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Tip of the week (April 28, 2011)

Posted by Elizabeth Lombard on April 27, 2011 in Mail

Click to see Tip of the week (May 5, 2011)

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TIP #1: Use your Pitney Bowes Mailing to save up to 10% on shipping

As of April 17, 2011, Commercial Base pricing will be available not only for qualifying Priority Mail® and Express Mail®, but also for First-Class Mail® (FCM) parcels.

In short, the term “Commercial” from a USPS perspective means that postage is discounted from Retail pricing. Prior to April 17th, there were two price categories for FCM parcels, Retail and Commercial. Retail prices applied to single FCM parcels, and mailers that met certain preparation and volume requirements (e.g., 500 pieces minimum) qualified for commercial (discounted) prices. Effective April 17th, “commercial” FCM parcels is split into two new categories, Commercial Base and Commercial Plus. Each of these new categories offers single-piece and presorted pricing options.

You can qualify for “single-piece” Commercial Base pricing when an approved postage payment method is used, such as an Pitney Bowes IBI (Information Based Indicia) meter that electronically transmits transactional data to the USPS, i.e., our Connect+™, DM Series™ or an approved online method such as our pbSmartPostage™ solution.
For “single piece” prices, there is no minimum volume requirement (unless the shipper is using a permit imprint which requires a minimum of 200 pieces or 50 pounds).

So as it pertains to easy ways to save…Using a qualifying postage payment method ~ such as your Pitney Bowes DM Series™ or Connect+™ mailing systems, or our new Online Postage solution pbSmartPostage™, you can enjoy Commercial Base pricing for Priority Mail and Express Mail which is approximately 5% less than retail pricing, and now~ for your single-piece FCM Commercial Base parcels ~ a 15-cents per package savings (up to 10% based on weight) over Retail prices!

As always, I welcome your feedback and in the meantime please click here to find out even more ways to save!

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18 Responses to “Tip of the week (April 28, 2011)”

  1. paban

    27. Apr, 2011

    Thanks for this great post. It would helped me to a great extent.

  2. Jared

    28. Apr, 2011

    how would we get this discount on 1st class letters using the DM100 machine?

  3. Tracy

    28. Apr, 2011

    Jared – the discount is for First-Class Mail parcels, not letters.

  4. Doreen

    28. Apr, 2011

    I have a DM 100/200 postage machine and send out lots of first class flat mail. We have a Purchase Power Account though for purchasing our postage by phone. Would these discounts apply to us and how do we go about getting them applied?

  5. Deb

    28. Apr, 2011

    I could not see the response to Doreen. So I gather from what I read, that the Commercial Based pricing applies to packages and not 1st Class letters. Does that discount apply to 1st Class Flats?

  6. Campbell

    29. Apr, 2011

    I use shipstream manager do I get the discount?

  7. Jo Ann Wilsford

    29. Apr, 2011

    I have a PB DM100i P700 postage meter. Do i get a discount on first class mail or flat pieces?

  8. Zenon

    29. Apr, 2011

    Unfortunately it appears those of us using a DM500 with Ascent software can not access the single-piece Commercial Base Pricing. It appears it was left off of the Update CD for USPS 4-17-11 pricing. When will this oversight be corrected?

  9. Doreen

    29. Apr, 2011

    All,
    I just wanted to let you know that I haven’t received any response to my comment from Pitney Bowes yet. I even supplied my email address and nothing there as well. I’ll definitely let you know if I hear something.

  10. Aaron Silverman

    29. Apr, 2011

    I have made several calls to Pitney Bowes and was transfered to several departments none of which could be any help to me. I have the DM500 machine (which works great) but I cannot find a live person to talk to me. I need more info on the commercial based pricing. All I get are people who want to sell me a new machine. Your help would be much appreciated.
    Thanks

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