Share Mail® is a unique form of commercial single-piece First-Class Mail® letters or postcards, addressed to any domestic address, that weighs no more than 1 ounce each, and uses an Intelligent Mail® barcode (IMb®) as a payment mechanism.
Share Mail is an easy and convenient way for mailers to send their customers and other stakeholders hard copy communication (e.g., advertisements, coupons, political messaging, donation requests, etc.) to be shared with others. It is a “many-to-many” product, and differs from Business Reply Mail® (BRM), where a reply piece goes to one specific address.
Share Mail permits businesses and organizations to mail their customers a letter or postcard anywhere in the United States, either as an individual item in an envelope, or as part of a self-mailer. Without having to affix postage, customers may then mail the Share Mail mailpieces to friends and family, sharing the information in the mailpiece. Recipients of the Share Mail mailpiece may claim the mailer’s sales or coupon offer online or in-store.
Postage for the Share Mail mailpieces is automatically paid through the mailer’s postage due or BRM account, based on the IMb. There is no need to open permit accounts at multiple Post Offices where those pieces are destined. These mailpieces must meet First-Class Mail processing, handling, and delivery standards.
Mailers wishing to participate in the Share Mail program must, at a minimum, meet the following requirements:
a. Have an Enterprise Payment System account link with USPS®;
b. Have a Business Customer Gateway account;
c. Have a Business Reply Mail or Postage Due account;
d. Submit production quality mailpiece files to the USPS Share Mail program office for pre-approval and have received subsequent USPS approval; and
e. Have approved mailpieces that bear unique or static Intelligent Mail barcodes, an approved permit imprint indicia in the upper-right hand corner of the mailpiece, and facing identification mark E (FIM E) printed on the mailpiece as specified in section 202.8.0 of Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual.
Mailers wishing to participate in the Share Mail program must submit their request to the Share Mail program office at sharemail@usps.gov. Mailers may also submit any questions to the Share Mail program office website.
For more information on the Share Mail program, refer to updated Publication 600, Share Mail, which is available at about.usps.com/publications/pub600.pdf.
— Product Management Mailing Services,
Product Solutions, 2-25-21
