Fact Sheets (Domestic)

Fact Sheet: First-Class Mail

First-Class Mail is matter that contains personal infor­mation, wholly or partially handwritten or typewritten mate­rial, or bills and statements of account. Any matter, except for Customized Market Mail®, eligible for mailing may be sent, at the option of the mailer, using First-Class Mail® service. First-Class Mail items are sealed against inspection.

First-Class Mail Highlights

The most significant change for First-Class Mail is the introduction of pricing based on the shape of mail and the relative processing costs. There will be separate prices for letters, large envelopes (flats), and packages (parcels). Prices will decrease for letters weighing over 1 ounce and large envelopes weighing over 6 ounces.

Letters

Large Envelopes (Flats)

The single piece 1-ounce rate for large envelopes (flats) will be 80 cents.

Additional changes include the following:

Packages (Parcels)

The single-piece 1-ounce price for packages will be $1.13.

Customer Opportunities

  • Customers may save as much as 39 cents on the first ounce by folding the contents of a flat-size mailpiece (large envelope) into a letter-size mailpiece. Custom­ers can also reconfigure items from a package to fit in a large envelope and save 33 cents on the first ounce.
  • The decrease in price to 17 cents for each additional ounce for all mail shapes will result in lower prices for letters weighing over 1 ounce and large envelopes weighing over 6 ounces.
  • The additional-ounce rate for presort-rate, letters, flats, parcels, and automation-rate flats is 17 cents. The additional-ounce price for automation letters is 12.5 cents. These reductions along with pricing based on shape eliminate the need for the “heavy piece” discount for mailpieces weighing more than 2 ounces.
  • For workshare mail, the additional-ounce rate for letters will decrease to 12.5 cents and the additional-ounce rate for large envelopes and packages will decrease to 17 cents.

Fact Sheet: Priority Mail

Priority Mail® items are defined as First-Class Mail® items weighing more than 13 ounces and, at the mailer’s option, any other matter (including regular First-Class Mail items) weighing 13 ounces or less. The weight limit for Priority Mail remains 70 pounds. Material that is required to be mailed at First-Class Mail rates weighing over 13 ounces must be sent via Priority Mail service.

Priority Mail Highlights

The biggest change for Priority Mail service is the intro­duction of dimensional-weight pricing for items larger than a cubic foot and destined to Zones 5–8. Dimensional-weight pricing is based on the cubic capacity of a package (parcel) rather than on weight. It converts the cubic size of an item into a dimensional weight. If a large package is rel­atively light and addressed for delivery to Zones 5–8, it could be charged as a heavier-weight item, based on a standard issued by the International Air Transport Associa­tion (IATA). This standard is used by other commercial car­riers to determine prices for packages shipped by air, and it aligns our Priority Mail prices with the costs we incur for shipping these items by air.

The balloon rate will change. Packages measuring more than 84 inches in combined length and girth and weighing less than 20 pounds will be charged the 20-pound balloon rate, but only to local destinations and Zones 1–4. This rec­ognizes the costs of handling and transporting these large parcels. This limits the balloon rate to those items for which ground rather than air transportation is generally used.

Other changes include:

Customer Opportunities

Fact Sheet: Express Mail

Express Mail® is a premium service offering guaran­teed next-day and second-day delivery service nationwide, 365 days a year. The service options are as follows:

Express Mail Highlights

The only significant change to Express Mail service will be the addition of a new 1-pound rate. The new 1-pound price will be $19.50. Previously, an item over a half pound was charged the 2-pound rate. Adding the 1-pound rate provides better value for customers mailing lightweight documents.

Customer Opportunities

Fact Sheet: Standard Mail

Standard Mail® items consist of mailable matter that is neither mailed nor required to be mailed using First-Class Mail® service, is not entered as Periodicals, and weighs less than 16 ounces.

Standard Mail Highlights

Similar to the changes to First-Class Mail service, which places greater emphasis on mail shape, Standard Mail also emphasizes shape in relation to pricing. As a result, Stan­dard Mail pieces that are not compatible with automated processing equipment, or are parcel-shaped, will be priced higher.

The most significant change to Standard Mail will be for packages (parcels). There will be separate pricing for par­cels, additional presort tiers, and a new destination delivery unit (DDU) drop ship option. A new category, Not Flat-Machinable, has been created to include pieces that are too rigid for mechanized handling. There are also different preparation requirements for irregular and machinable par­cels. These changes will help to process these pieces more efficiently and keep prices lower.

Customer Opportunities

Fact Sheet: Package Services

Package Services mail consists of mailable matter that is neither mailed nor required to be mailed using either First-Class Mail®, or entered as Periodicals mail except as permitted or required. Package Services mail includes Bound Printed Matter (BPM), Library Mail, Media Mail, Parcel Post®, and Parcel Select®.

Package Services Highlights

Customer Opportunities

Fact Sheet: Extra Services and Other Fees

Extra Services are enhancements that, for a fee in addi­tion to postage, provide greater security and accountabil­ity. They include confirmation of mailing, delivery, and receipt; special handling; and payment and acceptance options for mail. Extra Services also provide delivery alter­natives and secure options for sending important matter through the mail.

Extra Services include Certified Mail™, Return Receipt, Delivery Confirmation™, Signature Confir­mation™, Registered Mail™, Collect-on-Deliv­ery, Restricted Delivery, Certificate of Mailing and Insurance. Other services are Post Office™ boxes, Caller Service, and Address Change Service (ACS).

Domestic Insurance

Post Office Boxes

Certified Mail and Return Receipt

Delivery Confirmation and Signature Confirmation

Money Orders

Registered Mail

Registered Mail without insurance will increase to $9.50. Registered Mail fees with insurance coverage will change as follows:

Other Fees

Pricing of all Business Reply Mail (BRM) returns will be based on shape. In addition, there are increases as well as decreases to certain BRM per-piece fees. These new fees apply only to first-time payments and fee renewals. BRM customers with current annual and quarterly fees paid do not begin paying the new fees until it is time to renew.

BRM fees will be adjusted as follows:

Customer Opportunities