Postal Pricing and Promotions

Posted on October 20, 2022 by Kay Wilt

Postage Increases Keep Coming. The postal rate increases that occurred in August 2021 and July 2022 totaled 13% and were not kind to mailers’ budgets. In addition, the USPS announced that it will raise postage rates twice a year beginning in 2023.

On October 7, the Postal Service filed a price increase which if approved will take effect January 22, 2023. The PRC is expected to approve the filing in November. Because the USPS is filing just six months from the previous increase in July 2022, the rate authority available for January is only 4.2%. Another 2% can also be added for “non-compensatory” (underwater) categories.

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USPS Informed Delivery Promotion Saves 4% on Postage

Posted on June 8, 2022 by Kay Wilt

Has your company participated in the USPS Informed Delivery Promotion in the past? If not, definitely consider it for 2022. Running August through September, mailings that participate in the Informed Delivery Promotion receive a 4% postage discount!

To put it in perspective, if you mail 1 million packages at Marketing Mail rates, postage could be a whopping $250,000 at current postal rates. A 4% discount equals approximately $10,000 which equals free postage for 40,000 pieces!  In addition, rates are increasing on July 10th.

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What Does the Postal Service Reform Act Mean for Mailers?

Posted on April 12, 2022 by Kay Wilt

The Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 was passed by both the House and Senate, and the President signed it into law on April 6. It has been over 15 years since Congress passed a major piece of postal reform legislation. The Postal Service is one of the oldest government institutions, established in 1775 to promote the free exchange of ideas across the colonies. It does not receive taxpayer funding and relies on revenue from stamps, postage, and package deliveries. Congress has also mandated that it deliver to every address in the U.S., including remote, hard to reach areas regardless of the financial consequences.

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Postage Rates Increasing in Middle of the Year

Posted on August 18, 2021 by Kay Wilt
Buy your Forever Stamps before the Aug. 29 postage increase

The big news is that the Postal Service is raising postage rates on August 29, 2021, not the traditional January once-a-year increase. And it’s a large increase due to additional pricing authority given to the USPS. This increase is more than the five previous price increases combined!

Yearly postage increases have been based on the CPI (Consumer Price Index). The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) also granted additional pricing authority to the Postal Service based on three areas:

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USPS Informed Delivery for Consumers and Business Mailers

Posted on June 24, 2021 by Kay Wilt

Informed Delivery is a Postal Service program that provides consumers with images of the mail arriving in their mailboxes in the next day or two. The exterior, address side of incoming letter-sized mail pieces are scanned while going through postal processing equipment. Users can see the scanned images each day via email notification, online dashboard, or mobile app.

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Direct Mail Personalization in Color Increases Response Rates

Posted on April 13, 2021 by Kay Wilt

Direct mail campaigns that utilize personalization in color on both the letter and outer envelope are seeing higher response rates. J&Q manages many ongoing programs that include multiple variables and specific versions to target each person or segment in a database. Using sophisticated software and programming along with high tech, fast and efficient production equipment J&Q produces millions of personalized packages each month.

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Postage Rates Increase January 24, 2021

Posted on January 27, 2021 by Kay Wilt

As we make our way through January and winter, the annual postal rate increase just took place on January 24, 2021. If there is a positive – for mailers this increase is less than the one in 2020 with Marketing Mail rates seeing an average increase of $.003 per piece.

Key changes include –

  • Marketing (Standard Class) and Nonprofit mailings increase approximately $.003 per piece.
  • Presorted Commercial First-Class Letters and Postcards are increasing about $.01 each.
  • Retail First-Class Forever Stamps remain at 55 cents and Postcards increase to 36 cents.

Download J&Q’s Postal Rates and Reference Guide for the 2021 postage rates, mailpiece qualification specifications, postal optimization tips and more.

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Keeping Your Data Safe with HIPAA and SOC 2

Posted on November 17, 2020 by Kay Wilt

Security Is a Top Priority at Johnson & Quin

 

 

 

 

 

 

Security and privacy are top concerns for all types of businesses due to security breaches at major companies in the United States and around the world, as well as the implementation of an increasing number of privacy regulations. How do we keep sensitive information safe from hackers who are persistently working to infiltrate computer networks to steal identities, social media accounts, financial, health and other valuable personal information? This private data is at a much higher risk of being compromised with millions of us now working from home. Mail service providers like J&Q must be able to prove that data, both their own and their clients’ information, is secure.

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Save on Postage with an Informed Delivery® Promotion

Posted on August 25, 2020 by Kay Wilt

Informed Delivery is a Postal Service program that provides a digital preview to consumers of their household’s incoming mail. Grayscale images are displayed of letter sized packages that have been processed and scanned through USPS automated sorting equipment. The images can be viewed via email, an online dashboard or mobile app. Individuals can quickly and easily sign up for the program on the USPS website.

Mailers who run an Interactive Informed Delivery Campaign from September 1 through November 30 can take advantage of the USPS promotion and earn a 2% discount on postage! See more below.

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Update from J&Q May 2020

Posted on May 19, 2020 by Kay Wilt

 

 

 

Lettershop staff make sure mailings and postage stay on track.

 

It has been about 2 months since Covid-19 hit and the resulting pandemic disrupted our lives and businesses. We would like to share how Johnson & Quin and our employees are doing now that business as normal won’t be back to normal for quite some time. First J&Q continues to produce our clients’ direct mail programs on schedule and with the same attention to quality and security as always.

Office staff are working remote with occasional trips to the plant as needed. Although some of our teams were already set up to work remote, our IT staff has been phenomenal in setting up everyone to work efficiently and securely from home. Employees in all departments have come up with some great ideas to work more efficiently and provide the plant with the instructions they need to accurately produce and mail programs. And everyone loves Zoom and Skype meetings where we can actually see each other to connect.

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