In an effort to contain the rising costs of undeliverable-as-addressed (UAA) mail (9.7 billion pieces in First Class alone costing $1.85 BILLION in 2004), the USPS will require that list hygiene commonly known as MOVE UPDATE be applied to all classes of mail.
At the same time the previous list Move Update processing period will be compressed from 185 calendar days to 95. The changes will assure that higher quality addresses are entering the mail stream and ultimately reducing the number of UAA pieces.
What does this mean to you?
- Your mailing will have to adhere to Move Update standards, either through NCOA processing of your list within 95 days of your mailing, utilization of Address Correction Service (ACS) or other appropriate on-piece ancillary endorsements.
- Mail using alternative addressing such as "John Doe or Current Resident", "Occupant" or "Postal Customer" is not subject to Move Update standards.
Although these changes seem burdensome at first they are truly designed to reduce wasted effort and the additional cost of mailing pieces that will not be delivered because of flawed addressing. You as the consumer of USPS mail services have to opportunity and now the requirement of having your addresses processed and poor quality addresses removed. Because Standard Mail was not returned to you, unless you requested it, you were probably unaware of the condition of your list. You will now know for sure which addresses on your list are in fact receiving your mailing. You will also have the opportunity to correct questionable addresses (known as NIXIE's) or removed bad addresses all together.
You will be receiving additional information from us as we formulate aggressive plans to keep you addresses as clean as possible and of course in compliance with the USPS
For more information, or to obtain a copy of MailWays,
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valuable tips on direct mail marketing,
call 631. 694.1500 or fax 694.1501.