Jan 27th: More Than a Rate Change

USPS announced updated prices and products last week. Fortunately for most US mailers, not much is changing. Here’s a quick summary of the changes that will go into effect January 27:

• POSTNET barcodes will be retired. This wasn’t announced in the rate case filing, but the barcode retirement lines up exactly with these price changes. If you haven’t started using the Intelligent Mail barcode, start now. If you’re not sure where to start, we have several tech notes and recorded webinars to get you started.
• First-Class single-piece stamps (Forever stamps) are going up one cent. Stock up on stamps now!
• A new Global Forever Stamp was introduced – you can now mail a letter anywhere in the world for only $1.10.
• Overall, prices are going up an average of 4 percent. However, most mailing services (USPS “market dominant” products like letters and flats) are only going up an average 2.57 percent.
• Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) is now a full product (previously it was a market test). These unaddressed flats that saturate carrier routes are now priced at $0.16 per piece.
• A new walk sequence pricing tier, High Density Plus for Standard Mail, has been introduced. In order to qualify, you’ll need at least 300 pieces of mail going to each carrier route, in walk sequence order. This sort level is priced between High Density and Saturation rates.
• 6 promotions were announced, and they will be scattered throughout 2013. These promotions will give mailers an incentive to use the latest in mail technology in various ways. Stay tuned to this blog for more information about these promotions.
• The discounts for Full-Service have not changed. Initially, USPS tried to find a way to use the Full-Service Intelligent Mail discount to get more mailers to make the switch. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to find a number at a piece level that worked. However, in the next few days they will be announcing a credit for mailers who have and do make the switch over, but it will not be at a piece level. Stick around, more details to come.
• Drop ship discounts have not changed.
• A new parcel product, Simple Samples, was introduced. This product replaces the Standard Mail Carrier Route Marketing Parcel, and is specifically designed for product samples.