The price changes for letters and flats reflect our decision to moderate the increases for catalogs and other flats due to the large price increases of last year. We have reduced the pound price for flats to provide some additional relief for catalogs. In some instances, more highly presorted catalogs weighing more than 3.3 ounces will see modest price reductions. This reduction also encourages catalog mailers to add content to their catalogs.
Meanwhile, Standard Mail parcels and Not Flat-Machinables have larger price increases. This reflects the higher costs of processing parcels as compared to letters and flats. The new prices move toward providing parcels with better cost coverage and encourage efficient drop-ship behavior by increasing the incentive to take parcels to the destination delivery unit.
