Resources & Support

Want to save money on your direct mail? Every day, direct-mail designers and their customers come up with direct-mail pieces and send them off to be printed and mailed; yet, they have little knowledge of what works or does not work through the US Postal system. What's more, the local Post Office employees also may not know all the details. It is critical to find the USPS customer representative for your state or locality, or deal with a printer who has the mail requirements down pat.

Here are a few general tips
1. Watch the aspect ratio. Square mail tumbles in the USPS automated equipment. A ratio of no less than 1:3 or no more than 2:4 is required. You can still mail it but you will pay a higher rate.

2. Watch the colors. especially those Christmas card envelopes in red and green where there is not enough contrast for the address. You may think it is a pale blue, but the USPS scanners may see it as black.

3. Watch the weight. 7 point stock may not always equal 65 pound bulk. The piece is non-machinable if the thickness is less than .009 inch on some pieces and .007 inch on others.

4. Watch the readability and contrast. Printing on colored background could be a problem because of the barcode. If you want to cover the area with color, make it a gradient with the lightest color over the area where the address and barcode will go. Lighter means almost white.

5. Watch the folds. A fold on the bottom only needs one seal. A fold on the top requires two seals. How you fold it affects the rate because of the way the piece goes through automated equipment.

6. Watch the address area. You need 1.5 x 4 inches for the address area. It can be at the top or bottom of the panel. And it is not only the three or four line address—there is that barcode that either you include or the Postal Service adds.

7. Watch odd shapes . You can mail die-cut pieces. The cost today is 60.5 cents each and they must be delivered to the DDU—one of the 33,000 local post offices.