Holiday Reminder for Employees: Online Postage Labels

Click-N-Ship (a USPS product) and other authorized PC Postage providers such as eBay (Pitney Bowes), Endicia.com, Stamps.com, and Pitney Bowes provide cus­tomers with different online postage payment options for added convenience. Postal Service employees should be aware of the unique characteristics of online postage pay­ment methods.

Click-N-Ship Postage Labels

During the holidays, many customers will use — some for the first time — the Postal Service’s Click-N-Ship service to ship their packages. It is important that employ­ees know the following:

1. What a valid Click-N-Ship label looks like.

2. How to detect counterfeit Click-N-Ship labels.

3. What to do if you suspect a Click-N-Ship label is counterfeit.

The Click-N-Ship Web page at http://blue.usps.gov/cnsblue contains Service Talks on how to properly identify Click-N-Ship labels; click on Service Talks in the left navi­gation bar of the Web page. Please ensure the talks are given to retail employees and posted on employee bulletin boards.

The Retail Operations Rate Change Resources Web page at http://blue.usps.gov/delret/L4RetOper_Price_Change_Resources_2007.htm contains the following:

Also see the article titled “Online International Shipping Enhancements and Forms Field Information Kit” in Postal Bulletin 22207 (5-24-07, pages 6–11). The kit includes detailed information and samples of online international shipping labels with customs forms. Please print out this information for future reference.

Nondenominated Information-Based Indicia (“Hidden Postage”) Labels

Some businesses do not wish their customers (address­ees) to see the amount of postage paid on a particular item. The Postal Service allows customers who produce postage labels through Click-N-Ship or another authorized PC Postage provider to print labels without reflecting the amount of postage in numeric format, similar to nonde­nominated postage stamps. On these labels, the postage amount paid is imbedded in the information-based indicia (IBI) barcode.

See the stand-up talk on nondenominated IBI that appears on page 25 in this issue of the Postal Bulletin.

To prepare for the busy holiday mailing season, please review the SOPs, and deliver the Service Talks as appropriate.