Thanks for your question! Not sure, but I do know that you need to have at least 200 pieces of mail to qualify for any sort of USPS bulk mail discount.

Yes, as long as you meet the size & thickness requirements.

If you use a meter machine, postage is currently 48 cents apiece for letter-sized mail, but if you apply a physical stamp, it's 49 cents apiece. Thank you!

Good question, the easiest thing to do is to work with a bulk mail professional or commercial printer that is already set up with a bulk mail permit at the USPS. If they are not already set up to use precancelled stamps, they can make a trip into the USPS to take care of this-there is no cost to have this option added. Otherwise, you would need to pay to get your own bulk mail permit. Best of luck! Blase

2 tabs within 1" of the edge along the sides or along the top will be fine as long as your mailer is not stapled. Please make sure you're using at least 70# text weight paper. Best of luck!

Rules for stitched mailers are governed by weight & thickness, not page count. For letter-sized, stapled self-mailers, your mail piece can weigh a maximum of 3 ounces and must be less than 0.25" thick. Remember, stitched mailers require a third tab placed 1" from the bottom right hand corner.

Great question Doug! The new tabbing regulations only apply to letter-sized mailers (smaller than 6" x 11"). If you mail at the size you are proposing, then it's considered a "flat" by the USPS and the regulations due not apply. Technically, you don't have to affix any tabs, but to maintain the integrity of the piece, I'd recommend that you use at least 1. As a flat sized mailer, however, regular first class postage will be somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.10 apiece depending on weight. You can take one to the USPS and have them confirm exact postage. Depending upon the quantity of newsletters you plan to mail, there may be other solutions.

Great question! If you want to do your own mailings, you'll need to purchase a mailing permit from the USPS. The annual fee is currently $200. Before you do this, you'll also want to make sure that you have a solution in place for updating the addresses on your database before each mailing. To avoid the $200 fee, and the address updating requirement, you may want to consider working with us or another bulk mail professional. Best of luck!

Great question Kathy! Yes, you still have to follow the same presorting and address updating requirements when using precancelled stamps. You still need to have a minimum of 200 pieces as well.

Thank you! You're absolutely correct, as of Jan 27th, 2013 rates for EDDM retail have increased to 16 cents apiece. I've updated the pricing in this post to correspond.

Great question! Just sent you some follow up info via email.

Great info Kurt! Thanks for stopping by and sharing!

Mark, what an amazing post! Well written and well done. It illustrates the point that you're trying to make beautifully. Thank you for sharing!

Denise, thanks for your comment-great question! If you don't print the barcode on the mail piece, the USPS will. By printing the barcode yourself, or working with a vendor that does this, you save additional postage, so you may as well print the barcode. There is an area toward the bottom right of the mail piece where you can add the barcode so that it is less associated with the address. Good luck!

Tom, Thanks much for stopping by, and thanks for your comment. Unfortunately, precancelled stamps do in fact require a permit. You can purchase your own permit, or work with a professional mailer, like myself, and avoid having to get your own permit. Best of luck to you!