DMM Clarification: Commercial Prices for Ground Return Service

Effective June 2, 2014, the Postal Service™ will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) 505.4 to update the prices charged for commercial Ground Return Service. Ground Return Service, a sub-category of USPS® Return Services, is a commercial USPS Returns® product that uses scan based payment.

Prior to the classification changes that designated Standard Post™ as a retail-only product and implemented certain content restrictions for Zones 1–4, Ground Return Service was subject to Standard Post prices. The Postal Service changed its pricing models to link Parcel Select Nonpresort commercial prices to Ground Return Service concurrent with these classification changes. This revision changes DMM 505.4 to align with the pricing that is now applied to Ground Return Service mailpieces.

Although this update will not be in the DMM until June 2, 2014, these standards are effective immediately.

Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM)

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500 Additional Mailing Services

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505 Return Services

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4.0 USPS Return Services

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4.9 Ground Return Service

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4.9.3 Prices and Eligibility

Ground Return Service mailpieces are charged per pound; any fraction of a pound is rounded up to the next whole pound. The minimum postage amount per addressed piece is the one-pound price. Ground Return Service eligibility and pricing are the same as Parcel Select Nonpresort.

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We will incorporate these revisions into the next online update of the DMM, which is available via Postal Explorer® at http://pe.usps.com.