My goal here is to give you the tools to make the best decisions for your business around barcoding your mail and getting automation discounts. We are not going to discuss the technical details behind barcodes, but rather, the business reasons of where and when it makes sense. As the self-proclaimed King of Barcoding, I am responsible for over 5,000 companies barcoding their mailing during my 18 years in this industry. I managed major accounts in Boston, grew the only national presort service offering to over 4,000 customers and was in charge of sales for all barcoding equipment for the largest provider. With this title comes responsibility. That is to teach you how to save the most money with the simplest processes that can be set up for your business.
First off we need some basic housekeeping. Here are the minimum requirements to barcode your mailings:
· Pieces - At least 500 pieces for First-Class Mail or 200 pieces for Standard Mail.
· Software - Need software that meets all USPS certifications.
· Permits - Need to have at least one permit from the USPS
· Preparation - All mailings must have barcodes on each piece, be sorted, placed in trays with tray tags and reports need to be brought with the mail to the USPS for processing.
Here is a link to the USPS Quick Service Guides which is an easy way to get specifics for your mailings. http://pe.usps.com/text/qsg300/q000.htm
Pros to barcoding:
1. It saves you postage! This is the main reason most companies barcode their mailings. (See the chart below) As the pieces get larger, the savings can increase dramatically. Many customers doing mailings without any discounts will also try to apply for Standard Mail rates. Standard Mail is designed for newsletter or a solicitation where every piece is the same and the customer can live with a slightly slower delivery. Things like invoices, statements and checks have to go First-Class Mail because every piece is slightly different or has personal information.
Download the PDF to get the full article, complete with charts!
First off we need some basic housekeeping. Here are the minimum requirements to barcode your mailings:
· Pieces - At least 500 pieces for First-Class Mail or 200 pieces for Standard Mail.
· Software - Need software that meets all USPS certifications.
· Permits - Need to have at least one permit from the USPS
· Preparation - All mailings must have barcodes on each piece, be sorted, placed in trays with tray tags and reports need to be brought with the mail to the USPS for processing.
Here is a link to the USPS Quick Service Guides which is an easy way to get specifics for your mailings. http://pe.usps.com/text/qsg300/q000.htm
Pros to barcoding:
1. It saves you postage! This is the main reason most companies barcode their mailings. (See the chart below) As the pieces get larger, the savings can increase dramatically. Many customers doing mailings without any discounts will also try to apply for Standard Mail rates. Standard Mail is designed for newsletter or a solicitation where every piece is the same and the customer can live with a slightly slower delivery. Things like invoices, statements and checks have to go First-Class Mail because every piece is slightly different or has personal information.
Download the PDF to get the full article, complete with charts!
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