Our mailing manager mentioned to me that the most frequent phone call she receives concerning US Post Office requirements is “Why is the zip code wrong on my Business Reply Art?”

As with anything that we print, the graphics department sends a proof of the reply envelope or card artwork to the customer to be approved before the files go into production.  Upon receipt of the artwork we often receive a phone call asking “Why is the zip code wrong on my Business Reply Art?”

The United States Post Office defines Business Reply Permit as; a service that allows a permit holder to receive First-Class Mail and Priority Mail back from customers and pay the postage only for the returned pieces. These pieces must have a specific address and format. Postage and per piece charges are collected when the mail is delivered back to the permit holder.

When someone opens a Business Reply Permit, an escrow account is opened at the USPS. We then request the Business Reply Mail artwork from the Mail Piece Design Analyst at the USPS. As these pieces come back the postage and fees due are then taken from the escrow account, and that is where the “strange” plus four on the zip code comes into play. If the plus four on the Business Reply Mail piece were the same as your normal address the envelope would proceed directly through the mail stream to your business or nonprofit office with your information or donation. But since you have sent a Business Reply Mail piece with a Reply Permit on it you have committed to paying for that return postage. The unique plus four on your reply mail sends the envelopes first to the Business Reply Mail department of the USPS where the permit it held. The USPS then uses that plus four to look up and collect from your escrow account the postage and fees due for that piece before sending it on to your location or holding it at your post office box for pickup. Another frequent question is why is the plus four on our envelopes not the same plus four as the one on our reply postcards? A plus four is not unique to your Business Reply Permit it is unique to that mail piece. A 4×6 reply postcard that returns at .28 cents plus fees will have a different plus four than your #10 standard envelope weighing 1 oz that returns at .44 cents plus fees and if you happen to have a larger 9×12 envelope returning it will have a unique plus four of its own. As a rule, Business Reply Artwork should always be requested from the postal service so that they can assign the unique plus four required to collect the correct postage for that mail piece.

Courtesy Reply mail is an envelope or postcard that has the required bar-codes and FIM mark but has a place stamp here, in the upper right hand corner where the stamp or permit normally located. Postage is not collected by the post office because the individual mailing the reply back to you is applying the appropriate postage. The piece goes directly to your organization and would not require a unique accounting plus four zip code.

 The post office does require that when you have an outgoing mail project that is being bar-coded, in order to get the discounted automated postage rates, the reply card or envelope must also have the bar-code and FIM marked. Failure to do so will result in your entire mailing being disqualified for bar-code rates.   O.K. we have heard from non-profit mailers that they haven’t done this in the past and have not been charged by the USPS.  We tell them they just haven’t been caught yet.  We have all been guilty of speeding and we don’t get caught every time we speed, but the odds are we will get caught eventually and then we have to pay the fine. Paying a fine is not what anyone of us wants to do, so just make sure that the reply envelope meets USPS postal specifications.

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