Bound Printed Matter Bulk Mail Rates and Requirements

Before you can mail using Bound Printed Matter rates, you need to have a permit. Your permit must be issued by USPS. A vendor cannot issue a bulk mailing permit.

There are two fees that apply to a new permit for Bound Printed Matter.

Annual mailing fee: For most mailers, there is no annual fee for a Bound Printed Matter permit.

The only time you need to pay a fee for a Bound Printed Matter permit is if:

• You are mailing flat-sized mail (not parcels); and,
  
  
• You are not using full-service barcoding; and,
  
  
• You are mailing from a postal sorting facility (like a Sectional Center Facility), and claiming the lower postage rate for pieces mailed at that facility that are addressed to that facility's service area.

If all of those three are true, then you must pay an annual permit fee of $245. Otherwise, it's free.

Permit Imprint Authorization fee: This lets you print a "postage paid" box (called a "permit imprint" or an "indicia") on your mail, which is required for Bound Printed Matter. You cannot use a stamp or meter imprint. You'll have a deposit account at the post office where you have your permit, and USPS will charge your account for each piece that you mail when you bring your mailing in. You can now fund your permit online, instead of having to pay at the post office.

If you are shipping only Bound Printed Matter parcels, there is no fee for a permit imprint authorization. If you are mailing Bound Printed Matter flats, then the one-time fee for a permit imprint authorization is $245.

Here's what goes in the "postage paid" box. You don't need any special software for it. Just include it as part of the design of the mail piece, just like the return address. You are only charged for the pieces you actually mail, not for the number of postage paid boxes printed.

How to apply: You can apply online for a Bound Printed Matter permit and for a permit imprint authorization. Or, you can apply for your permit in person, using USPS form 3615.

Where to apply: It's best that you apply for your permit at the post office where you expect to take your mail. You'll probably want to take your mail to the closest post office that accepts bulk mail, just for convenience. Even if you apply online, you will still need to designate the post office where your permit will be issued.

In suburban and rural areas, many post offices accept bulk mail. But in urban areas, bulk mail is generally accepted only at a major facility, and sometimes a few others. To find out whether bulk mail is accepted at a specific post office, find it using the post office locator on USPS.com, and look at the services it offers. To find out all of the post offices in your area that accept bulk mail, call the USPS District Business Mail Entry office for your area, which you can find using this USPS locator screen.

If you're not far from the USPS sorting center ("Sectional Center Facility", or "SCF") for your area, and much of your mail is going to addresses processed by that sorting center, you'll get better postage rates by sending your mail from the sorting center. You can find the SCF for your area and see your possible savings by using the rate calculator above. If you are going to be mailing from the sorting center, you will want to get your permit at that center rather than at your neighborhood post office.

To prepare your mail, you'll need software, USPS mailing containers, and, sometimes, a certain size of rubber bands.

Bulk mailing software: To qualify for Bound Printed Matter rates, your mail must be sorted and placed in mailing containers according to very detailed USPS rules. It's not just sorting by zip code - various zips must be combined with others, depending on quantity, where you're mailing from and to, the size of the mailpiece, etc... It's literally a book full of sorting rules, and the details actually change each month, according to projected mail loads in different areas.

You'll also need to print paperwork for submitting your mailing, and special barcoded tags to label each mailing container.

The easiest way to do all of this is to use software designed to prepare bulk mail. Our Postage $aver Pro software prepares Bound Printed Matter flat-sized mail, and our Postage $aver for Parcels prepares Bound Printed Matter parcels.

Mailing sacks: You'll need to sort your mail into specific mail sacks before you can mail it at Bound Printed Matter rates. Your bulk mailing software will determine exactly what you need for each mailing.

The sacks are provided by the USPS at no charge. You can pick them up at the post office where you are mailing your bulk mail.

Size 64 rubber bands: If you are mailing flat-sized mail, or irregular-shaped parcels, you'll need these rubber bands to bundle your mail. You can buy a bag at your favorite office supply store.

Congratulations! You're now ready to move on to actually preparing your mailing.