Prepare For the Postal Hike

u Drop non-codeable records. If you say you’ll be dropping non-codeable records with your list order as a requirement, you can deduct these names from the list-rental invoice. Non-codeable records don’t qualify for postal discounts and are generally less deliverable and therefore, less responsive. Also, make sure your list rentals and, of course, housefile, have been put through the USPS’ National Change of Address system recently. If you do any split tests, look at the net benefit of selective binding to keep the mailing in one ZIP stream to maximize your postal discount as opposed to separate ZIP streams, which is more costly (generally at quantities of 300,000 or more, it’s more cost efficient to selective bind). Ask your service bureau to give you the postage estimates both ways (one ZIP stream vs. two ZIP streams) to be sure where the cutoff is. If the postage savings outweigh the price of selective binding, go with selective binding.