It's year 3 of the United States Postal Service's (USPS) 10-Year Plan, and the USPS is raising postage rates for Market Dominated products on January 22, 2023. The increase averages 4.2% across First Class, Marketing Mail, Periodicals, Package Services and Special Services.
The stores just took down the Halloween decorations and online pre–Black Friday sales are ramping up, which means it's time to start thinking about sending off holiday letters and packages. Here are some dates to remember so your items arrive on time and at the best rates. Please note that the USPS has placed a temporary price increase again for the 2022 holiday season.
As we enter the second year of the United States Postal Service (USPS) 10-Year Plan, the USPS has filed for a mid-year postage increase for Market Dominated products. The increase averages 6.5% across First Class, Marketing Mail, Periodicals, Package Services and Special Services. Flat rate mail, Periodicals and Packages will have a higher average rate due to the fact they are not meeting the cost associated with delivery. The USPS call these products "Under Water". The USPS has the authority to add an additional 2% increase above the 6.5% until these products are covering delivery costs.
The 2022 USPS Promotions Calendar has been published and there are a few changes to note from previous years. The great news is the amount of the available discounts is higher for a number of the promotions. My 2021 USPS promotions blog explains each of the promotions, so I will leave those details out, but I have included a link below each promotion that will take you to their resource pages. Let's review them individually by promotion and registration dates.
The 2021 Holiday Shipping dates have been released. The USPS no longer has Parcel Airlift Mail (PAL) and Space Available Mail (SAM) services available. I would advise that you ship out packages as early as possible as this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as people will do less traveling for the holidays. This means more packages will be in the mail stream. The dates to ship out packages to Military Bases is listed below.
The United States Postal Service (USPS) is helping mailers by increasing the maximum size of a presorted or automated First-Class postcard to 6 inches high by 9 inches wide. The new size goes into effect on August 29th, 2021 with the new postage rate increase.
As part of their new 10-Year Plan, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has filed for a mid-year postage increase for Market Dominated products. The increase averages 6.8% across First Class, Marketing Mail, Periodicals, Package Services and Special Services. Flat rate mail and Packages will have a higher average rate due to the fact they are not meeting the cost associated with delivery. The USPS call these products "under water."
The USPS has received permission to move ahead with six postage promotions for mailers this year. The 2021 promotions are similar to the past two year's promotions. The promotions for First Class Mail are Earned Value and Personalized and Preprinted Color Transpromo. The Emerging & Technology and the Informed Delivery promotions can use either First Class Mail or Marketing Mail, while the Tactile, Sensory & Interactive Engagement and Mobile Shopping promos are only for Marketing Mail.
Now that the election is over, the biggest news headlines in mail are the upcoming holiday shipping deadlines and proposed postage pricing changes for 2021. Here's the USPS news you can use now:
Quick Response (QR) codes got their humble start in the mid 1990s to track inventory in a warehouse or manufacturing environment. It was promoted from there that QR codes could be used to link printed materials to websites and apps, landing pages, and to enable touchless ordering experiences.
