Everyone likes to save on USPS postage, and the post office does make it easy to know what the various rates are. When looking at form 3602-R, you can see all of those rates getting nice and low as you sort to finer zip codes. Which is great, and thats most that the average mailer will need to do.
However, there are some lower rates if you look at the entry discounts. Specifically DSCF and DBMC discounts. (DDU no longer apply, except parcels) DSCF? DBMC?
- DSCF = Destination Sectional Center Facility Read more HERE
- DBMC = Destination Bulk Mail Center
- DDU = Destination Delivery Unit
- ASF = Auxilliary Service Facility
These are important discounts that are easy to get, but they require even more work on your part. Basically the more automated and closer the mail gets to its destination, the lower your rates. By sorting and barcoding you accomplish the 1st part, easier mail processing. Drop Shipments do the 2nd part, get the mail closer to the destination, so the post office does not have to transport the mail.
There are two ways for you the mailer, to transport the mail closer.
- You drive it
- You mail it
In my area 75080, the SCF facility is 15 miles from my office. Not a great distance. Hassle yes. Time consuming yes. However the pay off on taking a 15,000 letter mailing that all went to the area served by that SCF is .04 per item, and thats $600 in postage saved.
Thats the hitch, all of the mail that is served by that SCF. So you the mailer has to do an additional sort of your trays to determine what goes to that facility. Its more time and more work, but as you can see might a nice pay off if the quanties are right.
The other option is to mail it. Yes, you mail your mail to the closest destination. In a sense you are paying for postage twice, so it does require some math to make sure you are saving money doing the drop shipment. There are two options for mailing, Priority Mail and Express Mail. I have found that Express Mail is not cost effective. There are many rules about Priority Mail drop shipments. You can read more @ the DMM M072, if you are so inclined. Mailing the above example might cost $300 in Priority Mail, so the savings is not as large, but you gain it all back in time. (My opinion)
DBMC discounts are not as good as DSCF, but the BMC does handle mail for a much wider area, so more of your mail can be sent to one location. There are over 150 SCF offices, and only 21 BMCs. There are these things called ASFs, thats the subject of a different post.
There are savings out there, as a mailer you can always figure them out, or you can let us do the work for you. Outback Communications, is a direct mail company that knows how to Drop Ship your mail to lower your cost, and get the mail delivered faster. Contact us and we will show you how we can help.
Tags: direct mail, drop shipment, lower your postage, Standard Mail