail Manual (and believe me, that's a feat!) and will be happy to explain the regulations to you. Just give us a call, or send over a PDF of your mailer before printing. We'll check it for postal compliance and make suggestions to save money.
Because our glass is half-full here, too.
POSTAGE RATE COMPARISONS - Nonprofit and Standard
For a mail piece 3.3 ounces and under. Note: for comparison purposes we are using the highest automation rate possible for each category.
Nonprofit Standard
Letter 0.161 0.252
Flat 0.354 0.477
Not Flat-Machinable 0.902 1.028
Parcel 1.003 1.129
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