Thoughts on Bulk Mailings and Software Recommendations

[tngcas]

Our shop has a BMEU permit but as a general rule we aren't a mail house. We don't do very large mailings (usually under 1000 pieces) so we've been able to manage our mailings without specialized software or using the online tools the USPS provides for smaller operations. We have been getting more and more requests lately from people who need/want bigger mailings done because several of the local mail house operators have retired or closed. I'm fielding requests for mailings up to 5k pieces that would require tabbing.

I see the opportunity here to grow this segment of our business but... heck it feels scary and intimidating to jump into because mistakes made are expensive when we have to pay for postage.
Having exactly zero experience with the bulk mail software side of it, I'm trying to determine when it makes sense to invest into software to handle addressing and to quality for better postal rates if I can somehow figure out how to keep things in a walk-order sequence.

My questions therefore are:

1. What's a good entry level software that people use that they'd recommend? Does anyone have a ballpark on costs? Are we talking $1-2k/year, 10k?
2. How does a digital print shop keep mailings in walk-order sequence? It just seems like the potential for something getting out of order is high the bigger the volume goes.
3. What kind of low footprint (our shop doesn't have a lot of room for more equipment) are people using for automating tabbing. Right now I'm looking at manually tabbing which feels like a not great option for 5k pieces.
4. Are there any great resources out there that actually explain the rules for mailings. AI has been a great help but the USPS gibbergabs of regulations are difficult to read understand the different incentive programs that help you lower postage costs.

Outsourcing to a local mail house sounds great/obvious except that the whole reason people are approaching is us because the local mail houses are disappearing.

 

[jotterpinky]

Real entry level would be something like “Save Postage”. If you are just starting out it might be fine. If I remember correctly, though it does not do NCOA processing.

Top rated software for USPS bulk mailing, barcoding and tracking

Affordably priced software for postal bulk mail preparation and USPS tracking

savepostage.com

Another good entry-level software package would be Aqua Mailer web version. Its a bit clunky for fine grained control but should easily work for your use case.

https://lortondata.com/a-qua-mailer/

To keep mailers in walk order sequence, you simply just print a sequence number on the piece in a corner or above the address block, etc., and use those to maintain the integrity of your sort. If you look virtually in a piece of mail that you’ve received has been bulk mailed you should see sort of some sort of tray and sequence number on it. If you’re running things like postcards, you just have to ensure that the operator who’s cutting them at the guillotine is keeping the stacks in order and if you’re tabbing, they need to be printed in the correct order and kept in order as they are processed. In my experience in our local market, most of the mailers that we send out do not really qualify for walk sequence sorting, which requires a certain percentage of your mail is all in the same carrier route rather most of our mail is sorted simply by ZIP Code destination and you can get most of your bulk discount from this just by itself.

You might be able to pick up a used desktop tabber and feeder for $10-15k. Footprint could be pretty small. You could probably get away with something like a 6‘ x 4‘ area plus some extra area to stack finished and incoming pieces.

As far as details about how bulk Mailing works, I think the Save Postage site has a lot of good information on it for beginning mailers and I would also lean on the mail sort software provider to answer questions. They have a lot of good experience. The reality of it is that most of the complexity has been taken out of the process by the software so as long as you can keep items in order and put it in the tray that the software directs you to it’s not too bad. Your bigger problem might be trying to train your postal mail clerk on how to accept it

 

[SoggyWinter]

Accuzip has pay per use address list generation web app. It runs about $20-$30 the pre-sort a mailing list of 2000-5000 addresses.

Pay-Per-Use Mailings | AccuZIP

www.accuzip.com

Accuzip is about 2k/yearwith good support, but a 1990s user interface. I dropped it out of frustration with the UI have to constantly fix problems with special characters, spaces, etc messing up the mail processing

BCC mail manager is more mature at about $3k/year for a low volume mailer. I may get it, but I've been doing ok with the Accuzip pay per use.

Tabbing machines come up at auction on Boggs and other places periodically. There are two tabbers in this auction ending in a week:

January 28th Printing / Bindery / Packaging / Mailing Equipment Auction - Multiple Sellers and Locations - WireBids

Register now to start bidding for quality printing equipment across the country! Auctioning the best bindery / finishing equipment from print shops across the country. Quality Presses & Bindery. Global Buyers & Sellers. Types: Sheetfed Offset Presses, Bindery, Pre-Press.

wirebids.com

The BMEU should be able to help you with making sure that mail pieces are compliant, double checking your price calculations, etc. I lean on them when I'm not sure of something and keep notes for future mailings.

There 's a bunch of minutiae to learn, but low volume mailings aren't that hard.

 

[scotts]

Is there a product here in the USA that can handle special characters and foreign language characters better than BCC and Accuzip? I know both BCC and Accuzip have problems, where they will change or delete the character altogether, and then you will have to manually fix your list after it has been processed.

 

[bill kahny]

Is there a product here in the USA that can handle special characters and foreign language characters better than BCC and Accuzip? I know both BCC and Accuzip have problems, where they will change or delete the character altogether, and then you will have to manually fix your list after it has been processed.

Would love to find this out too!

Using the csv-UTF-8 file type throughout the creation and converting of the data, Helps. I also will print from fields BCC defines as Text only and don't get edited via the presort steps. Basically you bring in the the data into two separate fields in BCC. But there are still foreign characters that could cause high bit printing errors so I never guarantee the customer data unless they make me aware of foreign used names.

 

[chriscozi]

Our shop has a BMEU permit but as a general rule we aren't a mail house. We don't do very large mailings (usually under 1000 pieces) so we've been able to manage our mailings without specialized software or using the online tools the USPS provides for smaller operations. We have been getting more and more requests lately from people who need/want bigger mailings done because several of the local mail house operators have retired or closed. I'm fielding requests for mailings up to 5k pieces that would require tabbing.

I see the opportunity here to grow this segment of our business but... heck it feels scary and intimidating to jump into because mistakes made are expensive when we have to pay for postage.
Having exactly zero experience with the bulk mail software side of it, I'm trying to determine when it makes sense to invest into software to handle addressing and to quality for better postal rates if I can somehow figure out how to keep things in a walk-order sequence.

My questions therefore are:

1. What's a good entry level software that people use that they'd recommend? Does anyone have a ballpark on costs? Are we talking $1-2k/year, 10k?
2. How does a digital print shop keep mailings in walk-order sequence? It just seems like the potential for something getting out of order is high the bigger the volume goes.
3. What kind of low footprint (our shop doesn't have a lot of room for more equipment) are people using for automating tabbing. Right now I'm looking at manually tabbing which feels like a not great option for 5k pieces.
4. Are there any great resources out there that actually explain the rules for mailings. AI has been a great help but the USPS gibbergabs of regulations are difficult to read understand the different incentive programs that help you lower postage costs.

Outsourcing to a local mail house sounds great/obvious except that the whole reason people are approaching is us because the local mail houses are disappearing.

I used WWW.SMARTY.COM as a source of NCOA and MailPrep for years.
You pay for what you use and it just works.
They had a USPS document prep tool that worked until the USPS put that all online.
They actually de-gobblydegook the USPS requirements info on their 'Methodology' page.
They had a freebie/low price option for non-profits at one point.
YMMV.

 

[tngcas]

This is all great info.
Thanks everyone! I appreciate it.

 

[namelessentity]

We use Lorton's A-Qua mailer. We have an old Buskro addresser and Secap tabber. You might want to consider offering a job to one of the mail experts at the shops that are closing. There's a lot to learn, and it'll save a lot of headache to bring someone on with existing knowledge.
We usually print a sequence number on the endorse line for presort jobs. It looks like it's just postal gibberish anyway, so no one ever even mentions it.

 

[TJPrinter]

I have used BM-Win Plus for years. It does everything I need it to do and it's inexpensive. It's a small company but they are quick to respond. I use Melissa Data Listware Online for address correction/NCOA and then just import the file into BM-Win Plus. No monthly fees on Listware, you buy whatever credits you want. It's not expensive at all.

I put my sorting order/tray numbers at the beginning of the optional endorsement line and have never had any issues.

 

[Shawnd]

Training is getting harder and harder to find online with mail volume dropping.

Trish still has her training up on Linkedin Learning, it is a good start: Remote Publishing Workflows for Designers and Editors Online Class | LinkedIn Learning, formerly Lynda.com

Yes you can find a tabletop tabber at auctions, BUT you better have a way to service it. I would say our tabletop tabbers are one of the neediest pieces of equipment in our shop with the folder/inserters coming in second.

I would stick with hand tabbing as long as you can. I would also recommend staying away from Staplex tabbers as they are crap and the tabs are expensive that they sell.

As others have mentioned, sequence numbers are your friend keeping mailings in order.

As for software there are many different ones, we have been a BCC shop since the DOS days. They have released an easier to use version (CI) but it might be overkill for you at this point: BCC Mail Manager™ - BCC Software - A BlueCrest Company

I have tried Tec mailing in the past and it was useable: Accurate Data & Mailing Lists – TEC Mailing Solutions