Bulk Mail Services

The term bulk mail refers to large quantities of mail prepared for mailing with a permit at reduced postage. United States Postal Service (USPS) regulations and size restrictions have changed over time and enforcement of these regulations has increased. As a result, bulk mailings are an area where departments can unknowingly waste money, potentially costing the university thousands of dollars per year. Campus Mail Services will help you save time and money with a bulk mail permit.

A bulk mail permit is permission to use a certain postage payment method for bulk mailings. Campus Mail Services holds a permit, referred to as Permit 311, which allows departments to mail large mailings at standard or first class rates. The post office subtracts the postage from the university’s postage account and then Campus Mail Services will bill your department for the postage costs. Using Permit 311 can offer substantial postage savings to departments.

Permit 311 is appropriate for mailings of official university business when:

• pieces of mail are identical in size and weight
• there is a minimum of 200 pieces
• there is a U.S. address typed or machine printed in the correct location
• each piece bears your university return address

USPS regulations require proper preparation of bulk mail through a certified mailing house (i.e., a company that manages the enclosing, addressing and sorting of bulk mail in accordance with USPS requirements). UB Print Services is a certified mailing house and is available to UB units that wish to do bulk/direct mail campaigns. Other vendors may also be used, if desired, but they must adhere to UB Campus Mail’s guidelines. 

UB Print Services is our preferred mail house for preparing your mail; The process for UB Print Services to prepare your bulk/direct mailing:

• Unit will submit an online request for printing through the campus Print Services website.
• After submitting the print services request, a Campus Mail Services Request form and a digital copy of the mail piece should be sent to CampusMail@buffalo.edu. This will ensure the correct account is charged for the service.
• UB Print Services will prepare your mailing for delivery and send it to either the post office or UB Campus Mail for processing. 
  

• Unit must send a completed Campus Mail Services Request form along with a digital copy of the mail piece to Campusmail@buffalo.edu at least 1 business day before your mailing will go out.
  • Unit should also provide a copy of this request form to the vendor.
• After receiving the Campus Mail Services Request form and digital copy of the mailing, UB Campus Mail will verify your billing information and reply with an authorization for the vendor to process the mailing through USPS.
• After getting authorization, the external mail house vendor will work with the USPS to fill out the necessary paperwork and take your mailing to the post office. 
  • The vendor will need to send a copy of the USPS bulk mailing paperwork and a copy of the Campus Mail Service Request form to Campusmail@buffalo.edu within 1 day of submitting the mailing to USPS.
• Once the mailing is dropped off by the vendor to USPS, your departmental account will be billed for postage.

Indicia (pronounced in-DEE-shuh) are imprints on each mail piece that signifiy that the postage has been prepaid. Indicia must contain specific information and be formatted in a certain way. All bulk mail needs to have a permit imprint indicia printed in the upper right-hand corner of the mail piece. Placement of indicia on the mail piece is handled by the vendor. Do not print indicia on your mail pieces.

Standard mail is another term for bulk mail. The postage is less expensive but the delivery time is longer. For example, a 200-piece mailing using the standard bulk rate of $0.14 can cost about $28.00 and take about 10-14 days.

USPS processes first class mail on a priority basis. The postage rate is higher than for standard mail, but the delivery time is shorter. Locally, first class delivery time is 1-2 days and about 4 days for national delivery. For example, a 200-piece mailing using the first class rate of $0.47 can cost about $94.00 and take about 1-4 business days.