How Do I Set Up USPS Presort for My Business?
by Jillian Voege
If USPS Presort rates make sense for you, there are two ways you can go about implementing Presort processes into your business. You can do the work in-house or you can outsource it to specialists.
To do the work in-house, you'll need to purchase a USPS Presort Permit for $175 up front and $175 per year afterwards. Note, the permit only works for one service level, so if you require both Standard and First-Class Presort, you'll need to pay two upfront fees and two annual dues for two permits.
Of course, you'll need the labor and resources to do the Presorting, which includes a laser printer that can handle the volume of Presort labels, and the labor and space to apply/sort the mailings.
On top of that, you'll need CASS Certified Mailing Software that can:
- Validate and correct address lists
- Check for Move Updates
- Sort mail to meet USPS Presort regulations
- Print required postage forms (3600/3602)
- Print required container tags
- Print bar-coded delivery address information
If you're using EasyPost, you can easily set up our API to provide the label printing and address verification pieces required to run USPS Presort in-house. With our batches capability, you can create labels and verify addresses en masse. Once you have the labels all printed out, it becomes a matter of applying and sorting according to the USPS Presort Guidelines.
One extra step to consider is the Postage Form required to accompany every USPS Presort Mailing.
Before filling out the Postage Form, you'll need to know the following:
- Type of Presort (First-Class or Standard)
- Your USPS Presort Permit Number (make sure to use the permit number that matches up with your service level permit)
- Weight of an individual piece
- The minimum/maximum number of pieces per mail tray
- Your name and contact information
- Origin zip code
You can tinker with this framework to fit it into your business' unique workflows and requirements, but these are the core necessities to building an in-house USPS Presort operation. Again, if you're not sending large volumes of mailers (catalogs, advertisements, invoices) fairly often, USPS Presort might not be worth the investment. If you want to know whether or not Presort will work for you, check out our piece detailing its cost structure.