Effective July 1, 2009, the Postal Service™ revised Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) to add section 709.2, describing the Standard Mail Volume Incentive Program. Commonly known as the “Summer Sale,” the Standard Mail Volume Incentive Program is a volume incentive program for qualified high-volume mailers of commercial or Nonprofit Standard Mail letters and flats mailed between July 1, 2009, and September 30, 2009. The program provides a 30 percent credit, to participating mailers, for qualifying volume exceeding their USPS®-determined threshold level.
To participate, a mailer must be the permit holder (i.e., owner) of a permit imprint advance deposit account(s) or the owner of qualifying mail volume entered through the permit imprint advance deposit account of a mail service provider. Mail owners must be able to demonstrate volume of at least 1 million pieces, within the program qualification period of October 1, 2007, to March 31, 2008, through a permit imprint advance deposit account(s), precanceled stamp permit(s), postage meter permit(s), or a combination of these methods. Mail owners also may qualify for the program with volume mailed through an account(s) owned by a mail service provider, when documentation is provided that specifies the applicant is the owner of the mail. Mail owners must ensure that all Standard Mail® letters and flats volume from all mailer-owned and mail service provider–owned permits is aggregated and included in the total for the determination of eligibility for the program and when calculating threshold levels. For the purpose of determining program eligibility and participation, all subsidiary organizations will be consolidated to the enterprise level (i.e., parent organization).
Mail owners eligible to participate in the program were notified in writing before June 1, 2009. Mail owners wishing to participate in the program, who believe they meet the eligibility standards under DMM 709.2.2 and were not notified by letter, may request a review of their eligibility by contacting USPS at summersale@usps.gov.
We also are announcing the registration deadline for the Standard Mail Volume Incentive Program. Eligible mail owners may apply for the program no later than August 1, 2009. Mail owners requesting review of their program eligibility also must submit their request to USPS no later than August 1, 2009. Eligible mail owners were advised of this application deadline in their program notice letter and a similar reference was included in the text of the fact sheet provided in support of the application process.
Participating mail owners demonstrating Standard Mail letters or flats volume above their established threshold level will receive a credit following the close of the program period. Thresholds will be calculated independently for each applicant, by comparing the volume of Standard Mail letters and flats mailed within the period from October 1, 2007, to March 31, 2008, to the volume of Standard Mail letters and flats mailed within the period of October 1, 2008, to March 31, 2009. The change in recorded volume between these two periods will represent the applicant’s volume trend. Trends that show growth for the period of October 1, 2008, to March 31, 2009, versus that shown in the same period of the prior year, will appear as a ratio above 1.0 (expressed here in a decimal format). A volume decline from October 1, 2008, to March 31, 2009, will appear as a ratio below 1.0. The applicable ratio will then be applied to the volume of Standard Mail letters and flats, for all of the applicant’s mail volume or other qualifying volume recorded through the permit(s) of a mail service provider, demonstrated during the period from July 1, 2008, through September 30, 2008. This result represents the USPS-determined threshold level for an individual applicant.
The Postal Service has also included a process, through its Business Service Network (BSN), to review questions from mail owners regarding calculations of their respective threshold levels or their recorded volume within the program period.
Mail owners are eligible to participate in the program with qualifying volume prepared by a mail service provider when entered through a permit owned by the applicant. Mail volume through a mail service provider’s permit may also qualify for the program, but only if adequate documentation identifies the mail as being prepared on behalf of the applicant and demonstrates the applicant’s prior mailing activity. Mail service providers are not eligible for the Standard Mail Volume Incentive Program.
Approved participants, demonstrating an increase in their total Standard Mail letters and flats volume above their threshold level, will qualify for a credit to a designated permit imprint advance account. The total postage attributable to Standard Mail letters and flats within the program period will be identified for each participant and divided by the total number of pieces recorded during the program period to calculate the average revenue per piece. Participants will receive a credit in the amount of 30 percent of the average revenue per piece multiplied by the total number of mailpieces of the incremental volume above their threshold level as recorded during the program period.
The Standard Mail Volume Incentive Program is intended to encourage mail owners to generate new mail volume. To deter mail owners from shifting previously planned fall volume into the program period to obtain incentive credits, mail volume from participants will be monitored during October 2009. Participants’ previously determined volume trend will be applied to their volume of Standard Mail letters and flats mailed within the month of October 2008 to determine their October 2009 expected volume. The participants’ actual October 2009 volume will then be compared to their October 2009 expected volume. Participants failing to meet (or exceed) their October 2009 expected volume will have any shortfall in volume deducted from the number of mailpieces eligible for an incentive credit within the program.
Additionally, the Postal Service will require each program participant to certify the data used to calculate the volume trends, threshold levels, and October 2009 expected volumes. This certification requirement will be similar to what is currently used on PS Form 3602, Postage Statement—Standard Mail. Participants will be provided volume data for the applicable time periods used by the Postal Service to calculate their threshold levels, and will require a responsible representative to review and certify the accuracy of the data. The certification requirement for this initiative is necessary to ensure that the data used by the Postal Service to calculate the applicable volume trend, threshold level, and October 2009 expected volume for each participant is accurate.
These revisions were included in the July 1, 2009, version of the online DMM available via Postal Explorer® at http://pe.usps.com, and will be incorporated into the next printed version of the DMM.
— Mailing Standards,
Pricing, 7-2-09
