USPS | Metered Mail

What is a Postage Meter and Do I Really Need One?

Postage meters are machines that can be rented to apply postage themselves instead of taking mail directly to a post office. Postage is applied via an ink stamp and is more time effective than hand applying stamps. Postage is added to the meter machines electronically and funds are reduced as postage is used.

According to the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), postal meters can be used to affix postage for these classes of mail: First-Class Mail®, Priority Mail®, Express Mail®, international mail and presorted First-Class Mail®, which provides a discount for mailing 500 or more pieces that meet certain criteria. The USPS also allows postage meters to be used to apply postage (via an adhesive tape) to packages. The USPS does not allow periodical mail—a special class of mail usually reserved for publications such as magazines—to be processed using postage meters.

Strahm Automation provides metering service to most of our customers as an addition to presorting services. This has allowed them to discontinue costly leases, maintenance (including downtime for repairs), and expensive software updates.

Our presort capabilities enable mailers to qualify for higher postage discounts by combining mail from multiple clients and sorting it by ZIP Code™. This mail realizes faster delivery times since it bypasses local postal facilities and heads straight to its postal destination.

Address quality is improved by applying updated addresses to the mailpieces as necessary (meeting Move Update requirements), as well as use of the Intelligent Mail barcode as part of the presort service.

Strahm offers both metering and presorting services and in return our customers benefit from our industry expertise and relationship with the United States Postal Service.

Strahm Automation will help you eliminate the cost of postage meters and improve your mail quality at the same time! | Visit: http://www.strahm.com/business/mail.html

USPS | Paper | Direct Mail – All Working Together!

Selecting The Right Paper When Designing Direct Mail!

When designing your fabulous direct mail piece, have you ever just fallen head-over-heels in love with a particular paper only to find out that it doesn’t meet certain USPS requirements? Or, worse, that you will have to pay increased postage just to mail it?

Selecting the right paper can make all the difference in how your mail piece is perceived and how well it travels through the mailstream.

There are a plethora of papers out there to choose from. Work with your designer, printer and mail house to choose a stock to make the best impression with your mail. Each of these people should provide insight into why a paper works or doesn’t work and how to effectively produce your job.

You should be aware of light reflectivity – there needs to be enough of a difference between the ink and the paper for USPS MLOCR equipment to read the address and barcode. This means no dark stock. And stock with fibers throughout, including some recycled papers, can cause problems with reading address as well.

A big decision will be whether to use coated or uncoated paper. 

For images with lots of detail, a coated paper offers a sharp, clean look. Coated paper also makes color “pop”. Think about the end use of your printed piece.  If it needs to be addressed after printing, make sure that the coating will not interfere with high-speed inkjet printers used by your mail house. 

Uncoated papers have become increasingly popular. They can “feel” formal, or very contemporary. If you are hand signing a card, for example, you want to use an uncoated paper. Uncoated paper also scores and folds a little better than coated papers and some digital presses “prefer” uncoated stock.

A visit to the local paper supplier is always fun; you’ll be bowled over by the shear number of papers available. But make sure to get input from your printer and mail house before you get too attached to a stock that won’t convey your message well or, worse, won’t look great in your recipient’s mail box!

For further details visit USPS^® paper regulations for direct mail.

What are your favorite papers and how do you think they enhance your mail piece or company image? Or just share your war stories on paper choices gone awry. We’d love to hear them.

USPS Holiday Mobile Shopping Promotion

U.S. Postal Service Planning 2012 Holiday Mobile Shopping Promotion

Direct Mail Discounts for Online Merchants Timed for Cyber Monday

July 18, 2012

Release No. 12-084

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WASHINGTON — Cyber Monday was the busiest shopping day last year. Up 29 percent over 2010, Cyber Monday’s purchasing surge was no doubt due to a number of deals offered by retailers. And with the deal the U.S. Postal Service is planning for online merchants this holiday season, Cyber Monday 2012 could be even better.

Designed to drive online product purchases by putting mobile-optimized promotional offers, coupons and catalogs into consumers’ hands, the U.S. Postal Service’s 2012 Holiday Mobile Shopping Promotion will offer online merchants an upfront 2 percent postage discount on Standard Mail and First-Class Mail letters, flats and cards (presort and automation) that include a mobile barcode or print/mobile technology — such as a QR code — that can be read or scanned by a mobile device and leads the mail recipient to a mobile-optimized shopping website.  The promotion will run Nov. 7- Nov. 21, 2012.

Mailers may also qualify for an additional 1 percent postage rebate on their discounted mailings if a portion of their product orders are fulfilled via Priority Mail between Nov. 9, 2012, and Dec. 31, 2012. The 2012 Holiday Mobile Shopping Promotion is subject to approval by the Postal Regulatory Commission.

“This latest pricing incentive solidifies the Postal Service’s leadership role as a catalyst of e-commerce trade between consumers and online merchants,” said Gary Reblin, vice president, Domestic Products. “The reliability of mail to serve as the on-ramp for mobile commerce, along with the tremendous growth of mobile devices, gives online merchants a surefire way to generate sales this holiday season.

“By offering a short-term promotion linking mail and mobile devices during the key holiday purchasing timeframe, the Postal Service is providing online merchants with an incentive designed to increase industry adoption of a physical-to-digital marketing approach.”

For additional information on the 2012 Holiday Mobile Shopping Promotion, go to RIBBS.  Program registration opens Sept. 15, 2012, and continues through Nov. 21, 2012. Participants must agree to partake in a survey about the promotion.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at http://about.usps.com/news/welcome.htm.

A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation — 151 million residences, businesses and Post Office™ Boxes. The Postal Service™ receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com®, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $65 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 35th in the 2011 Fortune 500. In 2011, Oxford Strategic Consulting ranked the U.S. Postal Service number one in overall service performance of the posts in the top 20 wealthiest nations in the world. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency for six years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.

Business Reply Mail: Creating IMb Artwork

Creating IMb Artwork For Your Business Reply Mail

Help!  I need to create Business Reply mail artwork to include the Intelligent Mail barcode!

If you have not yet created a Mailer ID, please follow steps 1 – 10 below. If you have an MID, start at step 11.

1. Go to www.usps.com.  The link to the Business Customer Gateway is in the lower right corner.  This link will take you to the log in page.
2. An existing user may “Sign In” with their username and password.  New users should click “Sign Up”.
3. On the Create Your USPS Business Account screen, make sure account type shows as Business, create a Username and Password, select a Security Question (you will setup two security questions and answers), complete all of the Name and Contact Info at the screen below, then click Create Account.
4. You will be redirected to Select a Business Service screen.
5. Under “Design and Prepare” choose Mailer ID.
6. Click on the small box next to your company name.  Click Next.
7. Review the company information and click Confirm.
8. New users will have to go through the Business Service Administrator process, click to confirm your agreement with the USPS Online Agreement.
9. Select and put a check mark next to your company name and click Yes.
10. On the Business Service Administrator Access screen, click continue.
11. You will need to go back to the main screen of the Business Customer Gateway and login with your Username and Password.
12. Once you have logged in, choose “Intelligent Mail Services” beneath Design and Prepare
13. On the next screen choose “Automated Business Reply Mail”.
14. Select your reply mail type (Courtesy reply if the recipient is required to put a stamp on it, Business Reply if you are paying the postage in advance)
15. Choose “Profile Registered Address”.  Click continue
16. Enter your delivery address (you will need to know your ZIP+4).  Click continue.
17. On the next screen, your Mailer ID number should be prepopulated.
18. Some design elements come into play.  You will be asked to choose a name for your mailpiece, choose a font from a drop down menu, etc.
19. Next you will enter your return address
20. You can upload a logo if so desired
21. Click continue
22. The following screen will provide you a proof of your new envelope.  Please review it carefully.
23. Click continue and you will now be able to download your new Business Reply Mail artwork.  This art will include the mandatory Intelligent Mail barcode.  It is now ready to submit to your envelope provider!

How to Generate Your USPS Mailer ID

How to Generate Your USPS Mailer ID (MID)

As we’ve discussed before, the old POSTNET barcode will be retired and replaced by Intelligent Mail barcode (IMb) as of January 28, 2013.

A 6 or 9 digit Mailer ID is part of the IMb make up. A reader has brought up the question of what a Mailer ID is and how to go about getting one.

What is a Mailer ID?

A Mailer ID (MID) is a numeric identification number used in the suite of Intelligent Mail barcodes and electronic documentation to identify the mail owner, mailing agent, or other service provider.

The MID is assigned by the Postal Service based primarily on documented historical volume.

What if I Use a Mail Service Provider?

Does your service provider have their own Mailer ID? If so, would it be better to use theirs or apply for your own? At Strahm, we use our MID on your outgoing mail, but request that you create and provide your own MID for pieces such as Courtesy or Business Reply Mail.

How Do I Get My MID? 

1. Go to www.usps.com. The link to the Business Customer Gateway is in the lower right corner. This link will take you to the log in page.
2. An existing user may “Sign In” with their username and password. New users should click “Sign Up”.
3. On the Create Your USPS Business Account screen, make sure account type shows as Business, create a Username and Password, select a Security Question (you will setup two security questions and answers), complete all of the Name and Contact Info at the screen below, then click Create Account.
4. You will be redirected to Select a Business Service screen.
5. Under “Design and Prepare” choose Mailer ID.
6. Click on the small box next to your company name. Click Next.
7. Review the company information and click Confirm.
8. New users will have to go through the Business Service Administrator process, click to confirm your agreement with the USPS Online Agreement.
9. Select and put a check mark next to your company name and click Yes.
10. On the Business Service Administrator Access screen, click continue.
11. You will need to go back to the main screen of the Business Customer Gateway and login with your Username and Password.
12. Choose Mailer ID under “Design and Prepare”
13. On the “Welcome to the Mailer ID System” page, click “Request an MID”.  You may need to check a box located before your business name.
14. At the “Apply for MID” screen, use the drop down menu and select “9 digit MID”, select one MID requested, then click “Request MID”.
15. At the next screen, be sure that there is a check before the “Automatically Generate this MID” and in the right column, check ONLY “Full/Basic Service”.  Click “Request MID”.
16. The system should issue your new Mailer ID on the next screen. Print or record this number and sign out.

 You are done and are now the proud owner of your very own Mailer ID.