There are two great reasons to keep the addresses in your mailing list up to date: (1) Your message will reach more of your audience, and (2) you will save money on postage.  Previous posts have discussed several ways to improve your mailing list: address standardization, address correction, and updates from returned mail.  Postal endorsements are another weapon in the battle to keep mailing lists up to date.

Postal endorsements, technically called “ancillary service endorsements”, are instructions printed on the outside of a mail piece to instruct the U.S. Postal Service on what to do with mail that is undeliverable as addressed.  Do you want this mail forwarded to the recipient’s new address?  Do you want it returned to you?  Do you want the USPS to dispose of it but notify you of the new address?

First, let’s understand what happens to the mail if  no endorsement is used.

• First-class mail is forwarded to a new address for the first 12 months after a move. In months 13 – 18 after a move, it is returned to the sender with the new address attached.  After 18 months, it is returned to the sender with the reason for non-delivery.  There is no charge for any of this.
• Standard mail that is undeliverable as addressed is simply thrown away.  (At no additional charge to you!)  In case you are unfamiliar with the term ”standard mail”, it is the class of mail that used to be known as “bulk” mail.

For a good reference on postal endorsements, see USPS Quick Service Guide 507.  It lists all the endorsements, how they affect the handling of first-class and standard mail, and how much they cost.  Below is a summary of one popular endorsement, Address Service Requested.

Address Service Requested:

• First-Class mail:  In months 1 – 12 after a move, the mail is forwarded and the mailer is given a notice of the new address.  There is a $0.50 address correction fee for each new address notice.  In months 13 – 18, the mail is returned with the new address attached.  After 18 months, the mail is returned with the reason for nondelivery attached.  There is no charge for the returned mail pieces.
• Standard mail:  Same as the actions for first-class mail, except that a weighted fee is charged for each returned mail piece, equal to 2.472 times the first-class or priority mail postage for a piece of that size and weight.

Why use the Address Service Requested endorsement? For first-class mail, it will enable you to get a new address within the first 12 months after a move.  For standard mail, it will enable you to get a new address (remember, without an endorsement all undeliverable mail is thrown away) and, as for first-class, you will get the new address within the first 12 months after a move.

What will the Address Service Requested endorsement cost you? This depends entirely on the quality of the addresses in your mailing list. Let’s use an  example of a letter mailed to 10,000 addresses, where 3% of the people moved within the last 12 months and another 3% moved before that.

First-Class mailing cost:

Outgoing postage:  10,000 X $0.44 = $4400

New address notices:  300 X $0.50 = $150

Returned mail:  300 X $0.00 = $0.00

Total:  $4550

Standard mailing cost:

Outgoing postage:  $10,000 X $0.26 = $2600

New address notices:  300 X $0.50 = $150

Returned mail:  300 X $1.09 = $327

Total:  $3077

Interesting … the cost of the new addresses/returned mail is more in the standard mail example, but the overall cost of the mailing is much less due to the smaller outgoing postage cost.  So if you want to get new addresses for your mailing list and your mail doesn’t require delivery within the first-class delivery date range of 2 – 3 days, then you can save a bundle by mailing standard mail with an endorsement.

Your needs will determine whether you should use an endorsement and which endorsement to use.  Other endorsements include Return Service Requested, Change Service Requested, Forwarding Service Requested, and Electronic Service Requested.  Refer to the chart in USPS Quick Service Guide 507 for a breakdown of services and fees.  If you need help analyzing the various options, please contact DataWorks mailing services.

Tags: Address Hygiene, Address Service Requested, Ancillary Service Endorsements, Direct Mail, Lehigh Valley, Mail Forwarding, Mailing cost, Mailing List Management, Postage Costs, Postal Endorsements, Postal Rates